Happy, happy new year to you all.
I know it’s been a little silent around here – it’s been that way for a few reasons.
Most significantly, because on December 30th, my precious great-grandma went home to be with Jesus.
Gram was beautiful inside and out.
She was everything I hope to someday be as a woman.
Faithful. Adventurous. Selfless. Joyful. Loving. Christ-seeking.
She spent her almost 96 years here on earth living a legacy.
I will forever remember her smile as she played the piano every Christmas, her laugh as she reminisced about the adventures she & grandpa had traveling around the world, her tears as she shared with 12-year old me & my tape recorder what it was like to grow up in the Great Depression, and most of all her love as she lived a life full of joy.
Her smile was radiant as always while each of us got to say our goodbyes and she told us “cling to Jesus.”
I will always treasure when we gathered in her room to sing hymns just 36 hours before she went to heaven. She was belting out How Great Thou Art right along with us…and the final verse was especially bittersweet.
When Christ shall come with shouts of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, My God, how great thou art!
I miss my Gram beyond words, but I know she’s having the time of her life singing with Jesus right now!
This new year, my prayer is that I will become more like my Gram. That I will think more about living a legacy of my own. That I will love other people intentionally, live my life purposefully, and – most of all – cling to Jesus.
