Yesterday Uncle Jim Koontz went to Heaven to be with God. WOW - it's such a great feeling knowing exactly where someone is headed after their time on this earth. It's hard for us to really understand that what we have here is NOTHING compared to what it'll be like in Heaven.
Uncle Jim battled lung cancer for about two years. He never smoked and just like his mom (my Grandma Koontz) he was diagnosed with lung cancer and fought a tough battle. Uncle Jim was a minister with the Church of the Brethern. He lived in Ohio, Florida, Kansas and back to Ohio ministering churches and leading people to God. Uncle Jim was corky (aren't we all a little corky) and I didn't always understand him but I did learn things from him. He married your dad and I. I remember talking to Uncle Jim about the ceremony and I distinctly remember him talking about wedding bands and how there is no start or end - they go on forever. The love of a married couple should be unending. It's not always easy and you don't always agree but you ALWAYS love one another and work through your differences.
Towards the end of Uncle Jim's life he worked at Home Depot. I think he took the job to "pay the bills" - medical bills were adding up, he was in school training to be a counselor and he needed money. He turned an "ordinary" job into an extraordinary opportunity - not for himself but for God. Uncle Jim met people of all walks of life here. He never judged them. He talked to each person and cared about them. That changed people in a big way. The store manager said that he had been there for 15 years but the change that he saw in that store over the 1 1/2 that Uncle Jim worked there was amazing!!
It's great to know where you come from. It's even better to learn from them and carry forward what you have learned.
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