I Got to Say Farewell

Grandma Thomas with me and Leona Joy (2009)

The morning of the funeral, I talked with my Mom and she asked if I would like to speak at the funeral. If you know me at all...I despise funerals. When I was a young teenager my great aunt and great uncle passed away and I really struggled with the whole funeral thing. Knowing that this time would be with my grandma, a strong figure in my life, I should have never been ok to speak, but the Lord had other plans. I was able to share so much about how much my grandma influenced me. She was basically my second mom for many years. As I pondered who she was I realized that I got sooo many things from her: her tenacity and strong will, love for singing, love of teaching...especially relating to children and God's word...and certainly her good choice in men. (I always wanted a marriage like hers and I searched until I found a good guy like my grandpa.)

All 4 generations: Grandma Thomas, my Mom Linda, me, & Leona Joy (2009)

I was also able to share her favorite verse, Isaiah 40:31, starting with verse 28,
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

I was able to emphasize that God doesn't just promise to drop his strength in our laps, but that we must seek God to find this strength. I shared my life verses, Psalm 63:1-8 that talks about God being the emphasis of all that we are. I was also able to share that we are able to have that personal relationship with Him because He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins. He was raised from the dead and ascended into Heaven to conquer our sins so that sin would no longer separate us from God.

Of course after I finished, I thought of so many more things to say, but I was just grateful to share my heart with so many people and to say goodbye to not only the woman who was my grandma, but my second mom and one of the people who inspired my religious journey to know the Lord as my Savior.

Saying farewell can be so hard sometimes. We can hope that one day we will be able to see them again... where sickness and death no longer have reign over our bodies.

I am just so glad I got to say farewell. I love you Grams!