A good man dies and a little man is born!

My father-in-law Ralph Ridder died on Thursday evening at 7:13 p.m. It was a mix of great sadness and incredible joy all at the same time.

At 6:30 p.m. those family who had come to the hosptial on that evening gathered in his ICU room for prayers and encouragement and singing. I believe there were eighteen of us standing around his bed in the intensive care room. His breathing and his pulse were getting weaker and weaker. He had been unconscious for the past 5 days. Just that afternoon we had been told his medical prognosis was not good.

Ralph had been a committed and very involved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. He was a member and very active attender here at Orchard. Walt Rogers prayed. His three grandchildren who are worship leaders (Alli Rogers, Michael Rogers, Ben Bartlett) led the singing. I often talk about holy moments. This was one of those very holy moments where God is present and real. We prayed and we sang and we talked with Ralph.

My son Jeremy arrived at about 7:00 p.m. to say goodbye to his grandpa. Ben led the whole group in singing In Christ Alone....the final lines are something like....Till he returns or calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!

At the conclusion of the song Ralph had been called to heaven. Someone this morning said he simply moved from one choir to another. He did love all kinds of music. Two knee replacements in this earthly body and now he's probably dancing in heaven. Within 45 minutes his family had moved to the waiting area to think about how to celebrate his life at his funeral service.

He was a very good man. He finished well. He left a huge legacy of family who loved him and want to live their lives for Jesus.

Today his 19th great grandchild was born: Joseph Thomsen Majerus. He'll be buried on Tuesday and on Friday or Saturday his 20th great grandchild will be born. Life goes on. He'll be missed! One day there will be another family reunion in heaven. What stories we'll tell.

It was Jesus who said, "I go to prepare a place for you. If it were not so, I would have told you."