on the passing of carl fh henry

blake wrote a verse that has meant an enormous amount to me through the years:

He who bends to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sunrise.

somehow I have always known that my time with my little ones [michaela siobhan (7), skye teresa (5) and alia noelle (3)] would be very brief. When I have held them - tonight, even, when chalea and I were on one of our "dates" driving from ice cream to walmart where she was going to spend some christmas money - i realized that this was a brief moment and I needed to cherish it, but not hold it too tightly to my chest because i simply can't have it for long. On new years day, I was walking through Patuxent Valley State Park with Alia on my shoulders playing "Where's Alia?" And she would laugh and then she would bend her little blond head in front of mine, first left and then right so that I would see just where she - in fact - was.

In just a little time, my precious little birds will fly away and my nest will be empty.

In just a little more time (with God's grace), my time will be nearly gone and I will decline.

I've been reading through 2nd Chronicles and I so want to end my brief sojourn in time well. Its sobering to read of the Israeli kings who lived well and then lost their path at the end. I'm so happy to hear that Dr. Henry kept in the way until the end.

The other day I reminded beth that we have many pains ahead. Both of my parents and Beth's mom are alive and they will not live forever. Our daughters (by God's grace) will hit the teenage years and will surely break our hearts (could it not be so perhaps?). And we will grow old. I reminded Bethany that the time is now to invest in those things that will make our hearts and souls strong so that when these storms hit we will stand in Jesus Christ. I cannot find the quote, but somewhere Thomas Jefferson, who I believe lost most or all of his kids and his wife before he passed, wrote that we spend our lives preparing for the moments of supreme sorrow.

I want to be faithful and be strong in God so that I will remember what really matters when it matters the most.

God help us all to have an end as well-regarded as Carl FH Henry's.