Grandmama with Georgia.
March 2, 2012
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” ― John Wesley
This was the quote that was running through my head last night as I tossed and turned in prayer. The words that were typed on an aged 2"x 2" clipping and taped by my Grandmama to her bathroom mirror at the Assisted Living Home, kept me awake. I noticed them for the first time the other day, but by the looks of them, they've been there a long while.
Her life hasn't been easy. She is an example of a girl who followed Jesus young, yet the world's view of prosperity didn't follow behind that obedience. But in spite of that she...
Did all the good she could.: She's done this all the days of her life.
By all the means she could.: A self employed seamstress and 40 something widow, she's never been "well to do" but always "done" for others. Her means may have been a smile, a kind word, mending fabric or mending a heart, biblical advice or the money she didn't have to give, but gave it anyway because she had the love of Jesus in her, that selfless love that most never attain.Whether she was hurting on the inside or in need herself, she gave out of what she had from her hands and her heart.
In all the ways she could.: She's done good and given in so many ways, I couldn't begin to list them here. She embodied good and giving this side of heaven. She's given of her self everyday, even unto her last days.
In all the places she could.: She may not have gone on a missions project or even left this community, much less the country, but she was on mission everyday, not forcing the gospel, but totally living it out, more so than anyone I've ever known. Faith in human form, that is her. From Walton Loop, her childhood home to Parkway Cove, she's spread the gospel just by surrendering her will to His and saying "Yes, Lord, yes, I'll serve you" every day.
At all the times she could.: She's loved at all times. Whether the people around her were behaving badly or treating her with kindness, she always loved. I've seen her literally love everyone from strangers to her own grandchildren and all those in between. She's loved in her wellness and through her illness. I've rarely heard her complain and when she does it's in a sweet way.
To all the people she could.: She's loved those who've gone before her, ALL those who have gone before, her mother, her father, her brother, her sister, their families, her husband(s), her children, their spouses, their children, and their children's children. Someone from each of those groups has gone on before her except for the grandchildren generation. She continues to love all of those who are still here. We're serving her the best way we know how through her leukemia. She has greeted me and mine with a smile through her pain each time we've visited her in her last days. She can barely lift her head, but oh how she's still lifting the heads of those around her and He will lift her head soon and say "Well done..."
As long as she ever could.: She's 91. Hospice told us she's 91 for a reason, because she has the will to live. Born prematurely in 1920, weighing a mere 2 pounds, small enough to sleep in a shoe box, she's fought to live from the very beginning of her life. She has an untreatable form of leukemia. The treatment would have killed her. She chose to live through it. She hasn't faded as fast as a younger person would because of her spirit, faith, and resolve to do the best she can with the circumstances she's been given and to receive each day as a gift from the Lord to pour out to someone else. She can't get out of bed anymore, but she is still touching lives. My mom and I believe that Jesus hasn't taken her home yet because there is someone else He wants to cross her path before she goes. There has never and will never be anyone like her, but as her true disciple, I hope that some of her goodness in some way has rubbed off on me. As a child, I didn't understand how she could be the spiritual giant she is, but as I've grown older, watched her, and grown in my own faith, I've begun to see more clearly that she is not the giant, He is. She is not the one shining, He is. Everything good that pours out of her is from the Lord. She is truly an example of a surrendered life to Christ and the blessings that come from that and pour out of that.
I have the same Jesus in me that she has in her. May His light shine as brightly from my soul one day and I'll “Do all the good [I] can. By all the means [I] can. In all the ways [I] can. In all the places [I] can. At all the times [I] can. To all the people [I] can. As long as ever [I] can.”
Praying His strength, His courage, and His peace will carry her through her latter days like He did her former.
Your prayers are felt and appreciated.
Oh, no, Candi. I will be praying for her and you guys, too. One day we'll be in a place with no sickness, tears, and pain. What a wonderful day that will be...
Posted by: Emily | March 03, 2012 at 01:57 PM
I'm so sorry about your grandmama, Emily. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with AML in January. It will be a long, tough battle but with the Great Physician, she/we can fight through it. God is Good, ALL the time and through your grandmama, you have witnessed him. You and family will be in my prayers.
Posted by: Candi Smith | March 02, 2012 at 02:09 PM