As I grew up, I remember visiting Grandma Chambers occasionally. She lived right behind Susie and Tom and when I hung out with my cousin Laci, we’d go visit. We even spent the night with her a few times. Just a “girl night”.
She crocheted a doily for me and lots of other people, too. She would sing and play the organ at church. But the burdens and weights of disease took a toll on Grandma. She began to deteriorate. She had been sick and in pain for a long time. She was in and out of the hospital a lot. They finally placed her in a nursing home so she could get the daily care she needed.
I'll never forget last Thanksgiving. It was my mom's turn to host Thanksgiving dinner. Tom's younger brother, Troy, and his family had flown in from Colorado. They brought Grandma over from the nursing home. We got her all set up and comfortable and then got her a plate of food. Because she was diabetic, was on dialysis and had other health concerns, there wasn't a whole lot she could eat. But they got her a taste of just about everything she wanted. I'll never forget her sitting on my mom's love seat: feet propped up, pillows behind her back and covered with a blanket, enjoying every bite of food she ate. If any of us had known that would be her last Thanksgiving...
The last time I saw her was last Christmas. Laci and I went after a Sunday afternoon sign language practice and before we had to head back to church for choir practice. We sat in her room at the nursing home and sang Christmas carols with her. We even practiced our sign language for her.
As I sat at the funeral yesterday, I began to regret that. Why was the last time I had seen her nearly a year ago? Why hadn’t I gone to visit her since? The only answer I had was that I had been too busy. The answer brought tears to my eyes. Too busy to go see a woman who had prayed for me every day during a time when I wasn't living for God as I should have been? Too busy to spend a little time with a woman who had loved me as her own? Too busy to visit a saint of God who had given so much to the kingdom? Oh, how I wish I would have spent more time with her this past year! How I wish I could have told her how much I appreciated and loved her! Oh, for more time!
But as I sat there with tears in my eyes, an ache in my heart and a lump in my throat, the gentleman on the piano began to play and a young woman began to sing,
“There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come
No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye.
All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there;
And forever I will be with the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
What a day, glorious day that will be!”
I sat there with tears streaming from my eyes and a smile on my face. (I must have looked ridiculous!) As I listened to the words of that beautiful song, I thought to myself, “Grandma has no more heartache, no more pain, no sickness, no burdens to bear. She’s won this race. She’s got the victory.” Though I wish I had more time to show my appreciation for her prayers, I have peace knowing she fought her fight and kept the faith and now she's finished the course.
After that song, the pastor of the church where Grandma attended led us all in an amazing, spirit-filled worship service “just as Sis. Pearl would have wanted.”
What a way to celebrate a life.
Grandma is gone and all of us will miss her. There will be pain caused by her absence. But along with that pain comes the peace and joy of knowing that she’s already home with her savior and, if we live a righteous life, we will see her again.
“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (I Thessalonians 4:13-18 KJV)
One day, I’m going to see her on the streets of gold. And she’s going to say to me: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”.
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