It’s been forty days since dad (my father-in-law) stepped into his eternal home. We want to celebrate his life and the joy he is now experiencing in heaven.

I am reminded of that day when Tom (my brother-in-law) and I were in dad’s room preparing for the wake. Tom was looking for paper so he could jot down our errands. I helped him look for paper when suddenly the book “Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren was seen on dad’s desk. I took the book, and I opened it. It happened to be the copy I gave to Steve 9-10 years ago.

I later learned that dad was asking for this book and wanted to read it. So Steve gave him his copy. What we saw was a bookmarked chapter that spoke volumes of peace for all of us. Dad book marked chapter 4 entitled ” Made to Last Forever”.

Dad understood that this earthly life is temporal and that we are all made for eternity with God. This life is just a dry run for what we will be doing in heaven.

During dad’s wake, Pastor Jeric Soriano shared with us that eternity does not start when we die. It begins the moment we surrender our life to Jesus. Eternity is ours now if we voluntarily give our life to God. For where we will be spending eternity is a choice each person has to make. Either we will be enjoying, praising, glorifying and serving God, or be apart from God for all eternity.

Pastor Jeric also gave us a good insight, that our body is just an “earth suit”. Eventually it gets worn out and torn down. This will be replaced by a heavenly suit when we get there. What is important is what we often neglect… our spirit and soul. We can make our bodies look good through exercise, our skin through facials and other treatments, our image through fashion etc. Most likely we do not spend as much attention on grooming our Spirit and Soul.

Body, Spirit, & Soul

Our body will waste away and will return to dust, but our Spirit & Soul lives on. It is sobering when people you know, people who matter to you, pass away. It is a reminder that we will all die someday. But, we should all look forward to the life after this. The bible says it so rightly,

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.” (Psalm 39:4)

We do not know when God will call us back and give an account to him. So, we must live each day ready to meet our Creator . Live to please God and honor Him.

^{John 2:17} And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

Today, we are letting the Lord God turn our grief into joy. We are going to allow God to heal the pain of separation, and look forward to the day of reunion. Today, we are going to celebrate and thank God for the life of Ruben. Today, my husband and I are committing to teach our son, Joshua, to look forward to eternity.

Dad’s passing has moved all of us to look forward to heaven. Daddy Ben gave his life to Jesus, he surrendered his entire being to the Lord. And peacefully he entered heaven…and peacefully he is in Eternity.

Tattoo tribute of a daughter to her dad.

(Photos here are actual tattoos in memory of Ruben Solon)