My grandparents.
This week I was going to blog more in regards to time-management systems. With the New Year in full swing I’ve been tweaking my time-management routines to keep focused on increased workload. However, this past Wednesday my last surviving grandparent left this earthly life to be with Jesus. Grandma was 90 years old and even though she lived a very full life, it is still difficult to know that she is no longer with us. I had the blessing of being asked to speak and play a simple hymn at her funeral yesterday. A very special thanks to my sisters and cousins for providing the majority of the content for the family homily moment during the celebration of her life.
Her passing is proving more difficult than I had expected. So many of my childhood memories entail time spend on Grandma and Grandpa’s farm in Ina. Additionally, the funeral was held at the Ina Free Will Baptist church. That church shaped my early faith journey and it was certainly fitting that we had the privilege of saying goodbye to Grandma in that house of worship.
This was also Noah and Ellie’s first funeral that they will remember. Much of the car time both to and from Ina was spent in conversation about death, the afterlife, and memories of Grandma Droll. A good day, but a hard day. As I was leading worship this morning, singing Oh Happy Day, I couldn’t help but think of Grandma and the joy she is experiencing being in her eternal home. And, as I mentioned yesterday, we do not grieve without hope. For Grandma, death is not the victor. It is simply the conduit for eternal life with her Creator – the One who loves deeply and sent His Son to provide us with life everlasting.
So this week I’ll grieve, reflect, and be thankful for the rich legacy that Grandma left to five sons and daughters, eleven grandchildren, and seventeen great-grandchildren. May we carry on her determination, aspire to her character, and love Jesus with the commitment that she did. You are loved and missed Grandma Droll.