Temporary Home

The week of Christmas is usually the best week of my whole year. I love Christmas and spending time with my family and friends. This year it would be different being in another state, but, between the internet, phone, and church friends we were not going to be lacking for Christmas cheer. This Christmas was the worst Christmas of my entire life. My mom called my phone while I was out Monday with a friend and I asked if I could call her back, when she told me to call as soon as possible I could hear that she'd been crying or at least very very upset. The rest of the outing I had that feeling in my stomach, that balled fist trying to push through to the outside, I just knew it was going to be so bad. When I finally worked up the nerve to call I couldn't get a response on anyone's phone. I knew if I checked facebook it would be there. With a slight fear I checked, as soon as I saw my Uncle Jim's name in the line I started panicking. I tried my mom's phone three more times and when I didn't get her I called my Aunt Paula. She told me short of a miracle of God my Uncle Jim would die very soon. I was pretty much sobbing as I tried to make sense of it, I couldn't quite comprehend what she was telling me. He wasn't supposed to be that sick. It was just supposed to be a minor infection that would heal quickly with some meds. My Uncle Jim has been much more gravely ill than this before and God brought him through. I was frantically trying to get more information, Aunt Paula told me to call Aunt Betty my Uncle Jim's wife. As I hung up the phone I couldn't contain myself. I fell down to my knees sobbing and begging God to please please spare my Uncle. Anyone who knows my family know that my Uncle Jim was my Grandpa growing up. I have no memories of my blood Grandparents until my teen years. In my heart Aunt Betty and Uncle Jim will forever hold the true Grandparents spot. I tried to catch my breath and stop crying long enough to talk to my Aunt Betty, I knew my Uncle was sedated to help him with his pain. When I got her she tried to sound positive and ask me about the house and the weather here, and I asked about Uncle Jim she still tried to sound positive. As I tried to ask if I could talk to him, my voice broke and I couldn't hold it back anymore. I started crying and she told me it didn't look good at all, and I said I wanted to go to them and be able to see him one last time. I love him so much still, I couldn't fathom not saying goodbye. My Aunt said She was gonna hand the phone to our Aunt Judy. I talked to Aunt Judy just a little while I was crying so hard then I could barely talk. I asked her to give my Uncle a hug and tell him how very much I love him even if he wasn't awake to hear it. I hung up the phone and sobbed and sobbed. I stayed in our room for and hour crying and begging God to spare him. At 8:15 that night my beloved Uncle Jim passed. He went to heaven with out me being able to see him one last time, to tell him in my own voice how much I truly love him and how much he meant to me, how I think of him every single day. That he was the biggest encourager I've ever had, that his hugs made me feel so truly loved and cared for and safe. That I'd rather have him here than anything in this world, that I'd trade ten years of my life for just one more day with him. I miss him so much it hurts everyday when he comes to my mind. I got to see him this summer when we moved up to North Carolina. We stayed up there for three days, it was so wonderful. I talked to him on my birthday, it was so funny trying to talk to him because he was getting hard of hearing and I had to repeat myself alot. I had planned on calling them on Christmas day. He was buried on Christmas Eve, I wasn't able to make it to his funeral. I didn't sleep one minute Wednesday night, I'm not sure if it was because of the funeral or my general sadness that he was gone. I haven't slept much at all this week. I still cry every day, it feel like a piece of my very happiness was taken from me when he left me. I know he's in heaven but it doesn't change the fact that he's not with me here, I know it's selfish, but I can't help feeling this way. He was such an amazing man, lived such a Godly life, loved his Family and loved only God more than us. His and Aunt Betty's love story is quite like Dallas and mine. We met and knew we would marry our spouses within the first week and were married within a few months. I hope and pray that God will comfort my sweet sweet Aunt in the dark days ahead of her, I can't imagine the darkness she will have to go through. I have never needed my family around me more but have never been farther from them than now. Dallas is the most amazing husband I could've ever asked for, he's been so tremendously loving and taking care of me and holding me when I cry. He listens to my endless stories of the memories I made with Uncle Jim, he never gets impatient or acts like I'm bothering him, he is such a comforter. Please pray for me, I need it desperately. This cloud seems to be here for a while. This song had struck me as so beautiful the first time I heard it and brought me to tears when I heard the part about the old man. Now it strikes me as just what my beloved Uncle would've said had he been able to speak. I can't really listen to it anymore, but, the words are so true. One day I'll get to go be with my Uncle in a place where he is pain free and healthy. He will be smiling that smile I loved so much and we will explore the Forever Home that God made for us. Heaven sounds so much sweeter today, I've never felt more like going Home than now.
"Little boy, six years old A little too used to being alone Another new mom and dad, another school Another house that'll never be home When people ask him how he likes this place He looks up and says with a smile upon his face
This is my temporary home It's not where I belong Windows and rooms that I'm passing through This is just a stop on the way to where I'm going I'm not afraid because I know This is my temporary home
A young mom on her own She needs a little help, got no where to go She's looking for a job, looking for a way out 'Cause a half-way house will never be a home At night she whispers to her baby girl Someday we'll find our place here in this world
This is our temporary home It's not where we belong Windows and rooms that we're passing through This is just a stop on the way to where we're going I'm not afraid because I know This is our temporary home

Old man, hospital bed The room is filled with people he loves And he whispers, "don't cry for me, I'll see you all someday" He looks up and says, "I can see God's face"
This is my temporary home It's not where I belong Windows and rooms that I'm passing through This was just a stop on the way to where I'm going I'm not afraid because I know This was my temporary home This is our temporary home"