Definition of unabashed: 1. not embarrassed or disconcerted; composed, easy, confident, etc., not abashed : undisguised, unapologetic; adjective not ashamed, disconcerted, or apologetic; boldly certain of one's position; Not disconcerted or embarrassed; poised. 2. Not concealed or disguised; obvious, unabashed adj. Not disconcerted or embarrassed; poised. Not concealed or disguised; obvious: unabashed disgust.

You ‘gotta love the word ‘unabashed’. For those of us who live in Blanco, Texas, that certainly describes many Blanconians. In fact, it is the people of Blanco who helped free me from the stronghold of living to please people, instead of living to please myself. Now, if taken to the other extreme, it can get out of hand and delve into selfishness!

Since I’ve been reading about what Jesus taught in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, I’ve had to back up and learn to think of others more than myself. I don’t know what was harder, learning to live without fear of what others think of me, in other words, brave enough to be my own person and pursue a career or sports or style of living that I enjoy (and that pleases God instead of pleasing people); or learning to consider other people’s feelings as more important than my own, trusting that God will bless me and take care of me and give me the things that please me, as a reward for keeping His commands and decrees!

But for me, coming from the big city of San Antonio, my family brought us up to be worried about what people thought so much so, that if we made a mistake, we need to hurry up and hide it. Whereas others are brave enough to live through it, knowing that other people make mistakes, too, and we’re no better and no worse than the rest of the world. We were all born under the curse of sin, Adam’s sin.

Romans 5:14 “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”

Some mistakes are worse than others, and some people make more of them. Some people get caught and some people haven’t gotten caught yet, but they will, and when they do, they won’t be able to snub those who got caught before them.

What does that have to do with frequenting the cemetery? Well, there may be someone reading this today who is embarrassed or ashamed to go visit their loved one’s grave, and I’m here to tell you that there is a certain amount of freedom and delight in going to my son’s grave. I care for it and plant seeds and water them. I add something to it nearly every week, and I see what others have left also; his friends who visit him, too. And it’s neat to see the love poured out in the cemetery.

I used to walk through the cemetery on my lunch hour, to burn up calories, and that’s when I fell in love with the Blanco cemetery. I’ve visited other cemeteries with my great-aunt, who I used to visit in San Antonio, and yearly we’d place flowers on Uncle Charlie’s grave, and Kathleen’s grave, and her parents, and then her sister, Aunt Margie. At those cemeteries they put a sign at the entrance letting people know when the flowers will be picked up so they can mow. There is a huge mound of flowers that have been picked up and tossed on the mound. So what you leave there doesn’t last for more than a month or two.

But the Blanco cemetery has items that have been placed on graves that will stay there forever, and the people who take care of the cemetery respect those of us who tend to the graves, and I can’t tell you how much that means to me.

What is it that draws me there? It’s where his body was laid. What drew the two Marys to the grave of Jesus? It’s where His body was laid. They wanted to anoint Him, but He was gone!

Praise God for Jesus Christ, who died and has risen, for it’s because of Him that we have our hope and belief that our spirits, too, are risen with His Spirit, and are alive with Him!

Do we know for sure that our spirits live with Him? What does God’s Word say about death and life of our spirits?

This, my friends, is my new study that I will be publishing as the weeks go on. Because I need to know. I need to know where my son’s spirit is, and I need to know where my spirit will go. I have my beliefs, and I have my faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and in His Word that says “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:13

Where do we go when we die? Some think to a place of rest until Christ comes again, and some think when we die our spirit goes immediately to be with our Lord and Saviour.

And Jesus told the man on the cross next to him, “And He answered him, Truly I tell you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43

I need to know! I need to know more about it, and I’ll be sharing with you, as I learn. So stay tuned, for next week, when we’ll study about where our spirit goes when we die. Does our spirit ever die? What is the second death? Until then, God bless you, and go visit that grave “unabashedly!”