Hope...

i am on my way to asheville this morning to see my grandfather (my mom's dad). he is in the hospital there having a proceedure done that will hopefully remove much of the (extreme) fluid build up he's sustained over the past several months. he has been on oxygen for some time now and has been retaining vast amounts of fluid. needless to say, he has not been doing well. i am burdened by the knowledge that my grandfather does not know jesus...i believe he knows who jesus is, for sure, but has never felt the need to allow jesus to be the lord of his life. how do you tell one of the people you've looked up to the most as a child, one of the most self-made, self-sufficient people you know that perhaps it is time to consider that he may have a need for something greater than himself; a need for something that will meet him in the areas where he has fallen short his entire life; a need for a love that is life-changing and unlike anything he has ever known?

i pray for the courage to find the words, and the ability to love in a way that puts shape to the words that would come...