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1 great man was celebrated last week. We were at Indy all week for Hans' Uncle Dave's funeral. He was young and the death was sudden but I am rejoicing in knowing that he is with Jesus, so I want to write something to celebrate 1 great man.

The Bible says that the Lord searches the whole earth for just 1 heart that is His, and he sure found it in Dave. Abe is named after him for a reason. Early on in our marriage, when we were struggling with typical newlywed stuff, we both knew that we wanted to model our marriage after Dave and Deb. They never once sat us down and talked to us, or gave us advice, or told us what to do because they never needed to... we could tell by thier example. They loved God, each other and thier family. I sat at the funeral on Friday and realized that we are in no comparable to them because they have so many more years (twice as many to be exact) but still, we strive to have the foundation, love, honor and respect they had... and the Fun!

Dave was a Giant of a kid. He gave borderline crushing bear hugs- you could laugh or pass out! His laugh was booming and heartfelt. He joked all the time. He worked with high school kids as a youth leader for 15 years!!! (I am still thinking about the impact of this man when I think of that!) We would go for very long periods of time in between visits and he made you feel like you didn't miss a beat.

His wife Deb was always a welcoming hostess. From the time I met her I knew I was going to get along with her. Through out Hans' whole life, people would always tell him how much like Dave he was, well, when we got together, it turned into how much I was like Deb. So, she became a "resource" for me on what drove me nuts about Hans. I remember asking her a few things and her face would lite up and she would just grin and laugh about how Dave does the same things or how the family is like this or that and we would both giggle about how dorky the two of them are when they were together (or apart for that matter).

There was a comment on how Dave was an unlikely youth leader because of his sense of style. I was laughing to myself because I see some same qualities in Hans... I do try to help dress him, though! I just think of the time he danced to Vanilla Ice at church in front of Jr. High kids! I see the similarities! It is ironic that we are in Youth Ministry, too. We never planned it this way, but knowing that Dave was a youth sponsor, does not surprise me that Hans would be shaped for this ministry as well.

Above all else, Dave made me feel at home in the family. I know the whole family loves and accepts me, but with Dave I knew it because of his personality. I am going to miss his Hugs and his laughs. I am going to miss how he loves my husband when he is around him. He loved the Lord with all his heart, soul, body and HUGS!! We will dearly miss him, but look forward to the day when he will be hugging us in Heaven.

The verse the Eulogy was based on was Hebrews 10:23:

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."