Letter 568English

Letters From Grandpa #568

Boyce Mouton · 2 pages · 893 words

LETTERS FROM GRANDPA
568

Dearest grandchild,

Today’s letter will be about the profound truth that our influence does not end when we die. Abel was the first person on earth to die and he still speaks (Hebrews 11:4). For good or bad our influence continues. Randy Carlson died April 16, 2019 at the age of 67, but his influence continues. Here is his story for those who don’t know. Randy was born August 21, 1951 in Onawa, Iowa. This is just a few miles from Whiting, Iowa where Mike Pratt lived. Both young men lived with us and became a part of our family. Randy was a student at the Ozark Christian College and the first time I saw him I was told “that’s the kid who is dying of cancer.” This was true! In spite of surgery, chemo, and man’s best efforts, Randy was skin and bones, urinating blood, and given only two months to live.

God, however, had other plans for Randy. By age 20 Randy had conquered cancer and by age 24 he graduated from college. The same year married a girl from our church named Donna Whitman. God blessed them with four children, Jessica, Drue, Nathan, and Travis.

Sadly, 44 years later the cancer returned and Randy passed away. While going through some old papers at the office I came across these thoughts from Randy. He was offering suggestions for those who have trouble finding something to do for Jesus. Facing death as a teen ager gave Randy wisdom beyond his years. Here are some suggestions from Randy that anybody can do for Jesus! 1. Read to a person who has bad eyesight or is blind. 2. Visit a shut-in and take them a copy of the LOOKOUT. 3. Take a person who needs transportation shopping or to the doctor. 4. Call on someone who is bereaved. 5. Take Church literature to a friend. 6. Visit someone in the hospital. 7. Invite someone home for dinner. 8. Mow the grass or shovel snow for an older person. 9. Take a dish of food to a home where there is sickness. 10. Provide transportation for someone to church. 11. Send a birthday card to a friend. 12. Mail a gift to a serviceman or college student. 13. Send a sympathy card to one who has lost a loved one. 14. Write a Bible college student and enclose a dollar or two in your letter. 15. Tell your Bible school class teacher or church officers that you are looking for some way to help. 16. Help clean house for someone who is not well. 17. Give some used clothing to help a family in need. 18. Look for a way to use your hobby or special talent in church work. 19. Telephone an absentee and let them know they were missed in church. 20. Offer to take care of the children of a young mother some afternoon so she can do church work. 21. Clip an interesting item from the newspaper and share it with a friend. 22. Invite a missionary to your home for a meal or to stay overnight. 23. Find a boy who has no father and take him to a ball game. 24. Share flowers from your yard with the church and with shut-ins. 25. Bring a foreign student to your home over a holiday or just for an ordinary weekend. 26. When you take a gift for a new baby, don’t forget a small remembrance for the other children. 27. Invite a family from church over for an evening of fellowship at your home.l 28. Send a card to someone in the hospital or in a rest home. 29. Pray for your minister and church leaders. 30. Clip this list and share a copy with someone else.

Here are some similar suggestions directly from Jesus: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:31-40)

May your voice from the grave be like that of Randy!

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce