September 30th 2008 12:27 pm
Remembering Irv
“I had more fun at the funeral…” That’s not your typical memorial service comment. But, in the case of my father-in-law’s service it was wholly appropriate. If you knew Irv Chambers, you’d know that laughing and being serious are not mutually exclusive. And, so, as we remembered his life and death on September 8th, there were tears and there was also real joy. Joy becasue of a life well lived, joy becasue of the hope of the resurrection, joy because he is with the Lord right now–finally able to tell my own father all about my wife and my sons!
We have posted the service on Grace’s website for a little while. We’d love you to listen to it. On the welcome page, scroll down to “member spotlight”. Susan gave a moving tribute which begins at minute 18.00. His dear friend and ministry partner (for 52 years!) Leighton Ford brought the message. It begins at 39.11. Well worth it.
If you have the time, Sue and I would love to share this with you. We are so thankful for Irv’s life and his death. We are overwhelmingly thankful for the Lord’s gracious gift of eternal life, which makes grieving the loss of a believer so hope-filled, even while terribly painful.
3 Comments »
Keith Hayes on 30 Sep 2008 at 12:48 pm #
Jason, Susan, and the Boys:
The service sounded beautiful and the kind words were many. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. I never knew Irv, but would have liked to.
Melanie on 30 Sep 2008 at 7:38 pm #
She did such an amazing job. I can’t imagine being able to do that. When she talked about him meeting and marrying her mom, that got me all weepy!!
EJ on 11 Oct 2008 at 9:08 pm #
I am currently recovering from a divorce and have sole custody of my 2 girls age 14 and 8. Today my oldest one told me that it was hard living with an unhappy mom. I just recently joined a new church (http://www.stmarkschurch.org) in my home town and reaching out in others ways like reading this blog. So I am reconnecting with God in this difficult time in my life.
Along this journey, I have discovered a true christian friend who connected me with your website. We just spent the last two hours discussing Irv’s life and the impact his ministry of life has extended to others like us. Colossians 3:12 was a very moving version for me because I am in a current situation that I need to work at bringing happiness to others by a simple smile. I have come along way in the past year since starting this new life with my girls, but know that I will continue to grow through people like Irv, Susan and Jason. These words truly moved me during this healing time and I just wanted to say thank you.
One of my gifts from God is connecting with people. I hope that through my comments here that someone will connect with Irv’s life like I did.