Sad But Grateful Bye Grandma, See You in the Morning! I John 4:7-12 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. I’m not sure how much thought was given when my great-grandparents named my grandmother. I don’t know if they just happened to like the name Dorothy, or if they gave any thought to the meaning behind the name. Whatever the reasoning, I can think of no better name for my grandma. Whether she was your friend, your neighbor, your co-worker, your aunt or sister, your grandmother, mom or wife, Dorothy was an appropriate name. You see, Dorothy, simply translated, means God’s gift. Now this is not to say that my grandmother was perfect. She had shortcomings, imperfections and fears, just like anyone else. One of her biggest fears was a fear of heights. I found this out when I was a young boy, visiting my grandparents during baseball season. My grandparents had decided to take my brother and I to a ball game. Over twenty five years later and I still remember the day. I remember driving through the tunnel and seeing downtown Pittsburgh for the first time, I remember my mom pointing out Three Rivers Stadium and feeling so much excitement that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I remember my grandfather getting the tickets and explaining that there was a mix up and our seats were now in the upper deck. And I remember the color draining from my grandmother’s face. This was the day I found out how much grandma didn’t like heights. My grandfather offered to sit in the car with her and listen to the game on the radio. After all, my mom was with us, she could take us in and we could still see the game. My grandmother took one look at my brother and I and said, “We came here to see a baseball game with our grandchildren.” Looking at my grandfather, she said, “Walk in front of me, I’ll hold on and you can get me to my seat.” She clung to his arms so tight, for a second, I thought he might have to give her a piggy back ride to the top of the stadium. A couple of months ago my wife and I were in visiting. On this particular weekend, there were a lot of us in visiting. , In my grandmother’s room, things got a little crowded so I stepped out in the hallway. I could peek in and see people gathered around grandma as she sat in her wheelchair with that little smile of hers. The one she has when she’s content. A nurse, stops by, puts her hand on my shoulder and says, “That’s one lucky lady.” I didn’t say anything. But I couldn’t get that statement out of my head. That’s one lucky lady. The statement bothered me. I’m a little thick headed, but I had figured it out by the time we got home. My grandmother was a blessed lady, but luck had nothing to do with it. I believe that the nurse who stopped by the room that day, saw a glimpse of the fruit of Grandma’s life. She saw the crowd of family surrounding grandma, and recognized it as sign of love that was shared. Grandma was a woman who knew Jesus, and because of Jesus’ love her family tree has so much fruit. She was a woman who knew she was loved. When you hear about her faithfulness while Pap-pap was away at war, when you hear about the children she worked with, when you hear about the stories she told of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, you know that her life was marked by love. Remember the baseball game I told you about? For the longest time, I remembered that story in which Grandma was afraid. But that story isn’t about fear. It’s about love overcoming fear. She loved her family and on that particular afternoon, she wasn’t going to let a little thing like fear of heights get in the way of loving her family. That’s the type of love that makes a mark on your family, and that mark doesn’t fade with time. For those of us who knew Dorothy Evelyn WestfallGrandma, we will carry that mark for the rest of our lives. We will face times when fear threatens to overwhelm us, but something will take over. We’ll grab a hold of God and say, “Walk with me and I’ll hold on.” In this family, we love, because we were loved. People will see and they’ll ask us about our love. We’ll talk about God, we’ll talk about faith, and sooner or later, we’ll talk about DorothyGrandma. In this family, we love, because we were loved. So, with tears we say goodbye. But today is about so much more. It doesn’t matter if you called her friend, aunt, grandma, mom or wife. We take a moment to say Thank You God. Thank you for Grandma. Thank you for your gift. Thank you for Dorothy.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 15:40:20 +0000
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