May God Bless You by d chudasko, the new webmaster for this site. (Thankyou to Don Barton for his faithful oversight of this Blog)

On Thursday afternoon I was told that my grandfather whom I loved and respected greatly had become unconscious, so I left work and went to see him at the nursing home.  I sat with him, held his hand and prayed to God to take this good and faithful servant to be with him. Although it was the actual opposite of what I wanted, When I saw Pup on the Sunday before he expressed in very clear conversation that he was tired and wanted to be with Jesus.  But I am selfish and I wanted him to stay even though he was on  medication to counteract the cancer raging in his body. ........

On Thursday night knowing that his time with us was drawing to a close, his children and his grandchildren came and talked, laughed and shared all good memories with Pup while sitting in his room and around his bed. One by one familes left saying their goodbyes knowing Pups time was near.  Several times during the night Pup had some moments where he awoke from his state and recognised and communicated to his family but slipped back into unconsciousness. At the end of the night It was only an Aunty and myself and I felt compelled to read from the book that Pup cherished and lived for.

Thursday morning I read Ecclesiates Chapter 3,The passage about there is a time for....  And when I read it in the morning I knew God had given it to me as message that I had to let go of my selfishness and let Pup go.  So Thursday night I read Ecclesiates Chapter 3 out loud to Pup from his own Bible. When I finished I prayed with Pup even though I felt so unworthy of this task.  But its now I feel so honoured that I did something for him that he couldnt do himself. I set my selfishness aside and told him its ok to go if God was calling him home.

On Friday morning I was going to go see him at about 10.30 and Tanya texted me to ask if she could come as well. Tanya had to pick max up at 11.30 so asked if I could go earlier.  We went down at 9.00 and spent nearly an hour sitting at Pups bedside.

I was holding Pups hand when he left us to go to Jesus.

I know its the cycle of life, but it still tears me apart knowing he is no longer here to offer or impart the wisdom and righteousness he had so many times before when asked, in such a simple but loving way.

Pup used to warmly greet us with a kiss usually with his unshaven and prickly face, and a great big hug. Its these warm greetings and encouragement that ill miss the most, especially wiping my face with my sleeve after brushing his face with mine.  But when I left him on Friday the one thing I now will miss was his goodbyes.....   Another heltfelt hug, grabbing your face for more of those kisses and the "God Bless you" to every person that came to see him.  He said that God would never let anything bad happen to you if you had his blessing so he always said in saying good bye  'God bless You'. So when I left him I held his face kissed him goodbye and said "God Bless you Pup"

So in the passing of Pup, I would like to continue this salutation, and would like to encourage or even challenge anyone else to pass on Gods blessing by saying those simple yet very powerful words to everyone you meet. 

'God Bless you'  

David Chudasko

Comments

[beth]

And God's blessings on you, Dave. Thanks for sharing your story, and welcome to the blog.
Ecclesiastes 3 has been spoken strongly into our life in the past fortnight as well. What great words of life, that although there are seasons for everything, he has placed eternity in our hearts.

[David Chatelier]

Thanks Dave for the authenticity and vulnerability that you display in your post - we have identified that we would like to see both those qualities further developed in our community. You are in our prayers at this time, and particularly as you prepare for your grandfathers funeral.

[Dave]

Id just like to thank all those people who have come up to me and wished me their condolences at this time. Ive not been one in the past to express my condolences but being on the other side you cant imagine how good it feels to get a warm handshake and a warm hug of comfort. Ive received many great big 'pup' hugs over the last couple of days. Tomorrow is the funeral, and the family consisting of 5 sisters including my mum and 2 brothers (my aunties and uncles) have asked me to read the eulogy. How honored and privileged am I to fulfill such A blessing. I am humbled that they have asked me to do this. That they think I am fit for such a role.

As I prepare for tomorrow, I have been asking God to continue to use my Grandfather, "Pup" during and after the service.
I pray that his life will continue to be a blessing especially to his children and relatives. One thing that has come out of this in that my grandfather was very passionate, in everything he did. Sometimes so passionate he forgot the sensitivities required in the delivery of his passion especially when it came to the things of our Lord Jesus Christ. I now understand where I get my passion from, its directly from him. And yes, I too have to work on the delivery of my passion.
Please forgive me If I have offended you or hurt you in any way. If my delivery wasnt as good as it could have been. Sometimes I think more about what i think God wants, and less about the people trying to carry out Gods work.

Again I apologize.

God Bless you

[Anita]

What a blessing to have such a loving and godly grandfather. Dave, you will never forget such a beautiful man and your heart will be so sad for a while but isn't it wonderful to know your 'Pup' is rejoicing with Jesus and one day you will be with him again?

Thank you for blessing us with the story of your very precious grandfather.

[Beck]

Dave I've not visited the blog here for ages but I'm so glad that I have.
It's so clear the love that you have for your Pup and the blessings that you have received from him. Continuing to pray for you and your family, and that you will also continue to be challenged and humbled by the life of this great man of God.
Blessings xoxo

[Natalie Vinaev]

Dave, your Grandad was truely an amazing man. I remember well the stories being told between him and my grandad, they had us in stitches. They are both now in God's great company. My sincerest condolences to you and your family, love and blessings, Nat V.