It was a cold Sunday afternoon. I was 14 years old & I was home alone. It was a fairly typical wintry day in the midwest. Until the phone rang. It was one of my aunts; she wanted to speak to my mom. I could tell something was wrong and when I informed her that Mom was not home she left the hardest message I've ever had to relay to anyone. My great grandma had passed away. This was in the days well before cell phones were prevalent, so I laid down on my bed alone & in the dark & cried as I waited for my mom to return home. It felt like forever. My great grandma had been sick of and on for quite awhile and at 97 the news of her passing was not shocking, but it was still very sad. And my heart was quite heavy with the burden of having to be the one to tell my mom that her grandma had passed away. The whole thing hit me harder than I expected, I think perhaps because I never knew my other grandmas. (This next part may seem superfluous, but to me it is an integral part of the story.) Of course being the procrastinator that I am I had a major project due for my U.S. and the World class that was woefully far from completion. But at that point I could care less about the Netherlands or their GNP or tulips or their fishing industry. I told my teacher that I just didn't have it done. For each day it was late he said he would have to deduct points. By the time I turned it in I should have gotten at best an 85 on it. I never told him why it was late and I don't know if someone else did or if he just forgot to deduct the points or what, but when I got the project back I had gotten full credit for it. Regardless of the reason, that little bit of grace made a world of difference to me.
That was just over 10 years ago, but I've been thinking about it a lot lately. One of my dear friends' grandmas passed away last week. It has been laying heavily on my heart. He has been through so much and I just keep wondering why all this has been piled on him. I wish there was something I could do to take it away. It always seems easier to me to be going through pain myself than to see someone I care about going through it. For now all I can do is pray and hope that my friend would be able to recognize the bits of grace that appear in his life, I know it would change everything for him.
That was just over 10 years ago, but I've been thinking about it a lot lately. One of my dear friends' grandmas passed away last week. It has been laying heavily on my heart. He has been through so much and I just keep wondering why all this has been piled on him. I wish there was something I could do to take it away. It always seems easier to me to be going through pain myself than to see someone I care about going through it. For now all I can do is pray and hope that my friend would be able to recognize the bits of grace that appear in his life, I know it would change everything for him.
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