Great-Grandma

My great-grandma, 97-years-old, went to be with Jesus and her husband this morning. About a month ago, she started to have some physical issues and was going in and out of present reality. I made arrangements to travel down to PA to see her two weeks from then, praying that God would let me see her one last time.


A day before I was to leave, she fell and fractured her neck and was then in the hospital. I immediately left, asking God again to just let me have one more weekend with her, hoping she would still know who I was. I'm thankful to tell you He gave me four days that weekend, during which I stayed by her bed with my mother. She knew my name, she knew my love, she said what she's said to me hundreds of times - "I love you; I'm praying for you; Is there a special man in your life yet? No? We'll keep praying." At the end of those days, I left PA with an overwhelming peace and my prayers became pleadings that God would take her soon. She's been active and full of life up until these very last months, and I could not bear to see the enemy torment her at the end of such a beautiful life.

I was telling a friend just two days ago about how my favorite part of having Jesus' spirit living inside of me is that He never leaves. We can go through painful and troubling times and yet still have an overriding peace and joy in the midst of it. I think God's timing is so beautiful as my own words came back to encourage me today. When everything is shaking and the pain feels suffocating, Jesus is not shaken. He is a steady rock that we can depend on to hold us up.

We are certainly mourning the loss of this woman who supported all of us for many years with her prayers and encouragement, which I know God will continue to honor in the days to come. But I am simultaneously bursting with joy. She has faithfully served Jesus and she has finally been rewarded with the sight of not only His face, but also that of her husband. She's no longer confined by the limitation of her body or the strategies of the enemy to destroy her. He can never touch her again and I say, 'Death, where is your sting now? Where is your victory?" (1 Cor 15:55) I know only the sweetness that comes with the assurance that she trusted in Jesus with her whole heart and is now with Him in heaven. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17)


I believe God made her and me out of the same dust. So much of my own passions I saw alive and well in this woman and I am so blessed and thankful to have such a heritage. I hope I can be as faithful, loving and long-suffering as she was.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. Please keep praying for all of us as this will be a difficult few weeks.

I leave you with this song, which has been in my heart all day:

"I am Yours, You are mine, and we'll be together forever."