My Dad went to be with Jesus...

Fred E. Wert

It is still pretty difficult for me to comprehend that my Dad is with Jesus right now and has been for 2 weeks already. I was there when he died and praise God he recognized me, Lauchlin and smiled and waved at little Jude. He shouldn't have been able to do those things because he had been declared brain dead a couple hours earlier after 20+ minutes of CPR. Little did he or any of us know that his drive to the hospital the Thursday before would be beginning of the end of his life. He was initially diagnosed with walking pnemonia 4 weeks earlier but over some time, heart stopping and testing at the hospital it was soon discovered that he had congenital heart disease that had been eating away at his heart for the past few years and there wasn't much left. His few days at the hospital included his heart stopping and a number of sequences of CPR, ventilator etc. We thought he was going to die a number of times and miraculously he would wake up and be very alert. God was merciful in allowing us to get a flight out of Memphis last minute with no delays that got us there just as my family was running down the hall because my Dad's heart was going into arrest again and this time he had said he didn't want any intervention. So, I held his hand as he struggled for breath and his heart beat it's last. Lauchlin and I agreed that his dying was so real and connected to eternity that it was almost hard to comprehend that one minute he was there with us and the next with Jesus.

As we looked back over the last year in which the doctors' were amazed that he hadn't been struggling physically during and saw the mercy of God. Not only did we not know to worry about him during significant events in all of us kids's lives, he also wasn't suffering or struggling. He was able to welcome his first grandchild into the world...

Walk his youngest daughter down the aisle at her wedding... ...and my brother and his business partners sold their business in a very significant transaction. Dad was there to celebrate. I just think how distracting or even awful it would have been to have dad suffering or even have a heartattack at one of these events. Thank you Lord for your mercy.

I wanted to share some things that I will really miss about my Dad...

• The way that he would call me and say 'Hey Kenny, how are you doing?' (Kenny was his nickname for me since I was little. He had started calling Jude, 'Juder'. So he would add on 'How's my little Juder and Lauchlin doing?')
• His love for anything golf, football or coffee related. Especially Penn State. Lauchlin said he will miss on our visits Dad coming out of the kitchen saying 'Lauchlin, how about some coffee.' with a big grin on his face (this could happen any time of the day not just morning!)
• His passion for lost and hurting people. His willingness to be a minority politically in his area and community because of these beliefs.
• His great ability to teach and communicate God's word.
• His goofy sayings like 'What the hun!' 'Heaven's to murgitroid.'
• His whistling through his teeth which you could hear at any time. That's how I would track him in a store.
• His laughing so hard watching 'Home Alone' when the little kid is getting the robbers. He would start crying he laughed so hard.
• Seeing him reading his Bible and/or commentary early in the morning.

Those are just a few...I am grateful that we had some special time with him after Jude was born and that he got to meet Jude at all!

The viewing and funeral were very honoring to Dad and below are a few special things that people did. We gave a bunch of pictures and photo albums to my mom's dear friend Yvonne who put together a beautiful display for people to look at when they entered the church lobby.

Also, my Dad used to say 'What the hun!' alot in surprise or emphasis to a sentence and often would say to people 'If I were any better I'd....' and list off a few things that identified the person's situation in life. So, someone put this up on the church's billboard for my Dad. He was well loved at our home church!!

Mostly, I guess I wanted to in a small way honor my Dad with this blog...

I will miss you Dad in all sorts of ways and don't even comprehend all of them yet. I am SO glad that you knew Jesus before you died and now know Him fully. I am so glad that you got to meet Jude but feel pretty sad that you never got to experience him looking up at you with his arms up wanting you to pick him up. I'm also sad that you won't ever meet Priscila in this life. Thank you for being my Dad.

I love you,

Mackenzi