in a foreign land

today my family and their friends are gathering to remember and rejoice in the life led by my uncle – r paul creech.

and i am in india

although i wish i could join them, i think there is something fitting in my absence.  my uncle passionately loved the world.  he served many years in places like france, japan and africa.  he seemed uniquely qualified for such work.  a jack of all trades…and master of many.  a servant’s heart, an uncanny ability to take on the cloak of whatever culture he was in and live well within it’s covering.  he was a great husband to my aunt, a wonderful father to his children and a beloved brother to my mother and her sisters.

after years of faithful service, his calling shifted to one country, one state, one city, one church and one family.  though he touched many in that process and embraced them in a new way, his heart forever focused on the spread of The Word and it’s message of hope.  he sought the Father fervently on behalf of his children.  begging for wisdom in raising them up in the way they should go.

he was a gentle servant. a soft-hearted son.  a warrior in body and spirit.

i have watched from a distance as he traded his garment of active physical service for one of physical example.  i have never seen another walk the journey cancer brings quite the way he did.  he was forever grateful, even in his last text to his family, for the smallest things.  finding joy in the morning and strength of heart and character that was unprecedented.

and so as he begins his forever, with family and friends reminiscing, much laughter and a few tears i’m sure (though there were strict instructions that this not be a sad event) i am taking the baton of service and continuing the work of my family

in a foreign land