a tribute to life...

"Jesus has overcome...and the grave is overwhelmed.

the victory is won.
He is risen from the dead,
And I will rise when He calls my name.
No more sorrow, no more pain.

I will rise on eagle's wings before my God, fall on my knees

and RISE

I will rise."



the passage of time waits on no one.
it has no mercy. absolutely none.
a whole year has past.

but the news still cuts so deep.



sometimes life is cut so short.

sometimes those we love are taken from us too soon.

sometimes our earthly angels become heavenly angels.

what is comforting during all this is that God is in control.

I remember as it it were yesterday. I had felt weary all day long with the news of the passing of a member in the ward in Pavas. I was questioning the reality of life with our family for the eternities. I remember testifying to a group of people not of our faith of eternal families and of the reality of eternal families as I attempted to comfort the crying mother and daughter that had just lost their husband and father.
yet, still I questioned what I was teaching.

the weariness continued until we got home that night and the phone rang. A large number appeared on the caller id...a sign that the call was coming from out of the country. I recognized the last 7 digits as the number to my house in utah.
the weariness drug me to the bathroom. locked the door. and answered the phone.

hi kolby...

my mom's voice was shaken...with the sound that she had been crying earlier.
i didn't bother asking how she was...i said. what happened!?
she informed me that my grandpa had passed away.
regardless of the strength i demonstrated hours earlier, i lost it at this moment. but felt deep within myself the need to be strong to comfort my family from 3,000 miles away. i said words that at first i didn't believe, but things deep down i knew to be true...that makes no sense, but at the time to me it did.

we may not always comprehend the why behind God's plan. but that is unnecessary because that is why HE is the only ALL KNOWING God. He is in control. and that gives me peace.

a whole year has passed, grandpa. i have felt your presence on numerous occasions. I have seen the imprint of you sitting near me during some of my hardest moments. I know you have seen me. I know you are here with us still...and I know that all will work out for the best after this life. I know that we don't know now, but all will make sense in the end.

i still miss you regardless...



here's a tribute to life well lived. here's a tribute to life cut short and loved ones taken too soon...here's a life with no more sorrow, no more pain.