Photo courtesy of The Elders Flickr page - Jimmy Carter with his grandsons: https://www.flickr.com/photos/theelders/4150589762/in/photolist-7jLRJs-oX1WF-8koe83-5nHBsM-89DrRy-8DS6AK-5SZq78-b5qaeT-7jGYfV-7jLSu1-7jGYpF-8kk2wv-8koe5L-8kk2wP-MZxpG-eeoHpb-eei15r-uGsA6S-4JwjNp-kz42WV-pJnffg-5FbFTp-2XAg8e-eE1frf-5QDy4K-uiktS-o31Sc1-rEGZZ7-uiktW-g6cCBD-5T55Ls-5SZq5H-5FbwDz-j9wBgW-uiktQ-5FbwGD-uiiAt-uiiAp-uiktT-4PnZXt-39afGA-dVku6U-5FbG62-RqGKa-dVhyFC-dVhyGL-eeoPbb-qXcAAB-mV9YNZ-mVq3Bk
Jimmy Carter has been having an incredibly tough year, and it did not get any easier this weekend when his grandson, Jeremy Carter, died of heart failure. He was just 28.
Yet, the former president made it to church on Sunday morning, just hours after the death of his grandchild.
“I’m not surprised,” Maranatha member Jan Williams said. “That’s the kind of Christian he is. Everything that happens in life, good or bad, he uses as a teaching experience. He lives his life as a lesson for other people to see.”
Carter spoke to the congregated, encouraging them to “be filled with a sense of joy and thanksgiving,” even in the face of sorrow.
“I should be joyful and thankful to God for giving me both life and freedom,” he said.
I will admit to not being the most religious person around, and probably not even the most spiritual person I could be, even though I do take spirituality seriously. However, I almost scratch my head and can imagine myself being a part of the kind of faith that Carter believes in when I hear stories like this. Incredible!
Hours after grandson’s death, Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday school, published by The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015:
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