Tuesday, February 10, 2009

I'll Never Forget You Grandma!


Heaven gained another saint today. Jesus finally called my grandma home this morning. Our family knew that she was on heaven's doorstep for the past three weeks, but Jesus kept telling her to wait for some reason. I'm not certain what that reason was, but I'm wondering if it was because just one more person needed to come to know the Lord because of her. Just a few days ago, hospice nurses finally started to show up in an effort to ease the workload of my one aunt especially who was caring for grandma. Two of my aunts were able to share their faith with a few of the nurses who came to the house, and I have to wonder whether one (or more) of those nurses needed to hear about the Lord and that's why grandma had to wait a little longer before she was able to go home. If just one more person came to know the Lord because of grandma, I know she would have agreed that the wait was worth it. My grandma was a woman who had incredible faith, and everyone in my family is a better person because of her. My one cousin asked all of the grandkids to write down a memory we had of grandma. I wrote a lot more than just one, so I decided to put my list here as well so that anyone who may come across my blog and read this post might be able to see what an amazing woman my grandma was!

I remember when I was a child, standing outside waiting for the school bus to come, we all would be freezing in the winter and would be doing whatever it took to try and stay warm. We noticed grandma taking her daily walk, and her coat was WIDE OPEN! She smiled when she saw us and simply replied in her cheerful way "It's a bit nippy out today!"

I remember going sledding with my sisters and grandma came up to visit. We had a round red sled and we asked grandma if she wanted to go sledding with us. She came right over, sat down on the red sled, and down the hill she went yelling "Weeeeeeee!!!!!" all the way down!

I remember grandma always having some freshly baked cookies for us whenever we came to visit. I also remember baking cookies with grandma. Of course, that always included eating some raw cookie dough too!

I remember walking into grandma's house and seeing her on her knees in front of her chair, praying for everyone in the family by name. I know she has left us a wonderful legacy! Grandma had such an incredible faith and love for the Lord that I wanted to be just like her. I know I am no where near the person she was, but I do have a deep faith in the Lord that I am certain is a result of growing up with grandma in my life.

I admire the way she always spoke gently to us when we did something wrong. I don't remember ever hearing her yell because she was mad or angry. I know I can't say the same for me! I pray that the Lord will give me the same gentle spirit that grandma had.

I cherish the time I spent living with her. She was a wonderful Christian woman and was a wonderful listener. She was so very happy for me when I finally met the man I was going to marry. She told me she had been praying for me to meet someone, so I have no doubt Bob came into my life because my grandma prayed! She was indeed an awesome prayer warrior and could pray for great lengths of time. I teased her that God probably brought Bob into my life just so that she would leave Him alone ! LOL!

I know grandma will be greatly missed by many people. I can almost hear her singing with the angels, as only grandma could sing! She is finally with pappy and Wendy again, as well as with other family and friends who went on before her. I know I will see her again one day. Until that time, I will try and live my life in a way that will show others the love I have for my Lord, just like grandma did!













Thursday, February 5, 2009

Detours

I always dread seeing a detour sign for a road I need to take when I'm driving somewhere. Many times I only know one way to get to where I'm going and I don't know the back roads. I have to hope and pray that there are detour signs along the way that point out where I need to go next. If there are no signs because they just assume everyone knows the way, I have to rely on the cars in front of me to guide me. Yes, I PRAY that they know where they are going!

It's the same way in the Christian life. The decisions we make may take us on a detour from the perfect route God has laid out for us, but He knows the way we need to go in order for us to get back to where to He wants all. All we need to do is follow Him! There are definitely times we won't have a clue as to where we are going or where He is taking us, but I know God knows and He will never lead you the wrong way. We just need to trust Him.

I'm not sure why God laid this on my heart this morning, but He brought it to mind again this evening so I knew I was suppose to type it out here. I hope this helps whoever it was meant for!