Amazing Grace

I’m posting this entry retroactively. I’ve been unexpectedly out of town the past 4 days and without internet. Did you notice I finally missed a day of posting? I think it’s my first absence. I’m no Cal Ripken, I suppose.

I did miss reading everyone’s posts and hearing from you and will do my best to catch up. We all love Google Reader.

Alas, I found out early Thursday morning that my grandmother passed away. She lived in Tennessee, so LW and I, along with our 15 month old son, basically spent Thursday through Sunday driving there and back. It wasn’t the happiest occasion to have to make a trip, but I did feel really blessed to attend the service. Grandmother led an exemplary life, living as a model of Christian faith and cheer to all those around her. Her family and friends that came Saturday to the services testified to that. She would have turned 95 this year. I’ll miss her, but it is times like these when having a faith gives you a joy you wouldn’t otherwise have.

I’m not sad. Strange as it may sound, I’m happy for her. The opening song they sang in the tiny country church she attended sums up my feelings for me. The song? Amazing Grace. The best line goes, “I once was blind, but now I see …” It’s talking about spiritual truth, but I couldn’t help thinking that my grandmother now resides in a better place, and, yes, she can again see.
Grandmother lost her sight a few years back and knowing that she went to Heaven lifted my spirit, but so did knowing that she’s a new body, one not marred by the physical ailments that had gotten her, nor the blindness that took her sight. Thank you Lord for your amazing grace! And, thank you, Grandmother for the wonderful life you lived and the example that you set.