I read an awesome book recently called “Crush It” by Gary Vaynerchuk (actually I listened to it on audio). There were so many great moments in this book. This guy’s passion is infectious. If you don’t know who he is, be sure to check out this clip of him on Conan.
One thing he said during the course of his book that stood out to me was about how our lives online are being documented forever. They are going to be a piece of our legacy. This is something that previous generations didn’t have. Our blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook statuses, photos, videos — ALL OF IT is being stored and will part of the legacy we leave behind.
It’s crazy to think that not only will my kids be able to see howKesha and Ifeel in love, but my great great great grandchildren will be able to see in detail all the random details of my life. Very cool — but kind of scary too.
So what kind of online legacy are you leaving? Is it something you’ll look back on and be proud of?
P.S. I set up a blog for my dad that he used a little bit. He didn’t post often, and he didn’t start it long before he died. But it’s something that I can read that brings me comfort and reminds me of how great my dad was. http://grandpasnook.blogspot.com/
My dad was known for his peace sign. He was a bit of a hippie. His greeting was not a wave, but his two fingers in the air. Peace.
John Fehlen spoke on peace yesterday at church. I was convicted a few things in my life. I know I can be contentious at times and not always easy to get along with. I can be sarcastic, rude, and even a bit of an A. But that is not the person I desire to be. And I know that is not honorable to God.
Today in my reading I came across a great verse in Galatians:
“Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” – Galatians 5:26
I think of my Dad as my greatest role model. In his later years he was a man of incredible peace. He was also generous, kind, loving, and compassionate. He didn’t think of himself first. I don’t think he had a single enemy in the world. Even people who had done him wrong in the past, he forgave.
He had a peace that surpasses understanding. He had the peace of God.
Today we buried my Dad. It was a really hard day. It was just our family and a close family friend. We said our words, cried a lot, and then finally put his ashes in the ground. I don’t know why it was so hard. To be honest, I didn’t even know if I was going to cry. But I balled my eyes out.
I am just glad we have some closure. The next time I come to visit, my Dad will have his head stone set up. It will be nice to have a place to go and remember my Dad.
We leave tomorrow afternoon to head back to Salem. I am going to be glad to be done with all this travelling. I miss my bed!
Things have been nuts for us this last week. Kesha and I flew down to Texas to spend some time with a great church. It was awesome to see how they are making a huge difference in their community. We spent a measly 23 hours there (6 of which we were sleeping). Our flight home was all messed up and we ended up flying from Dallas to Albuquerque, then Albuquerque to Vegas, and Vegas to home. We didn’t get home until about 1:30am!
I worked the next morning, and then…
Today we woke up at 5am and hopped on another plane to Calgary — this time with Cohen. She was perfect the whole trip. I was sort of dreading it, but the trip really wasn’t bad at all. We are here all week and we will be coming home Saturday the 16th. The reason for the trip (aside from merely visiting my family) is to bury my Dad. Since my Dad died in the winter, it wasn’t really prime time to dig up the frozen ground. So we are going to bury his ashes this Friday. Tomorrow is his birthday; the first since he died. It is going to be a tough weekend for sure!
P.S. I am sorry for being such a crappy blogger lately. There is tons going in our lives. We could really use prayer. God is moving in amazing ways.
We had a fun Chrismas this year. I spent a lot of time with just Co and Kesha. We had lots of fun and this is the first Christmas where Cohen actually knew what was going on. She loved opening all her gifts. She got spoiled for sure! We also spent some good time with my inlaws. They are so great! I loved getting to spend the holidays with them.
I must admit that I have thought about my Dad a lot in the past few weeks. It was a time though to be thankful for who my Dad was. This was a time of year that he loved because he could really let his generous spirit shine. But he gets to spend Christmas with the Christ himself and I am sure he is praising Him with all his heart right now. I wonder if they celebrate Christmas in heaven?
Anyway, I will leave you with these super cute videos of Cohen. She is such a funny girl!
I put together this video for my Dad’s funeral. It is made up with a bunch of scanned photos, some newer ones, and a couple great songs. The first tune is “The Times They Are A Changin” by Bob Dylan. The second is “That Great Day” by Jonny Lang. A lot of people tell me I look a lot like my Dad when he was younger.
The drive home was long, but a little easier this time. I got a new deck for my car that connects to my ipod, so I was able to listen to some podcasts and some an audiobook on the way home. I bought The Shack from audible.com. It was a long 8.5 hours to listen to the book, but I really liked it. I know there is a lot of hype about the book and some controversy, but if you are reading with an open heart and able to look past a few shady details, it really has a great message. Any thoughts on the book that you have would be appreciated.
It is crazy not to have my Dad around anymore. Several times I have reached for my phone to call my Dad to chat, only to realize that I can’t do that anymore. It was tough to remove my Dad from my speed dial on my phone. That will be hard to get used to.
I am back to work tomorrow. That will be a huge change of pace. I am so thankful for all the time I was able to take off. I know I will never regret the time I was able to spend up in Calgary during the last couple months. I was able to have almost 2 months off! What a blessing!
Now that things are going to be sorta “back to normal” I will be back on the blog more often and back to my twitter too.
Today my Dad died at 12:45pm. I was there in the room with him with my two sisters and my mom. It was such a peaceful thing. Way different than I thought. I am so happy to know that he is free from pain, but so sad that I will not see him again this side of heaven. I love him more than I could ever write on this blog. I will miss him more than anything. Today I lost my Dad and also my best friend. Thank you all for the prayers that were prayed for me, my Dad, and our family.
I am back in Calgary now. I drove about a hundred million miles in the last month. I am tired as heck and I feel like I could literally die. Aside from that, here is an update on my Dad…
When he was first diagnosed they were able to put a stent in his bile duct to relieve some of the pain that was caused by a tumor blocking his bile duct. This resulted in his bile spilling into his blood and making him very uncomfortable and jaundiced. That worked great for a while, but now the stent is blocked and the doctors opted not to take any further action. What this means is that he will get real sick now and probably go into a coma. Then he should die shortly after that.
Dad is still able to talk to us and make jokes. He has had lots of visitors and someone has been at the hospital at all times. He is starting to get a little delirious because of all the medication he is taking. But we are all just trying to soak up the last days that we have with him.
Today he broke down crying and told us how important it is that we “grab hold of Jesus”. What a great way to go! He loves God so much and he is going to go be with Him soon.
Please pray for all of us. I get the feeling like this is going to be much harder on us that it is on him.
It is either very late or very early. I can’t tell. My Dad went into the hospital today because of some bad pains. He is getting all sorts of tests done today. Pray for him because he is very uncomfortable. Just sitting up in his bed takes his breath away. The Docs are putting him on even more meds here than he was on at home. We just hope he can come home soon.
I have been here since about 5pm yesterday — I am VERY tired. But at least I got some work done.
