In Remembrance of Grandpa Boboth

This past Monday my grandpa passed away at the Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle. This week has been such a living example of the Lord's grace to us through trials. Sunday Carrie and I were on our way to see her family when we got the news that grandpa had flat-lined earlier that morning, but they were able to revive him and he seemed steady at the time. At this point I didn't even think about stopping and seeing him on our way to Port Townsend because it seemed like he was doing okay after the scare. Then I got a next from my brother saying that he and his wife were going to head up to Seattle to see grandpa. At this point Carrie and I agreed that we would stop and see him as well. We got to see him and a lot of the family for a couple hours that night which was hard, but a huge blessing. The next morning around 7:30, the Lord called my grandpa home to be with Him. I was so at peace amidst the sorrow because I had gotten to see him the night before. The Lord knew that I needed at extra text message from my brother to decide to go visit grandpa. He was so gracious in giving Carrie and I those last few precious minutes to spend with him.

Now, to the man himself. By buddy Aaron Halvorsen has a blog series entitled "The Manliest Men Who Ever Manned". I don't plan on doing a lot more of these but I do think that my grandpa fits into that category. I just want to talk about a couple of the attributes I admired most about him. One is his work ethic. As I'm sitting here thinking, I can't come up with a better example of what biblical work looks like than my grandpa. Work actually existed in the Garden of Eden as the Lord gave Adam the job to work and keep the land (Genesis 2:15). Lots of people are hard workers, but grandpa always went above and beyond. He did it joyfully. He did it because he loved the people he was serving. It was always one of the ways he told you he loved you. He also did it quietly and humbly. In fact, I didn't even realize how hard it did work, in many ways, until my reflections on him this past week. That's how quietly the man served.

Another thing I greatly respect about my grandpa is his love and devotion to his family. As my Uncle John said at the service yesterday, he was our family's "pillar". He was the father to seven kids and the loyal wife to my grandmother for 50 years before her passing ten years ago. Grandpa was never wealthy monetarily, but he knew that he was abundantly wealthy in the blessing of the family that the Lord had provided for him. He loved family get-togethers! He'd always have a huge smile on his face as he would cook some meal that no one could ever seem to quite duplicate no matter how hard they tried.

That leads me to the third thing I loved about my grandpa: his cooking. You never left starving after a meal at grandpa's house. Grandpa wasn't necessarily a man of many words, and his cooking was one of the major ways that he showed the people he loved, that he loved him. From the elk spaghetti to the Czech version of pigs-in-a-blanket. grandpa was always providing you a meal in which you couldn't wait to take the next bite (or get seconds if your plate was empty). I can't wait to take part in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19) with a multitude of believers, including my grandpa.

Lastly, and most importantly, the thing I respect the most about my grandpa is his love for Jesus. The Lord opened my grandpa's eyes to the truth of the gospel about 30 years ago at an Easter sunrise service at my aunt and uncle's house. I'm only 25 so I didn't know the "before Jesus" version of grandpa, but I sure did get the fruits of sanctification in his life. Grandpa was a faithful member of Lower Valley Christian Fellowship, where my family attends. He followed the example set by his Savior by serving others before himself, and he did it with a smile on his face. My grandpa, like all of us, was a sinner. All these good things I've mentioned didn't get grandpa even close to the level of holiness required to be in God's presence. But, praise God! He sent his son, Jesus - the perfect God-man, and had him take on the wrath of the Father on the cross that sinners like grandpa and I, deserved to bear. By God's grace, grandpa understood that and gave his life over to his Savior!

"Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:55-58

My grandpa's labor was not in vain! He is in the presence of his Savior! We will miss you grandpa!