Verlin's Memorial

Opening Prayer (Micah)

We are going to have a time for family sharing and all the kids are going to share but if you are a grandkid and would like to share be thinking of a story you can share.

Message (Micah)

Tissues

Who was Verlin?

Verlin was a Husband, a Father, a entrepreneur, a man of Faith, a man of conviction.

He was a rancher, a mans man, an example, a teacher, a mentor

One example of this is when Verlin taught Tami to ride a bike without training wheelswd. He, like every good father, put her up on the seat and gave her a gentle push down the road to her impending doom. She remembers wobbling, swirving and then falling to the ground. With tears running down her face, and knees scraped from the pavement, he would come sit next to her and tell her about those football players who would get hit and beat up but after every play they had to get back up and keep going.

He taught that life will push you down and there will be suffering and pain along the way, but you must never quit, must always endure.

Grandpa wasn’t just about never quitting, he also knew that some things weren’t worth ever starting.

For instance when Crystal was a young lady, she like any other breathing female on the planet, wanted to get her hair done and look fly with her girlfriends so as to make the boys trip and fall from the beauty of those Swartzendruber gals. Grandpa, I’m sure thought, “how hard could cutting a young girls hair be?” He quickly volunteered and offered to cut her hair. That day Crystal learned the Verlin Swartzendruber Stubbornness and refused her fathers attempt and forever changing the trajectory of her life.

o Grandpa realized that girls need many things, but a haircut from dad was not one of them!

- Grandpa knew to encourage, knew when to pull back, but also had a side that many men have. A side that comes out only when something really scares us and makes us say things we never really wanted to say.

o Ronda was out with Verlin moving some haybales and Ronda was driving a giant flatbed truck on the side of the hill, and for some reason Grandpa thought that truck was going to tip over and at one point he got so worried he yelled out “you bleeping kid….you are going to tip the truck over!” Since that day Ronda has been afraid of tipping over her car and when she is in a field she talks like a sailer, that’s why they moved to Montana, Doug just couldn’t take it anymore.

- Grandpa was a little rough around the edges, but he was a man who’s heart was full of love and grace.

The cow had given birth and was crippled. My mom saw granpa with a gun and knew what was about to happen. She begged him to let it live so she could try and keep it alive and help it get better. She kept it alive for a couple weeks until finally it passed away. Grandpa had watched her take a bucket of feed day after day to this cow but this time he saw her bring a full bucket back and pour it back into the feed lot. He knew what had happened and what it meant to my mom. He went over scooped her up in his arms, sat on a few bags of feed and without saying a word, they cried together.

He knew what death was, he knew the greatest remedy for death was love, grace and mercy.

The Darkness

Grandpa Had been through much in his life. But the last 20 years were the most difficult.

He found out he had cancer and knew what it would do to his body. He was aware of the pain the chemo would cause and how it would affect his body. During this time he could only receive support from the family through letter and the love of his dear wife.

These were dark years not only for Grandpa, but for all of us. It was as if we were reading a wonderful book and the pages were tore out from before us.

§ We saw a man who was suffering and enduring great hardship and all we could do was write and read. We couldn’t hug, we couldn’t cry with, we couldn’t comfort. It was like being stuck in a room and only being able to look inside.

§ But even when we did get him back, it wasn’t the same man we had known. The heart was pure and strong, but the body was weak and suffering.

o We hear so often that “God will never give us more than we can handle”. But scripture and reality tell us a different story. Scripture tells us we will face hardship that sometimes it will be beyond our ability to handle.

2 Corinthians 1:8–9 ESV

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

- It’s only in darkness that the light shines the brightest. In the darkest moments of a mans life you find the true essence of the man.

It was in these moments that Grandpa found verses like Psalm 34:18 to be true, “The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

It was during this time that Grandpa let his light shine.

Mario – Paralyzed from the waist down

Ronald – Cancer Survivor

Tony

Johnny

Ken

Rex – Liver Problems

Philippians 3:20–21 ESV

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

1 Corinthians 15:55 NASB95

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Grandpa Verlin, you have been laid to rest, but your memory and legacy will live on in our hearts and our minds, they will live on through

Grandma Lois

Crystal; Justine and Matt and Rosie; Ingrid and Blair and baby Freddy; and Jake

Rhonda and Doug and Aaron

Tiffany and Steve; Hannah and Charlie and Allis; Joshua and Elyce, Avonlie, Adalade, and Caleb; Micah and Ashley; Elsie and Junie; David and Stacey and Sophia; Ethan and Madelyn

Tami and Jonathan; Ian and Max and Ben

Byron and Karen; Jonah, Austin, Ainsley and a name TBD

I have spoken much about Grandpa Verlin and his life.

Grandma, I speak on behalf of every person in this room and for those who couldn’t be with us today.

Because of you and our Grandpa, our Father and your husband, because of you... we are. Because of your sacrifice, we will continue to sacrifice, because of your faithfulness, we will continue in faithfulness, because of your faith, we will continue in faith. Because of your loyalty, we will be loyal. Because of your example, we will be an example.

It’s not just because you have that sweet smile, that tender love, and those gentle, loving arms, it’s because in you we see someone greater. We see Jesus. We see his love, his tenderness, his grace, his mercy.

Romans 8:38–39 NASB95

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Grandma, there was nothing that could separate your love from Grandpa. Grandma, thank you for being with Grandpa and showing us a God who promises to do that with us.

- “Go enjoy Life. I really mean that. Don’t let little squabbles ruin anything. Just live life with all the vigor and fun that you can. Life on earth isn’t forever and must be savored right down to the food you eat and the relationships you have with spouses, children and grandchildren. Of course our relationship with God the Father must be good as well.”

Leave Microphone for Jonathan

Hymn Sing

Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul

Amazing Grace

Great is thy Faithfulness

Hallelujah Here Below (Turn off Lights)

Obituary - (Hannah)

Family Sharing

Slideshow (Shut off Lights)

Closing Prayer - (Micah)(Turn on lights)