goodbye uncle mike

after being very sick for over four years, my uncle mike passed away on sunday night at 9pm.

my aunt deb and uncle mike had be housesit for them when i was 19 and i ended up living there for 7 months before they kicked me out. basically, i stopped doing any housework and was only working part time and was spending all my time and money frivolously. they realized they werent really helping me. kicking me out was definitely the right thing to do. and they, being the good people they are, were able to get over it and we were able to grow close together again. i enjoyed visiting with them over the last ten years. and i hated seeing how badly my uncle was doing.

thankfully, i was able to see him the two days before his death. the second visit i had with him, i told him i really loved him and he said "dont worry, i know you love me." it was really special because he could barely communicate. his answers were short and breathy. by the next day he was completely verbally unresponsive.

i'll be reading the following at his funeral service on monday the 12th:

1 John 4.7-18

7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son^[a] into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for^[b] our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.