Success in the Lord [ This post is dedicated to my beloved grandfather- Luka. Sunset- 09/09/2013]

The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it. ~David Orr

My grandfather passed away on September 9^th of last year. He was over 100 years old. I feel the need to dedicate a post in memory of him. He was such a beautiful soul. He grew up in a small village in Kenya and had very little. Later he went on to fight in the world war, worked alongside Italian prisoners of war and also worked in a British colonial farm.  My grandfather did not quantify success in material possessions. I feel as if he quantified life in his faith, family, love, forgiveness etc

Shortly after his death, I was in extreme heartache because I would never see him here on this earth. I knew that he was with my Jesus and I found comfort and peace in this. Exactly 2 months after his passing, I had a dream that my grandfather was young and he had some “caprice like trousers” and a cap. He was not using his walking stick and was walking pretty fast and he looked really young. I later shared this with my sister who later sent me pictures of my grandfather. One photo was over 30 years old and it looked really similar my grandfather in the dream. He had the “caprice like trousers”  which was actually a trouser that he folded up as he was in his coffee farm. He had the same hat that I saw in my dream. If you have read heaven is for real, Colton revealed to his dad that his grand father was young in heaven. This to me affirms that my grandfather is in heaven, just as I believed!

All in all, I reflect back on his life with gratitude. He has shown me what matters in life. It is not the 401k or the vacation houses. It is the simple and free things. I refuse to quantify success in dollars and how far up yuou are in the corporate ladder. There is so much more that we are called to be and we need to see the bigger picture. I leave you with a very personal tribute I wrote last year for my grandfather. It was read in his funeral.

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Our family patriarch taught us about self-discipline, love, faith and prayer. He was meek and simple but his actions taught us a lot, especially in his silence. This is the only person I know who woke up at 5am every day to pray for his grand children and great grand children. I attribute majority of our family successes to his prayers.

I have numerous memories of grandpa. I remember that he never liked to idle around. When he would visit us, he would take the time to walk around. He loved being involved in family events. In every ceremony grandpa contributed a lot (physically, emotionally and spiritually) . He was front and center in the decision making, preparations and celebrations. We know how much his coffee meant to him, he was really active tending to his coffee.

Let us always remember our loving grandpa . This is a great time for personal reflection. He has truly challenged us to be better and do better.
Romans 14:8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.