Thanks, Grandma

Read John 12:20-33

 

“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”?

 No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.            John 12:27

 

Knowing that a loved one is not expected to be with you for much longer is troublesome to our hearts. The nursing home called the immediate family to come and see my grandmother, as they determined by her deteriorating health, she wouldn’t be alive much longer. My grandmother was frail and weak as she was slipping in and out of morphine induced slumber. Her Pastor happened by as he lived two hours away and met with the family gathered around her bed side. When my grandmother awoke for a short time, the family was able to hold her hand, and touch her face as they told her that they loved her. Pastor Calvin held my grandmothers hand as he prayed with the family. As the Pastor finished the prayer, my grandmother murmured softly the words “Praise the Lord,” “Praise the Lord.” Those were my grandmothers’ last words, and she slipped out of this world a short time later.

 

This experience left a lasting impression on Pastor Calvin, as well as, me. He shared at the funeral about how my grandmother powerfully witnessed to him and the family during her final moments. To leave this world praising God, can there be any better way to depart from this life?  For the very reason of glorifying God was my grandmother, Pastor Calvin, and my family not spared from this hour. What a testimony and legacy my grandmother left for us; made possible by walking through the valley of the shadow of death, with God in the midst, to welcome my grandmother, and provide comfort and healing for the family in our time of sorrow.

 

PRAYER

 

O God, thank you for your promise that you’ll never leave us or forsake us, especially during the trial of death, as we struggle to understand the words of Jesus “Thy will be done.”

 

 

-Ralph Groves (Port Republic UMC)