John was a different kind of "regular guy". OK, he was not a regular guy . He spoke his mind and he had the confidence of a giant.
John was all about celebration. He celebrated everything. From a pay raise to a cured hang nail John found some way to make a celebration out of it. And I just know that he is having the time of his life in heaven. Because heaven is the celebration place folks and if you are going there and you do not like to celebrate; you better get in some training before you get there. And just know, that little speech was for me. Until I met John Franklin, I did not know how to celebrate, but I learned a thing or two in the 81/2 years he was in our family.
John was also very serious about some things too. He was very serious about souls being saved and people growing in the Lord. He was also serious about his family knowing that he loved them. He showed that he was serious about these two things by actions not words. He did some of the craziest things just to show Penny how much he loved her. He also did some awfully time consuming elaborate things to minister to people so that they could see his care and not just hear it from his mouth.
Yes, some of John's friends and family thought he was weird (even me sometimes), but I think maybe when we get to heaven and we are reunited and all the pretenses are gone; some of us stuff shirt-traditional-Pharisees might just see that John was closer to reality than we ever thought possible ..
My life is richer because I knew him. Our family and the world has suffered a great loss because he went to heaven sooner than we think he should, but God is in control and for whatever reason He took him at 41 I will rejoice that I got to know him on this earth for as long as I did... and I can't wait to see him on the other side...And prove him wrong about so many things we disagreed on theologically..HA! Like it will make any difference then.
WE MISS YOU JOHN--FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS
Love in Him,
