Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
The last leg of Grandma’s race was a hard fought battle. Some would say the cancer won, but they didn't watch the battle. Grandma's victory truly was in Jesus. To go home after a hard fight with your legacy around your bed and Jesus' name in your heart and on your lips, thats the way it should be.
I have been so incredibly blessed to know my grandma for 35 years. Grandma’s house wasn’t just a place we went to on the occasional holiday or special occasion. We knew Grandma’s house, and Grandma knew us. Even when they were still working grandma and grandpa had us grandkids over regularly. I have countless cousin sleepover memories. I can see us all at the farm, looking at cows, and watching Disney movies. I can still smell her make up drawer, and feel her meatballs as she taught us to roll them up. I can see us in their house here in town competing to go to sleep first to earn a quarter, and sharing a bed on Christmas morning because we all got snowed in. I remember riding with grandma one time from the farm to Blackwell, and a crop duster almost drove across her car. There were countless trips to sonic, and every Thanksgiving ended with searching the ads for what deals were worth waking up early on Friday for. Grandma took me for my first pedicure, and bought most of my Easter dresses. I remember shopping with her a lot, and she always encouraged me away from the clearance rack!
If I could use one word to describe Grandma it would be cheerleader. Because grandma spent so much of her retirement cheering on her grandkids and great grandkids in any semi-important thing we did. Ball games, choir concerts, parades, award ceremonies, sermons, graduations, weddings, she made it to as many as she possibly could.
I am blessed to be part of Grandma’s legacy. Grandma’s legacy was one of faith and family. As kids we knew that God, her church, and her faith were important. I remember visiting Sunday School in this building, crashing a choir practice, and watching from the pews as my grandparents sang on Sundays. Grandma passed down her love for God, music, and family to each of us. A legacy is what you leave behind. As I look around this room I see an incredible legacy of a life time of pouring into the people she loved the most. Grandma knew us as individuals, she supported us fiercely and invited us to watch her live and love.
In the book of Daniel. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, answer King Nebuchadnezzar by saying, “you can throw us in the fiery furnace but our God can rescue us, but even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t change anything, we will never serve your gods.” This is the kind of faith Grandma had, and she entered her own fiery furnace and stood strong. Cancer couldn’t shake her faith and just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego she was not alone in her fight. We have great comfort today knowing that Grandma got her healing. There was no losing the fight. When you love Jesus like Grandma did you can’t lose. Because waking up in Heaven is winning. Grandma is no longer in pain, she has received her new body, and it is healthy and beautiful. She will never struggle to breathe again and we will always be able to feel her love as we continue on in the race of faith knowing that Grandma is now part of the great cloud of witnesses that have gone on before us. We can miss her, and mourn her knowing that she is complete and she has found full victory in Jesus.
