HOMILY FOR JIM BLANKENSHIP 25 SEPT 1993
WE ARE HERE TODAY TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR THE LIFE OF JIM BLANKENSHIP AND FOR THE RESURRECTION WHICH GOD HAS GIVEN US IN JESUS CHRIST. THE SUDDENNESS OF JIM'S DEATH HAS OVERWHELMED US ALL. HE WAS ONE WHO WAS ALWAYS THERE, ALWAYS DOING SOMETHING GOOD, ALWAYS MAKING US FEEL GOOD WITH A JOKE OR A LISTENING EAR, ALWAYS SOLVING A PROBLEM. HE DID IT FOR YEARS. JIM WAS A RARE COMBINATION OF A VERY GIFTED AND A VERY GENEROUS PERSON. HE LOVED TO BUILD AND HE LOVED TO GROW AND HE WAS EXCEEDINGLY GOOD AT BOTH. HE DID THEM BOTH FOR MANY VERY ACTIVE YEARS.
FROM HIS FIRST CAR, A MODEL"T" TO THE HORSESHOE CART HE DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR USE BY THE HORSESHOE CLUB OF CITRUS SPRINGS, JIM LOVED WORKING WITH MACHINERY. JIM FLEW AS A CREWMAN DURING WORLD WAR II ON A PLANE NAMED THE "MILLIE SUE". WAS THAT A SIGN OF THE SMOOTH SAILING HE WOULD ENJOY FOR 48 YEARS? IN 1941 HE COMPETED IN A FIELD DAY WITH 1500 OTHER SOLDIERS AND CAME IN FIRST OVERALL WINNING THE HIGH JUMP, THE 100 YARD DASH AND THE GRENADE THROW FOR ACCURACY. HIS RELAY TEAM CAME IN THIRD BECAUSE, AS JIM PUT IT, ONE OF THE TEAMMATES DID HIS TRAINING "WITH THE CHECK OF A PENCIL". JIM'S COMMITMENT WAS NOT ON PAPER IT WAS IN HIS HEART. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WHO EVER OUTWORKED HIM?
JIM WAS A THOROUGH CARING MAN. AS A GENERAL CONTRACTOR, HE WORKED ON THE CHURCH OF THE ISLE, ST. PAUL'S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, THE ANCHOR COURT, A LARGE MOTEL, A LARGE CONDOMINIUM, NANCY AND ALLEN'S HOME AND MANY OTHER BUILDINGS IN THE LARGO AREA, ESPECIALLY THE ANONA METHODIST CHURCH WHERE HE WILL BE BURIED TOMORROW. HE ALWAYS LEFT HIS MARK ON HIS WORK: A PENNY OVER THE DOOR AND HIS INITIALS IN THE CONCRETE. OF COURSE THERE WAS THE GREATER MARK OF HIS EXPERTISE AND SKILL AND DEDICATION.
RETIRED, JIM DIDN'T SLOW DOWN. HE LOVED HIS GARDEN AND ALWAYS ENJOYED TRYING NEW THINGS SUCH AS THE PAPAYAS WHICH ARE RIPENING EVEN NOW, OR THE PINEAPPLES, OR THE VARIEGATED FRUIT TREE ON WHICH HE GRAFTED EVERY KIND OF CITRUS FRUIT. HIS SUCCESS WITH POMEGRANATES, PERSIMMONS AND BANANAS AS IN OTHER AREAS WAS DUE TO DETERMINATION AND EFFORT.
JIM WAS ALWAYS STRONG AND ENERGETIC AND EAGER TO HELP, TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING. JIM BUILT GOOD FRIENDSHIPS, FISHING WITH JOEL AND NORM, TALKING WITH HOMER OR JACK, WORKING WITH LLOYD, TRAVELLING TO ALASKA WITH RONNIE AND JACKIE, JUST BEING A NEIGHBOR WITH DEAN. RELATIONSHIPS WERE ONE OF HIS BEST TALENTS.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHO SAID THIS? "MY GIFT IS THE GIFT OF PERSISTENCE". IT COMES FROM THE MAN WHO DISCOVERED BACTERIA AND DEVELOPED THE SCIENCE OF BACTERIOLOGY, LOUIS PASTEUR, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE JIM TO ME. HE NEVER GAVE UP. WE READ TODAY MICAH'S SUMMATION OF A GODLY LIFE: "TO DO JUSTICE, LOVE KINDNESS, AND WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD". JIM BLANKENSHIP DID THAT CONSISTENTLY AND WELL.
BUT WHAT JIM DID WITH THE MOST DEDICATION AND PLEASURE WAS TO BUILD AND GROW A FAMILY. YOU'VE ALWAYS KNOWN FROM THE JOKES ABOUT "WAS THAT FELT?" AND TAKING THE SHOWER AND HIS QUICK DRAW THAT YOU ARE THE APPLE OF HIS EYE.
FOR YOU, HIS FAMILY, JIM WAS VERY MUCH LIKE ONE OF THE TREES HE CARED FOR, GROWING BESIDE THE LIVING WATER, REACHING HIS ROOTS DEEP SO HE COULD BE STEADY FOR YOU, STRETCHING OUT BRANCHES WITH WHICH TO SHELTER YOU, AFFIRMING THE GOODNESS OF GOD AND OF LIFE TO YOU IN HIS CARE.
HE HAS LEFT HIS MARK ON YOU AS WELL. THE PENNY REPRESENTS VALUE. YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO HIM AND TO HIS GOD AND TO EACH OTHER. THE INITIALS REPRESENT A PROPER SORT OF PRIDE AND RESPONSIBILITY. JIM LOVED LOVING YOU.
JIM ALWAYS IMPRESSED ME AS A MAN AT PEACE WITH HIMSELF. HE KNEW HE WAS LOVED, BE THANKFUL, MILLIE AND REJOICE. WITH YOUR MOTHER, HE RAISED YOU, JIM, NANCY, AND KATHY, WITH A SENSE OF SELF ESTEEM, INTEGRITY AND PURPOSE WHICH LIVES ON, HELPING YOU EVEN NOW. BE THANKFUL AND REJOICE. AND YOU CAN TELL EVEN BY THE SMILES IN THE PICTURES AND BY THE WAY ALL YOU GRANDCHILDREN ARE THAT HE DEEPLY LOVES YOU, DAVID, TIFFANY, ARIN, JULIANNA, BENJAMIN, ALEXIS, AND GARRET REID. BE THANKFUL FOR THE WONDERFUL GRANDFATHER YOU HAVE.
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT I HAVE CHANGED TENSES, SPEAKING OF JIM AS THOUGH HE WERE ALIVE. HE IS. IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER. YOUR HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, AND FRIEND HAS, BY GOD'S GRACE, LEFT ANOTHER MARK ON US, THE MARK OF PERSISTENCE THROUGH THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION. THERE WAS AND IS ANOTHER MAN WHO LOVED AND BUILT AND GREW WITH HUMBLE PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE, A MAN NAMED JESUS. JESUS ALSO KNEW HE WAS LOVED BY HIS HEAVENLY FATHER WHOSE PERHAPS MOST AMAZING CHARACTERISTIC IS HIS FAITHFULNESS. NOW WE ARE STUNNED BY DEATH, BUT IN THE YEARS TO COME, WE WILL REALIZE THAT THE STEADFAST LOVE OF GOD, THE LOVE WE KNOW IN ITS FULLNESS IN JESUS CHRIST, WILL REDEEM OUR SORROW AND FULFILL OUR HOPE, SO THAT WE CAN BUILD AND GROW IN JESUS' NAME AND IN JIM'S ALSO. FOR YOU SEE, LIKE YOUR BELOVED HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, AND FRIEND, LOVE NEVER QUITS. THANKS BE TO GOD.
WE ARE HERE TODAY TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR THE LIFE OF JIM BLANKENSHIP AND FOR THE RESURRECTION WHICH GOD HAS GIVEN US IN JESUS CHRIST. THE SUDDENNESS OF JIM'S DEATH HAS OVERWHELMED US ALL. HE WAS ONE WHO WAS ALWAYS THERE, ALWAYS DOING SOMETHING GOOD, ALWAYS MAKING US FEEL GOOD WITH A JOKE OR A LISTENING EAR, ALWAYS SOLVING A PROBLEM. HE DID IT FOR YEARS. JIM WAS A RARE COMBINATION OF A VERY GIFTED AND A VERY GENEROUS PERSON. HE LOVED TO BUILD AND HE LOVED TO GROW AND HE WAS EXCEEDINGLY GOOD AT BOTH. HE DID THEM BOTH FOR MANY VERY ACTIVE YEARS.
FROM HIS FIRST CAR, A MODEL"T" TO THE HORSESHOE CART HE DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR USE BY THE HORSESHOE CLUB OF CITRUS SPRINGS, JIM LOVED WORKING WITH MACHINERY. JIM FLEW AS A CREWMAN DURING WORLD WAR II ON A PLANE NAMED THE "MILLIE SUE". WAS THAT A SIGN OF THE SMOOTH SAILING HE WOULD ENJOY FOR 48 YEARS? IN 1941 HE COMPETED IN A FIELD DAY WITH 1500 OTHER SOLDIERS AND CAME IN FIRST OVERALL WINNING THE HIGH JUMP, THE 100 YARD DASH AND THE GRENADE THROW FOR ACCURACY. HIS RELAY TEAM CAME IN THIRD BECAUSE, AS JIM PUT IT, ONE OF THE TEAMMATES DID HIS TRAINING "WITH THE CHECK OF A PENCIL". JIM'S COMMITMENT WAS NOT ON PAPER IT WAS IN HIS HEART. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WHO EVER OUTWORKED HIM?
JIM WAS A THOROUGH CARING MAN. AS A GENERAL CONTRACTOR, HE WORKED ON THE CHURCH OF THE ISLE, ST. PAUL'S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, THE ANCHOR COURT, A LARGE MOTEL, A LARGE CONDOMINIUM, NANCY AND ALLEN'S HOME AND MANY OTHER BUILDINGS IN THE LARGO AREA, ESPECIALLY THE ANONA METHODIST CHURCH WHERE HE WILL BE BURIED TOMORROW. HE ALWAYS LEFT HIS MARK ON HIS WORK: A PENNY OVER THE DOOR AND HIS INITIALS IN THE CONCRETE. OF COURSE THERE WAS THE GREATER MARK OF HIS EXPERTISE AND SKILL AND DEDICATION.
RETIRED, JIM DIDN'T SLOW DOWN. HE LOVED HIS GARDEN AND ALWAYS ENJOYED TRYING NEW THINGS SUCH AS THE PAPAYAS WHICH ARE RIPENING EVEN NOW, OR THE PINEAPPLES, OR THE VARIEGATED FRUIT TREE ON WHICH HE GRAFTED EVERY KIND OF CITRUS FRUIT. HIS SUCCESS WITH POMEGRANATES, PERSIMMONS AND BANANAS AS IN OTHER AREAS WAS DUE TO DETERMINATION AND EFFORT.
JIM WAS ALWAYS STRONG AND ENERGETIC AND EAGER TO HELP, TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING. JIM BUILT GOOD FRIENDSHIPS, FISHING WITH JOEL AND NORM, TALKING WITH HOMER OR JACK, WORKING WITH LLOYD, TRAVELLING TO ALASKA WITH RONNIE AND JACKIE, JUST BEING A NEIGHBOR WITH DEAN. RELATIONSHIPS WERE ONE OF HIS BEST TALENTS.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHO SAID THIS? "MY GIFT IS THE GIFT OF PERSISTENCE". IT COMES FROM THE MAN WHO DISCOVERED BACTERIA AND DEVELOPED THE SCIENCE OF BACTERIOLOGY, LOUIS PASTEUR, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE JIM TO ME. HE NEVER GAVE UP. WE READ TODAY MICAH'S SUMMATION OF A GODLY LIFE: "TO DO JUSTICE, LOVE KINDNESS, AND WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD". JIM BLANKENSHIP DID THAT CONSISTENTLY AND WELL.
BUT WHAT JIM DID WITH THE MOST DEDICATION AND PLEASURE WAS TO BUILD AND GROW A FAMILY. YOU'VE ALWAYS KNOWN FROM THE JOKES ABOUT "WAS THAT FELT?" AND TAKING THE SHOWER AND HIS QUICK DRAW THAT YOU ARE THE APPLE OF HIS EYE.
FOR YOU, HIS FAMILY, JIM WAS VERY MUCH LIKE ONE OF THE TREES HE CARED FOR, GROWING BESIDE THE LIVING WATER, REACHING HIS ROOTS DEEP SO HE COULD BE STEADY FOR YOU, STRETCHING OUT BRANCHES WITH WHICH TO SHELTER YOU, AFFIRMING THE GOODNESS OF GOD AND OF LIFE TO YOU IN HIS CARE.
HE HAS LEFT HIS MARK ON YOU AS WELL. THE PENNY REPRESENTS VALUE. YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO HIM AND TO HIS GOD AND TO EACH OTHER. THE INITIALS REPRESENT A PROPER SORT OF PRIDE AND RESPONSIBILITY. JIM LOVED LOVING YOU.
JIM ALWAYS IMPRESSED ME AS A MAN AT PEACE WITH HIMSELF. HE KNEW HE WAS LOVED, BE THANKFUL, MILLIE AND REJOICE. WITH YOUR MOTHER, HE RAISED YOU, JIM, NANCY, AND KATHY, WITH A SENSE OF SELF ESTEEM, INTEGRITY AND PURPOSE WHICH LIVES ON, HELPING YOU EVEN NOW. BE THANKFUL AND REJOICE. AND YOU CAN TELL EVEN BY THE SMILES IN THE PICTURES AND BY THE WAY ALL YOU GRANDCHILDREN ARE THAT HE DEEPLY LOVES YOU, DAVID, TIFFANY, ARIN, JULIANNA, BENJAMIN, ALEXIS, AND GARRET REID. BE THANKFUL FOR THE WONDERFUL GRANDFATHER YOU HAVE.
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT I HAVE CHANGED TENSES, SPEAKING OF JIM AS THOUGH HE WERE ALIVE. HE IS. IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER. YOUR HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, AND FRIEND HAS, BY GOD'S GRACE, LEFT ANOTHER MARK ON US, THE MARK OF PERSISTENCE THROUGH THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION. THERE WAS AND IS ANOTHER MAN WHO LOVED AND BUILT AND GREW WITH HUMBLE PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE, A MAN NAMED JESUS. JESUS ALSO KNEW HE WAS LOVED BY HIS HEAVENLY FATHER WHOSE PERHAPS MOST AMAZING CHARACTERISTIC IS HIS FAITHFULNESS. NOW WE ARE STUNNED BY DEATH, BUT IN THE YEARS TO COME, WE WILL REALIZE THAT THE STEADFAST LOVE OF GOD, THE LOVE WE KNOW IN ITS FULLNESS IN JESUS CHRIST, WILL REDEEM OUR SORROW AND FULFILL OUR HOPE, SO THAT WE CAN BUILD AND GROW IN JESUS' NAME AND IN JIM'S ALSO. FOR YOU SEE, LIKE YOUR BELOVED HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, AND FRIEND, LOVE NEVER QUITS. THANKS BE TO GOD.
HOMILY FOR JIM BLANKENSHIP 25 SEPT 1993
WE ARE HERE TODAY TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR THE LIFE OF JIM BLANKENSHIP AND FOR THE RESURRECTION WHICH GOD HAS GIVEN US IN JESUS CHRIST. THE SUDDENNESS OF JIM'S DEATH HAS OVERWHELMED US ALL. HE WAS ONE WHO WAS ALWAYS THERE, ALWAYS DOING SOMETHING GOOD, ALWAYS MAKING US FEEL GOOD WITH A JOKE OR A LISTENING EAR, ALWAYS SOLVING A PROBLEM. HE DID IT FOR YEARS. JIM WAS A RARE COMBINATION OF A VERY GIFTED AND A VERY GENEROUS PERSON. HE LOVED TO BUILD AND HE LOVED TO GROW AND HE WAS EXCEEDINGLY GOOD AT BOTH. HE DID THEM BOTH FOR MANY VERY ACTIVE YEARS.
FROM HIS FIRST CAR, A MODEL"T" TO THE HORSESHOE CART HE DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR USE BY THE HORSESHOE CLUB OF CITRUS SPRINGS, JIM LOVED WORKING WITH MACHINERY. JIM FLEW AS A CREWMAN DURING WORLD WAR II ON A PLANE NAMED THE "MILLIE SUE". WAS THAT A SIGN OF THE SMOOTH SAILING HE WOULD ENJOY FOR 48 YEARS? IN 1941 HE COMPETED IN A FIELD DAY WITH 1500 OTHER SOLDIERS AND CAME IN FIRST OVERALL WINNING THE HIGH JUMP, THE 100 YARD DASH AND THE GRENADE THROW FOR ACCURACY. HIS RELAY TEAM CAME IN THIRD BECAUSE, AS JIM PUT IT, ONE OF THE TEAMMATES DID HIS TRAINING "WITH THE CHECK OF A PENCIL". JIM'S COMMITMENT WAS NOT ON PAPER IT WAS IN HIS HEART. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WHO EVER OUTWORKED HIM?
JIM WAS A THOROUGH CARING MAN. AS A GENERAL CONTRACTOR, HE WORKED ON THE CHURCH OF THE ISLE, ST. PAUL'S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, THE ANCHOR COURT, A LARGE MOTEL, A LARGE CONDOMINIUM, NANCY AND ALLEN'S HOME AND MANY OTHER BUILDINGS IN THE LARGO AREA, ESPECIALLY THE ANONA METHODIST CHURCH WHERE HE WILL BE BURIED TOMORROW. HE ALWAYS LEFT HIS MARK ON HIS WORK: A PENNY OVER THE DOOR AND HIS INITIALS IN THE CONCRETE. OF COURSE THERE WAS THE GREATER MARK OF HIS EXPERTISE AND SKILL AND DEDICATION.
RETIRED, JIM DIDN'T SLOW DOWN. HE LOVED HIS GARDEN AND ALWAYS ENJOYED TRYING NEW THINGS SUCH AS THE PAPAYAS WHICH ARE RIPENING EVEN NOW, OR THE PINEAPPLES, OR THE VARIEGATED FRUIT TREE ON WHICH HE GRAFTED EVERY KIND OF CITRUS FRUIT. HIS SUCCESS WITH POMEGRANATES, PERSIMMONS AND BANANAS AS IN OTHER AREAS WAS DUE TO DETERMINATION AND EFFORT.
JIM WAS ALWAYS STRONG AND ENERGETIC AND EAGER TO HELP, TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING. JIM BUILT GOOD FRIENDSHIPS, FISHING WITH JOEL AND NORM, TALKING WITH HOMER OR JACK, WORKING WITH LLOYD, TRAVELLING TO ALASKA WITH RONNIE AND JACKIE, JUST BEING A NEIGHBOR WITH DEAN. RELATIONSHIPS WERE ONE OF HIS BEST TALENTS.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHO SAID THIS? "MY GIFT IS THE GIFT OF PERSISTENCE". IT COMES FROM THE MAN WHO DISCOVERED BACTERIA AND DEVELOPED THE SCIENCE OF BACTERIOLOGY, LOUIS PASTEUR, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE JIM TO ME. HE NEVER GAVE UP. WE READ TODAY MICAH'S SUMMATION OF A GODLY LIFE: "TO DO JUSTICE, LOVE KINDNESS, AND WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD". JIM BLANKENSHIP DID THAT CONSISTENTLY AND WELL.
BUT WHAT JIM DID WITH THE MOST DEDICATION AND PLEASURE WAS TO BUILD AND GROW A FAMILY. YOU'VE ALWAYS KNOWN FROM THE JOKES ABOUT "WAS THAT FELT?" AND TAKING THE SHOWER AND HIS QUICK DRAW THAT YOU ARE THE APPLE OF HIS EYE.
FOR YOU, HIS FAMILY, JIM WAS VERY MUCH LIKE ONE OF THE TREES HE CARED FOR, GROWING BESIDE THE LIVING WATER, REACHING HIS ROOTS DEEP SO HE COULD BE STEADY FOR YOU, STRETCHING OUT BRANCHES WITH WHICH TO SHELTER YOU, AFFIRMING THE GOODNESS OF GOD AND OF LIFE TO YOU IN HIS CARE.
HE HAS LEFT HIS MARK ON YOU AS WELL. THE PENNY REPRESENTS VALUE. YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO HIM AND TO HIS GOD AND TO EACH OTHER. THE INITIALS REPRESENT A PROPER SORT OF PRIDE AND RESPONSIBILITY. JIM LOVED LOVING YOU.
JIM ALWAYS IMPRESSED ME AS A MAN AT PEACE WITH HIMSELF. HE KNEW HE WAS LOVED, BE THANKFUL, MILLIE AND REJOICE. WITH YOUR MOTHER, HE RAISED YOU, JIM, NANCY, AND KATHY, WITH A SENSE OF SELF ESTEEM, INTEGRITY AND PURPOSE WHICH LIVES ON, HELPING YOU EVEN NOW. BE THANKFUL AND REJOICE. AND YOU CAN TELL EVEN BY THE SMILES IN THE PICTURES AND BY THE WAY ALL YOU GRANDCHILDREN ARE THAT HE DEEPLY LOVES YOU, DAVID, TIFFANY, ARIN, JULIANNA, BENJAMIN, ALEXIS, AND GARRET REID. BE THANKFUL FOR THE WONDERFUL GRANDFATHER YOU HAVE.
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT I HAVE CHANGED TENSES, SPEAKING OF JIM AS THOUGH HE WERE ALIVE. HE IS. IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER. YOUR HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, AND FRIEND HAS, BY GOD'S GRACE, LEFT ANOTHER MARK ON US, THE MARK OF PERSISTENCE THROUGH THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION. THERE WAS AND IS ANOTHER MAN WHO LOVED AND BUILT AND GREW WITH HUMBLE PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE, A MAN NAMED JESUS. JESUS ALSO KNEW HE WAS LOVED BY HIS HEAVENLY FATHER WHOSE PERHAPS MOST AMAZING CHARACTERISTIC IS HIS FAITHFULNESS. NOW WE ARE STUNNED BY DEATH, BUT IN THE YEARS TO COME, WE WILL REALIZE THAT THE STEADFAST LOVE OF GOD, THE LOVE WE KNOW IN ITS FULLNESS IN JESUS CHRIST, WILL REDEEM OUR SORROW AND FULFILL OUR HOPE, SO THAT WE CAN BUILD AND GROW IN JESUS' NAME AND IN JIM'S ALSO. FOR YOU SEE, LIKE YOUR BELOVED HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, AND FRIEND, LOVE NEVER QUITS. THANKS BE TO GOD.
WE ARE HERE TODAY TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR THE LIFE OF JIM BLANKENSHIP AND FOR THE RESURRECTION WHICH GOD HAS GIVEN US IN JESUS CHRIST. THE SUDDENNESS OF JIM'S DEATH HAS OVERWHELMED US ALL. HE WAS ONE WHO WAS ALWAYS THERE, ALWAYS DOING SOMETHING GOOD, ALWAYS MAKING US FEEL GOOD WITH A JOKE OR A LISTENING EAR, ALWAYS SOLVING A PROBLEM. HE DID IT FOR YEARS. JIM WAS A RARE COMBINATION OF A VERY GIFTED AND A VERY GENEROUS PERSON. HE LOVED TO BUILD AND HE LOVED TO GROW AND HE WAS EXCEEDINGLY GOOD AT BOTH. HE DID THEM BOTH FOR MANY VERY ACTIVE YEARS.
FROM HIS FIRST CAR, A MODEL"T" TO THE HORSESHOE CART HE DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR USE BY THE HORSESHOE CLUB OF CITRUS SPRINGS, JIM LOVED WORKING WITH MACHINERY. JIM FLEW AS A CREWMAN DURING WORLD WAR II ON A PLANE NAMED THE "MILLIE SUE". WAS THAT A SIGN OF THE SMOOTH SAILING HE WOULD ENJOY FOR 48 YEARS? IN 1941 HE COMPETED IN A FIELD DAY WITH 1500 OTHER SOLDIERS AND CAME IN FIRST OVERALL WINNING THE HIGH JUMP, THE 100 YARD DASH AND THE GRENADE THROW FOR ACCURACY. HIS RELAY TEAM CAME IN THIRD BECAUSE, AS JIM PUT IT, ONE OF THE TEAMMATES DID HIS TRAINING "WITH THE CHECK OF A PENCIL". JIM'S COMMITMENT WAS NOT ON PAPER IT WAS IN HIS HEART. IS THERE ANYONE HERE WHO EVER OUTWORKED HIM?
JIM WAS A THOROUGH CARING MAN. AS A GENERAL CONTRACTOR, HE WORKED ON THE CHURCH OF THE ISLE, ST. PAUL'S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, THE ANCHOR COURT, A LARGE MOTEL, A LARGE CONDOMINIUM, NANCY AND ALLEN'S HOME AND MANY OTHER BUILDINGS IN THE LARGO AREA, ESPECIALLY THE ANONA METHODIST CHURCH WHERE HE WILL BE BURIED TOMORROW. HE ALWAYS LEFT HIS MARK ON HIS WORK: A PENNY OVER THE DOOR AND HIS INITIALS IN THE CONCRETE. OF COURSE THERE WAS THE GREATER MARK OF HIS EXPERTISE AND SKILL AND DEDICATION.
RETIRED, JIM DIDN'T SLOW DOWN. HE LOVED HIS GARDEN AND ALWAYS ENJOYED TRYING NEW THINGS SUCH AS THE PAPAYAS WHICH ARE RIPENING EVEN NOW, OR THE PINEAPPLES, OR THE VARIEGATED FRUIT TREE ON WHICH HE GRAFTED EVERY KIND OF CITRUS FRUIT. HIS SUCCESS WITH POMEGRANATES, PERSIMMONS AND BANANAS AS IN OTHER AREAS WAS DUE TO DETERMINATION AND EFFORT.
JIM WAS ALWAYS STRONG AND ENERGETIC AND EAGER TO HELP, TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING. JIM BUILT GOOD FRIENDSHIPS, FISHING WITH JOEL AND NORM, TALKING WITH HOMER OR JACK, WORKING WITH LLOYD, TRAVELLING TO ALASKA WITH RONNIE AND JACKIE, JUST BEING A NEIGHBOR WITH DEAN. RELATIONSHIPS WERE ONE OF HIS BEST TALENTS.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHO SAID THIS? "MY GIFT IS THE GIFT OF PERSISTENCE". IT COMES FROM THE MAN WHO DISCOVERED BACTERIA AND DEVELOPED THE SCIENCE OF BACTERIOLOGY, LOUIS PASTEUR, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE JIM TO ME. HE NEVER GAVE UP. WE READ TODAY MICAH'S SUMMATION OF A GODLY LIFE: "TO DO JUSTICE, LOVE KINDNESS, AND WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD". JIM BLANKENSHIP DID THAT CONSISTENTLY AND WELL.
BUT WHAT JIM DID WITH THE MOST DEDICATION AND PLEASURE WAS TO BUILD AND GROW A FAMILY. YOU'VE ALWAYS KNOWN FROM THE JOKES ABOUT "WAS THAT FELT?" AND TAKING THE SHOWER AND HIS QUICK DRAW THAT YOU ARE THE APPLE OF HIS EYE.
FOR YOU, HIS FAMILY, JIM WAS VERY MUCH LIKE ONE OF THE TREES HE CARED FOR, GROWING BESIDE THE LIVING WATER, REACHING HIS ROOTS DEEP SO HE COULD BE STEADY FOR YOU, STRETCHING OUT BRANCHES WITH WHICH TO SHELTER YOU, AFFIRMING THE GOODNESS OF GOD AND OF LIFE TO YOU IN HIS CARE.
HE HAS LEFT HIS MARK ON YOU AS WELL. THE PENNY REPRESENTS VALUE. YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO HIM AND TO HIS GOD AND TO EACH OTHER. THE INITIALS REPRESENT A PROPER SORT OF PRIDE AND RESPONSIBILITY. JIM LOVED LOVING YOU.
JIM ALWAYS IMPRESSED ME AS A MAN AT PEACE WITH HIMSELF. HE KNEW HE WAS LOVED, BE THANKFUL, MILLIE AND REJOICE. WITH YOUR MOTHER, HE RAISED YOU, JIM, NANCY, AND KATHY, WITH A SENSE OF SELF ESTEEM, INTEGRITY AND PURPOSE WHICH LIVES ON, HELPING YOU EVEN NOW. BE THANKFUL AND REJOICE. AND YOU CAN TELL EVEN BY THE SMILES IN THE PICTURES AND BY THE WAY ALL YOU GRANDCHILDREN ARE THAT HE DEEPLY LOVES YOU, DAVID, TIFFANY, ARIN, JULIANNA, BENJAMIN, ALEXIS, AND GARRET REID. BE THANKFUL FOR THE WONDERFUL GRANDFATHER YOU HAVE.
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT I HAVE CHANGED TENSES, SPEAKING OF JIM AS THOUGH HE WERE ALIVE. HE IS. IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER. YOUR HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, AND FRIEND HAS, BY GOD'S GRACE, LEFT ANOTHER MARK ON US, THE MARK OF PERSISTENCE THROUGH THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION. THERE WAS AND IS ANOTHER MAN WHO LOVED AND BUILT AND GREW WITH HUMBLE PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE, A MAN NAMED JESUS. JESUS ALSO KNEW HE WAS LOVED BY HIS HEAVENLY FATHER WHOSE PERHAPS MOST AMAZING CHARACTERISTIC IS HIS FAITHFULNESS. NOW WE ARE STUNNED BY DEATH, BUT IN THE YEARS TO COME, WE WILL REALIZE THAT THE STEADFAST LOVE OF GOD, THE LOVE WE KNOW IN ITS FULLNESS IN JESUS CHRIST, WILL REDEEM OUR SORROW AND FULFILL OUR HOPE, SO THAT WE CAN BUILD AND GROW IN JESUS' NAME AND IN JIM'S ALSO. FOR YOU SEE, LIKE YOUR BELOVED HUSBAND, FATHER, GRANDFATHER, AND FRIEND, LOVE NEVER QUITS. THANKS BE TO GOD.
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