Hi Everyone,

The page in the scrapbook carries the title, “Obituary.”

The word is hand-written, but the text that follows was

made by a printer.

The “Obituary,” starts out with a poem written by Henry

Wadsworth Longfellow entitled, “FOOTPRINTS.” The poem reads as follows:

Lives of great men all remind us,

We can make our lives sublime.

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time.

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Then I read these opening words of the obituary, “Nathan R. Junker has certainly left his footprints for others to follow. His caring heart and love of God was plain to see.” Near the close of his obituary Nathan wrote, “His wife and four children survive him…”

This is Nathan with one of his three daughters.

Nathan Junker wrote these words as an assignment for a class while he was in High School. One of his teachers had a tradition of having her students write out a story of their lives. Lives that they had already lived, and the lives they anticipated living in the future – complete with their own obituary that would say whatever they wanted it to say.

What is deeply haunting about these words of Nathan Junker is the fact that they turned out to be eerily prophetic. For you see, at the age of 30, Nathan Junker drowned while saving the life of a teen-age boy who was swimming with him. Nathan left behind a wife and four beautiful children.

Nathan’s mom and dad have spent the past five days sharing their grief with Judy and me. And what is so amazing is how accurate Nathan’s projections were.

Anyone who knew Nathan knew he loved two things with all his heart. He loved his God and he loved his wife and children.

Nathan’s love for God seemed natural for him. After all, his dad was a pastor. He had grown up attending Sunday School, worship services, Christian camps, and a whole host of other activities that pointed him to his need to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

But Nathan’s faith wasn’t a silent one. At his funeral service person after person spoke about his strong faith, and how Nathan’s faith had helped them take the steps necessary to have a strong faith themselves.

And there’s no doubt Nathan loved his wife and three girls and one son. He walked his oldest daughter to school each day. Just a week before he died Nathan had spent time with his family on a camping vacation.

Here's Nathan with his wife and four children shortly before he died.

Nathan’s mom and dad brought hundreds of pictures of Nathan with them this week. Pictures filled with smiles and joy.

So it is no wonder that the grief of Nathan’s mom and dad, and his wife and four children is deep. But, as Judy and I have learned this week, not overwhelming.

Nathan’s mom and dad have told us about one word that is helping them deal with their grief. It is a word that Nathan’s brother, Tim, received from God when he was questioning his brother’s death. The word is CONTINUE.

Continue! If there is one word that every grieving parent faces it is this one. When the pain is overpowering it’s hard to even think of continuing. When a parent realizes that their child isn’t coming back it can be hard to continue on with life.

But that’s what Nathan’s mom and dad know he would want. They know it is what God would want too. And so they face each day with one goal in mind. They choose to CONTINUE!

God bless everyone. Remember, we love you guys. Pat & Judy