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I had the privilege of speaking at my maternal grandfather's funeral yesterday. He was a 92 year old WWII vet, in the 101st Airborn, parachuted into Normandy on D-Day, everyone in his platoon was killed, he was captured and was a German POW for months until the end of the war. He was not a small man - 6'3" 200+ lbs - but had gotten down to 90 lbs by the time he was rescued. He never talked about any of this until the last 15 years or so. His story is somewhat similar to Louie Zamperini (Unbroken movie). He had a troubled life even after returning home, struggling as a husband and father, alcoholism, paranoia (PTSD), and temper problems. My grandmother, who was a great saint of God, died of cancer in '91. She always prayed for him and was a living example of 1 Peter 3. Through her long struggle and death, he came to true faith in Christ. The last 25 years of his life were markedly different than before - far from perfect but more joy and peace, restored relationships, no addiction. He was a wonderful grandfather to me.
In speaking, I talked about how I saw his capture and imprisonment in the war as an allegory for his life. He had wrestled with Satan and lost, he was captured and had no way of freeing himself. It took a greater force, outside of himself, to come and rescue him. It was ultimately the love of God in Christ and the witness of my grandmother doing battle for his soul that won the victory over his ultimate enemy and captor and freed his soul from the torture of bitterness and sin.
I just wanted to share a small portion of the story of a patriot who helped save the world from evil and was ultimately saved from evil himself.
In speaking, I talked about how I saw his capture and imprisonment in the war as an allegory for his life. He had wrestled with Satan and lost, he was captured and had no way of freeing himself. It took a greater force, outside of himself, to come and rescue him. It was ultimately the love of God in Christ and the witness of my grandmother doing battle for his soul that won the victory over his ultimate enemy and captor and freed his soul from the torture of bitterness and sin.
I just wanted to share a small portion of the story of a patriot who helped save the world from evil and was ultimately saved from evil himself.
