Ronald Wayne Jennings

Mr. Ronald Wayne Jennings

Aiken, SC-- Mr. Ronald Wayne Jennings, age 79, entered into rest at his home on October 24, 2024. He was born in San Diego, CA to the late Mr. Frank Jennings and the late Mrs. Shirley White. He was the husband to his loving wife Mrs. Ruth Ann Jennings. Survivors include: one son David (Lindsey) Jennings, Estero, FL; two daughters Cheri (Shawn) Van Horn, Spokane Valley, WA and Tonya (Larry) Torgersen, Nine Miles Falls, WA; one brother Lee Jennings, Spokane Valley, WA; nine grandchildren, and one great grandchild. He was preceded in death by one brother Gary Jennings A private burial took place at Graniteville Cemetery. COLE FUNERAL HOME 1544 UNIVERSITY PARKWAY (118 BY PASS) AIKEN, SC, 29801. 803-648-7175. Please sign the online registry or order flowers at www.colefuneralhomeinc.net.

The Bible, like all of life is full of interesting characters. As we seek to honor the redeeming work of Jesus in the life of Ron Jennings I believe we do well to look briefly at an incident in the life of Jacob. In Genesis 32 we see the record of a curious incident that I believe is reflective of Gods work in Ron's life. Gen 32:24-29: “And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacobs hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said “let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “what is your name?” And he said to him, “Jacob.” The he said, “your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” Ron's journey through this life, like Jacobs was rarely if ever filled with ease. He was a wrestler. A struggler. It often appeared as if the One he struggled with the most was God himself. Like Jacob next to the stream though, his wrestling always revolved around the desire to know God in a way not many in this life get to. Ron seemed to want nothing greater than he desired for God to bless him, and this often led to some odd scenes in the vein of Jacobs creek-side struggle. Not many people would load up their family and race TOWARD a soon-to-erupt volcano. “Normal” people really don’t do these kinds of things. Yet Ron danced to the beat of a different drummer. If someone like Harry Truman clearly needed to hear the Gospel, and soon then Ron was more than willing to be the guy to go tell him. With Prophet-like tenacity Ron lived through this life with something of a Jacobite limp. Living under a bridge? -check. Chased out of Texas with your wife and kids because you were a ‘rebellious home-school family’ and the Sheriff had it out for you?- check. Ron was certainly not afraid to break out of the expected mold. Through it all though, he most consistently desired one thing above all others: “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” One almost gets a picture of someone with terrier-like tenacity chasing the Father, even clinging onto him all the more tightly as circumstances grew most challenging. Ron was not a quiet man. Often though, you would hear his words of exhortation: ‘Don’t forget God when he finally does bless you.’ Ron's journey was not an easy one. However you always knew his desire for his family was that they know and follow Jesus. He said as much to his children and grandchildren many, many times. We have great confidence today that Ron's wrestling is complete and that the One he sought so fervently is the very One who promises in Hebrews 13: 5 & 6: “for he has said. ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” The Gospel never wavers in the promise that Jesus laid out in John 3:16,17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.” It is in this promise that we confidently rest in the assurance that Ron is indeed in the arms of the One who knows him best, and who lived a perfect life, died and then conquered death for all who, like Ron fixed their sights not on their own works, but on the One who stands ready and eager to be found- Jesus