There are moments in life that bring everything to a clear reality....we live each day AS IF we know who we are really and what we are doing on earth.  Is being here a cruel joke?  An accident of fate?  Where did we come from?  Why are we here?  Does anything we do even matter?  Why and how does it matter if it does? Is there a Divine Being who has some relationship with us? Does he want us to do certain things here or is it just up to us?  Are we here to enjoy ourselves? To learn? Grow? Develop? Is there a purpose to all this?  When we die where do we go? Is there any relationship between what happens here and what happens next? How do we find out if we do not know for sure?  Is it enough to "believe in God" and hope for the best?  Is there a God?  What is He like?  Are we content with guessing at the answers to these important questions or is there a certain/sure way to answer them?

Well, 9 years ago today at noon...my wife Sherri and I, along with Rodger and Patti Shumaker (the other grandparents) and our good friend Jim Petersen....sat in the living room of our daughter Lindi and her husband Rodger's condominium and watched our grandson Parker Rodger Shumaker pass away.  He was just 20 months old.  Lindi and Rodger held Parker in their arms as his breathing slowed down and stopped.  Our beautiful, wonderful little Parker was gone from us.  Lindi and Rodger quietly left the room with Parker in their arms and took him to their bedroom and read his favorite story book to him one last time.
A few days later we had his funeral. 
Moments like these are sobering in that they cause you to dig deep and do a doublecheck on what you believe about relationships with those you love after life is over......at moments like that you realize you do not want to GUESS.  You do not want to live by the word MAYBE....or POSSIBLY...I will see my grandson, daughter, dad, uncle, grandmother, good friend etc again...No...for me it would have been the worst moment of my life if I had been guessing or only hoping.

I know where Parker is...I know what he is doing.  I know I will see him again and that he will be my grandson and I will be his grandfather. I know families can be eternal.  I understand how what I do on this earth relates to what I will do after this life. I know what the possibilities are.  I know what is required of me..and of you...for us to live with those we love eternally.
For me, there is no guessing.  On the day we said a temporary good-bye to Parker...I was deeply grateful for the fact that I can answer all those questions I proposed in the first paragraph of this post.  There is an eternal peace and surety that is in my heart.  Have a nice day.  Jim