Waiting

Today I am writing from a hospital room in eastern Arkansas. I am sitting beside the most saintly woman that I have ever known, my grandmother. She is in the final stages of her life and her body is very tired. But as I sit here watching her labored breathing and listening to her occasional moan in pain I can't help but focus on the woman she was rather than what she is now. 

As a young child, I couldn't appreciate the impact that this special woman had on my life. I learned how to make the most awesome mashed potatoes ever (legendary in our family.) I saw what marriage was supposed to be by the way her and my grandfather lived together (over 50 years of marriage before his passing.) But most importantly how to love the Lord and sing his praises no matter where you were. 

There wasn't a time back then that she wasn't humming, singing, or whistling a tune about Jesus. She always had a song on her lips and in her heart. She had a major impact on my life through her love of music. She probably didn't realize it at the time but she was planting a seed in my life for a love of music. I can remember with great clarity the times when she would sing in our little Nazarene church. I can close my eyes and hear her beautiful voice so clearly. I can hear her and her friends singing, "How Great Thou Art" and "Because He Lives," the thought brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart. 

Another thing that I can recall that impacted my life was the letters she would write to me. She always had the prettiest handwriting and her letters were always so personal. She wrote most of them to me when I was in college and it always included an encouraging word and some sort a verse from the Bible that I always seemed to need at the time.

She always rose early when I was a kid. She had to cook breakfast for my grandfather but most importantly she had to spend time in God's word and in prayer. she always prayed for her family, her kids and her grandchildren especially. When I was a child I couldn't wait for the devotional and prayer to be over but as an adult I would give anything to sit and listen to her and my grandfather bathing our family in prayer. 

I am sure that there are many other examples that I could come up with or things that she did to impact my life. But none would do her justice, There is no song I could sing or post that I could write that would accurately explain what she has meant to me. 

In the mean time please be in prayer for our family and most importantly for her.....