I had a long talk with a good friend of mine tonight. We talk often of faith and art, why we do the things we do, and what our passions are. It dawned on me that while we often all go around with big grins plastered on our faces because that’s how we think we need to be, we’re all broken. Yes, broken. And it just seems silly to me to wear these masks all the time. We might not have it all together, but let’s not have it all together while trying to work through it together. Unity.

Another friend of mine wrote these words of encouragement to me awhile back:

“If there’s anything that I know, I know that though humanity’s fallen, and though we have the greatest capacity for brokenness, we are also the most VALUABLE of creatures, the most wonderful, no matter what we do. There is a light inside us that NOBODY can take away, inside every human – because people are just so beautiful and complex and hurt and broken and paradoxical, and yet we’re all just vulnerable beings trying to walk the best way we can in our fallen state on this earth. And somehow… that’s AMAZING to me – that makes us all the more beautiful.”

Thanks to some awesome friends. You know who you are!

This was the last picture taken of my Paw Paw before he was diagnosed with cancer almost 16 months ago.

I’ve never lost anyone close before. I guess it’s something that everyone goes through, and I suppose I consider myself lucky that I’ve gone through almost 24 years being blessed with close friends and family.

My Paw Paw passed away last weekend. He had been fighting stage 4 cancer. When he was diagnosed almost 16 months ago, the doctors said he was in the “weeks to months” category as far as life expectancy. In that sense, it truly is a miracle that he was able to live as long as he did. And truly, the last year of his life was rich and full of life. He didn’t feel sick, and you never would have known his battle.

I can say truthfully that my Paw Paw was the godliest man I’ve ever known. He embodied what it meant to follow Jesus. He knew Scripture backwards and forwards. He prayed for his children and his grandchildren every day — he told me this on several occasions. He was a loving man. We used to joke that he had never met a stranger. He will surely be one of the greeters in Heaven!

The funeral service was this past Monday. I was asked to put together a “celebration of life” slideshow to be shown at his service.