“The goodness of God endureth continually.” (Psalms 52:1)
Behavioral scientists tell us that grandparents are the best teachers of the “family values” that serve us so well through adulthood. I can certainly attest to that fact when I look at the special relationship that my own wife had with her maternal grandmother.
Robbie’s Thanksgiving weekend was filled with joy and gratefulness, not so much over the traditional things on which we often reflect during this special time of the year, but instead by the testimony of a woman whom God decided to call home during the holidays.
It was difficult time, to say the least. But in a strange way, her death also provided us with a special Thanksgiving weekend, one that pointed to the lasting importance that an individual can have on a family. So while my wife was understandably sad to see her grandmother go on to be with the Lord, she was also deeply grateful for the example she set and the lessons she left. Indeed, Grandma Sloop lives on through her children, her grandchildren, her great grandchildren, even her grandson-in-law.
Dr. Jay Kesler in his book, Grandparenting: The Agony and the Ecstasy, points out how important it is for grandchildren to see how faith plays itself out in the life of a grandparent: “(Grandchildren) need to see what faith in God can do when times are difficult, what supernatural strength and endurance the Spirit gives in time of need,” Kesler notes. “Grandparents can be that for their grandchildren – a beacon of faith. As they offer time, security, acceptance, and love to their grandchildren, they demonstrate by living example the availability and faithfulness of God.”
My wife saw that “beacon of faith” in her Grandmother’s life. In fact, just after she learned about her grandmother’s death, Robbie shared something with me that I will never forget: “I will always be thankful to my Grandmother for teaching me to look for the positive qualities in others,” she told me. “Even though she had long since lost her vision, she never failed to tell me how beautiful I was. And I’ll tell you something else: If she did notice any faults in others, she never said anything to me about them. Instead, she always seemed to find something nice to say about anyone she crossed paths with. She truly loved God and showed His love to everyone she met.”
I couldn’t help but think of the parallel to Jesus, who told us that we should live out our faith by loving God and loving each other. “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:40)
When you get right down to it, that’s what endeared this woman to my wife. She saw Jesus in her Grandmother. Even in her final days, when life just couldn’t get much tougher, Grandma Sloop reminded Robbie, as she struggled to breathe, that she had joy in her heart and was ready to go spend the rest of eternity with Jesus. She even took that last occasion to give her granddaughter one final glimpse of Jesus. “God is good,” she told her.
Yes, God is good, and two days later a grateful family saw the goodness of God play itself out one final time in her life as He allowed her to pass peacefully into eternity, after which they prayed and thanked Him for her life. It was a sad Thanksgiving, but one that celebrated life as God intended it to be lived.
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