There are no words to express how I feel. My brother and I have never really been separated. I didn't consider living in different states as separation because we could talk, and visit virtually any time we wanted. Tonya and I were planning a trip to Texas, we made it there but JJ didn't get to see it.
I want all to know that James was making life changes. He was responding to God's gentle prodding's and wanted to renew himself spiritually. He wanted to enroll in a reputable program to become a certified chef. He was a fabulous self-taught home chef. Cooking has been his passion since he was about 7 or 8 yrs old and he cooked everything from scratch. He wanted to purchase a home too among other things. I am so proud of him. I didn't think he was listening to the scriptures and bible information I sent him each week from JW.org (an awesome accurate spam free bible education website) but he recently told me that he read everything I sent him each week and frequently visited jw.org on his own. He was reflecting on his spiritual heritage and upbringing for some time now.
Hopefully we will only be separated for a short while. Jesus likened death to sleep. I take courage in remembering that God gave Jesus the power and authority to resurrect the dead. He awakened Lazarus after Lazarus had been dead 4 days! (Read John Chapter 11). So I know the hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of Jesus and come out. (John 5:25-30) Now my brother is sleeping, like Lazarus, and waiting to hear Jesus say "James Stanley come on out"!
I look forward to us all being reunited in God's new world where we can thank Jehovah as a FAMILY for each NEW day. Our enemy death will finally be brought to nothing by our Savior Jesus. What a marvelous time that will be!
Resurrection Video:
https://www.jw.org/finder?docid=1011214&item=pub-jwbcov_201405_5_VIDEO&wtlocale=E&appLanguage=E&prefer=content