Grandma

On Tuesday in the wee hours of the morning my grandma went home to be with Jesus. I am saddened by her death but I rest in fact that I know she is in heaven with her precious Savior.

My Grandma was my biggest supporter and my loudest cheerleader.  From as early in my life that I can remember, she taught me all about Jesus and his love for me. She encouraged me to grow in him and have a personal relationship with my Savior. Not only did she tell me about God's love for my but she demonstrated it in so many ways.  Growing up she taught me how to cook, no bake cookies were my favorite to make with her. Cooking is a way we bonded and how I spent many of Christmas, Summer and multiple other school breaks. Grandma's house was my first home when I came home from the hospital as a baby and then was my second home all growing up. I wanted to be there whenever I could, I can even remember pretending to be sick from school so my dad would drop me off there on his way to work.

When I got accepted to Moody, my Grandma was so proud and she made sure I knew. Every time I came to visit before heading up there, she made sure to tell anyone who happened to wander into her room, including random nurses aids and the maintenance man. When I came home for my first Christmas break from college, Grandma was so worried about the cold Chicago winters, she crocheted me several scarfs and hats. She wanted to make sure I stayed warm in the windy city. Grandma was my biggest supporter while I was at Moody, always checking in on my through email, facebook or a handwritten card. I love getting her comments on my pictures I posted and having to explain to her one of my crazy college expeditions.  After being in Chicago for the majority of the last 5 years, I was so excited to move back to Indy this past summer. I loved that grandma was just 10 minutes up the road and no longer did I only get to see her on holidays and special occasions. Wendy's chili for dinner and talks about life became our thing these last couple months. During my last few visits with grandma, I got the feeling that she was preparing to go home. She made sure to tell me how proud she was of me and that she knew I was doing good work. She even sent me home with things from her room to keep. 

Last Sunday, I went to visit Grandma at Methodist Hospital, little did I know that was the last time I would see her alive. She was in the ICU, not doing well and in a medically induced coma. There were so many tubes and machines hooked up to her, it was a little unbearable for me to see. Not being one who is very comfortable in hospitals in the first place, I was unsure of what to do. Should I talk to her or just sit and be with her? I had no idea of what to do. So I sat and prayed for her for a while and then decided to play some hymns on my phone for her. The last hymn I remember playing and singing to her was, Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus. That time I had, singing that sweet old hymn to her is a moment I will not soon forget. I am so thankful that I had that little bit of time to worship our Savior with Grandma. 

As the words of the sweet hymn go, "Jesus, Jesus, How I trust him, how I've proved him o'er and o'er", My biggest life lesson I've learned from my Grandma is to trust Jesus because throughout her life she trusted him with so much faith and proved him o'er and o'er to me!