A Good Man: Honoring My Papa

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren.” Proverbs 13:22

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On Wednesday I traveled to Central Kentucky to attend the funeral of my grandfather who we all called Papa. Driving back home late Wednesday night, I took the chance to catch up on my Proverbs reading from the last few days. As I listened to the audio version of the chapters, my mind replayed the events of the day and this verse from chapter 13 jumped out at me.

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren.” Proverbs 13:22

Over the 24 hours surrounding his funeral, I had the chance to catch up with my cousins. We stay connected through social media, so we all quickly found ourselves engaged in more than casual conversation. Our discussions revolved around our desires to do our best in our parenting, marriages, work life and various ministries.

We had honest conversations about the things God is doing in our lives – how He is showing us our selfishness in parenting, how He is meeting our financial needs as we follow Him, and how He is conforming us more into the image of Jesus through the hard things in life.

Every person who spoke at Papa’s funeral mentioned his defining characteristics as a faithful husband, father, and grandfather. Our family unanimously loved and respected Papa. Everything he did was done with excellence, kindness, and a servant’s heart.

Papa’s relationship with Jesus was woven throughout everything he did. He chose to follow Jesus as a teenager and joyfully walked with Him the rest of his life. Papa and I shared a deep love of Southern Gospel music and spent many hours listening to it together. More than once while listening to a song about God’s faithfulness, he turned to me and said, “That’s my testimony!”

The inheritance Papa left his family is a precious one. The home he led for his wife and three daughters resulted in six grandchildren who are, by God’s grace, seeking to invest our lives in following Jesus and striving to build Godly homes for our families.

Papa is not the reason I live my life the way I do. I have chosen to build my life around the hope of the gospel, just as Papa did. We follow Jesus because He laid down His life for us. Following Jesus doesn’t guarantee an easy or beautiful life – the last few years of Papa’s life were anything but that.

Here are a few lines from one of the songs that Papa claimed as his testimony:

David sang the praises of the glory of Jehovah
Paul preached that all is loss save knowing Christ
John said He is precious by leaning on His bosom
So for a moment may I humbly testify –

Did I mention that I love Him? How I worship and adore him
When I can see no way He makes a way
And did I mention that He’s been faithful
To every promise He ever made me?
I love Him – that’s all I want to say

The conversations I had this week with my cousins, my sister, and their spouses were rich and uplifting. Talking about our homes, families, our marriages, our struggles, and our continued walk with Jesus left me encouraged and enriched. That is a precious inheritance. Thank you, Papa. ❤