Here is the speech if anyone cares to read it:
My Grandma Carol…where do I
begin?! Just the thought of her puts a
smile on my face and now a yearning in my heart. I am pretty sure she was the “coolest”
Grandma in the history of Grandmas!
Really…who else could ROCK a
pair of cat-eye glasses on her wedding day and still look amazingly beautiful.
…what other Grandma played
bass guitar in a band and made records…can’t get much cooler than that!
…What other Grandma goes to
Valley Fair and does the rides with her grand kids…MINE!!! And I have pictures to prove it!
…and raising 5 kids and NOT
killing one of them!! MY HERO…I only have two and I swear there are days when I
am sure one of them or myself might not make!
…her sense of humor. Oh how I
loved to make her laugh! She had the
best laugh. It was so infectious!
…I have NEVER EVER tasted
fried fish the way my Grandma made! THE BEST IN THE WORLD…HANDS DOWN!
…what other Grandma would get
down on the floor with her great grand children to play blocks with them and
read every single book they brought to her…MY GRANDMA!!! And let me tell you, my children adore her!
…and of course, she probably
has a four-wheeler in Heaven!
I could go on and on about
all those memories…and we all have them, but there is something else that has
stuck out to me, especially the older I get…her faith!
You see Grandma and I always
had a special bond…some have told me it is an oldest grandchild thing. Maybe it is, but we also shared our faith
with each other. I could talk to Grandma
about anything! For 32 years that is
just what we did – we shared EVERYTHING!
And when I got married and
moved to Idaho
I think Grandma was always a
spiritual mentor to me, but the last ten years seemed deeper some how. Maybe it was me maturing in my spiritual
understanding. Whatever it was, I am
blessed that I was able to have that bond with my Grandma in our faith.
Grandma’s love for the Lord was so apparent in everything that she did.
Not just in her talking in depth with me but in how she loved people and
how they loved her. And she would help
anyone!! Just how she lived her life
over all!
I had a friend at church
email me last Monday with a message that God had put on her heart to tell
me. This friend and I are not super
close, but she knew how much I love my Grandma and that I had been struggling
with the thought of losing her. The
message was this:
“During my devotional time tonight God spoke to me and
told me to tell you that your Grandma has fulfilled her purpose. Her purpose on earth was to love, encourage
and mentor you. You have come to a place
that you are open, willing and strong in HIM and that is because of your
Grandma and her years of sharing with you.
But now God is ready to bring her home to Him. Her time on earth is done, her suffering is
over and she will be waiting for you to fulfill your purpose. She loves you! And so does God!”
That evening after I received
that email Grandma took a turn that would change everything. There is no way my friend knew that was going
to happen.
I remember Grandma telling me
last summer that she was not afraid of death.
She knew she would be in heaven.
Her concern was for all of us!
Isn’t that just like her!!!
For us left here on earth, we
are hurting and sad, maybe even a little angry.
But I am happy that I am sad and hurting…sounds weird, but that means
that I shared a deep love with my sweet, beautiful Grandmother! What an honor to have her love all those
years and what a privilege to get to love her!!
My life is better because of her and I am ME, partly because of who she
was!!
May 1st will
forever be a celebration for me. The day
that Grandma got her heavenly birthday!
How glorious that day must have been for her! To see heaven and take her first steps
there!! To see the face of Jesus! To
hear Him say, “You made it!! Welcome
home! I love you so!” To feel His arms wrap around her! No more pain!
No suffering! No weeping! No darkness!
A new body…she is free!! What
peace!! Not just for Grandma, but for us
that know Jesus as our Savior! This is
not the end! With Him there is NO END!!
I will look forward to the
day when I get to hug my Grandma again!
Yes, we are grieving, but we can grieve with hope! Hope in Christ! And hope that we will get to see our loved
ones again.
One final thing that I would
like to share that brought me a great deal of peace. Early Friday morning I had a dream. This is huge for me because I have not had a
dream in months. In my dream, my children,
Caleb and Emma, and I walked into Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Grandma was sitting in her rocking
chair. She looked so beautiful! Her skin was perfect, almost glowing. Her hair was beautiful. She looked so healthy and so peaceful. Caleb and Emma ran to her so excited. They hugged and kissed her. Then I hugged and kissed her. It felt so real! I could feel her warmth…I could feel the
hug. Caleb and Emma were jumping and
playing in excitement at getting to see her.
I told the kids to calm down and not be so loud around Grandma. But Grandma looked up at me, smiled and said,
“Oh Katie, they don’t have to be quiet around me anymore!”
Then my alarm went off…I sat
up and started to cry for her to come back.
I just wanted to go back to sleep and try to be with her again!
I believe that was a
message…she is free and happy! I have
great peace knowing that she is not suffering anymore.
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