“Just as I am, Thou wilt receive
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve
Because Thy promise I believe
O Lamb of God, I come”
Those were the words that played as my Granny breathed her last breath on this earth and opened her eyes to meet her Savior. In just one moment while we held her hands and wiped our tears, her pain was taken away, her worries no longer plagued her mind, her loved ones that had gone on before her were reunited, and her creator welcomed her home. In just one moment, death became life and her faith was made sight.
My granny was unlike any other. I’m sure many of us could stand on this stage and share memories of her, lessons she taught us, and recipes she shared with us. Just looking across this room is a testament to her life. Granny touched the lives of many.
Many of my childhood memories take place sitting around her kitchen table. Her home served as an oasis. On our way home from school or practices or wherever we had been we’d end up stopping by if her truck was in the carport or her kitchen light was on. We never knocked, just walked right in. Even though it’s been several years since she lived in that house, I can still remember very vividly the sounds, the sights and the smells of her home. We would sit around her kitchen table talking and snacking on whatever she had in the middle. Typically that was peanut butter crackers and butter cookies. Granny knew what each of our favorite snacks were and she would often have just what we wanted stuck away in her pantry if it wasn’t already sitting out. Even after my brother went to college, granny would still buy him his favorite chocolate covered cookies and try to send them home with him. Oftentimes she had a pot on the stove cooking some kind of soup or dish that she’d always try to offer to us. Needless to say, there was never a lack of food at Granny’s house. Which wasn’t always a good thing. One funny memory I have of granny is that she didn’t believe in expiration dates. Many times, if you went to pull something out of her fridge, you knew not to take a bite until you checked the date. There were several times I pulled out condiments that were at least 2 years old. Granny wasn’t going to let anything go to waste!
For those that don’t know me, I am the daughter of Eric and Andrea Tew. After Uncle Merwin died, my dad moved to Alabama from Georgia to live with my Granny, his Aunt Mildred, and help on the farm. What was going to be just a few years, turned into his career. Granny loved my dad as more than just a nephew, as she did all of her nieces and nephews, and instead treated him as one of her own. My mom and dad met several years after my dad moved to town and then spent many of their dating years in my granny’s house. When they married and had children, my sister, brother, and myself were taken in as her own grandchildren. I’ve always joked with people that my family can be a bit confusing. When I first met my husband and tried to explain to him who everyone was, he jokingly told us that we just decided who we wanted people to be and called them that! I always had to explain that granny was my great aunt, but basically my grandmother! I was blessed to not only have my parent’s parents as grandparents but an additional grandmother in granny.
Granny walked with our family through some extremely trying times. After my dad was diagnosed with cancer, as did many of our family members, granny stepped up to help my mom in any way that she could. I remember when my dad got really sick and spent much of his time in a recliner in our living room, granny would pull up one of our dining room chairs and sit beside him. They always had much to talk about! When he passed away, granny’s presence in our lives only increased. When we had ball games, dance recitals, or majorette performances Granny was always there. She was always quick to tell us how proud she was of us, and we knew that it was more than just words.
Sitting around her table was one of my favorite things to do. Oftentimes, if we stayed late enough, Uncle Myron or Calin would come in as they closed up shop at the farm for the day. Those nights I would think about what life might be like if my dad were still here. I’d imagine him walking in with them, sitting down in his dirty work clothes, and grabbing whatever food was on the table. Being in and around granny’s house always made me feel a bit closer to my dad.
Some of the greatest lessons that I ever learned from granny were in this church. She sat in the same pew every single sunday morning. Very few Sundays did she miss and even after she moved into an assisted living, whenever she could get here she did. Granny was a faithful and committed member of her local church body. Many people sitting here today I’m sure once sat under teaching and encouragement in some form. Granny was always in the know. If there was something going on in your life, she knew about it. She would always remember to ask you how you were doing and remind you that she was praying for you. Now as I have grown up and moved off, I often think about my granny’s dedication to her church body. She taught me the importance of church membership through her commitment to this body. She loved Blackwood’s church and the people that filled the pews. She invested her life in this community through her love, her care, her wisdom, and her kindness.
When I think of the words of Proverbs 31, I think of my granny.
An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than vjewels.
She wseeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She xrises while it is yet night
and yprovides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She zdresses herself5 with strength
and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
One thing that you hear of granny’s life most often is what a hard worker she was. I’m somewhat thankful I wasn’t around when she was more involved with the farm work. I’ve heard she didn’t take any excuses! She knew what she had to do to provide for her family and through sweat and tears, she was willing to do just that. She instilled that work ethic into her children. I see it in Uncle Myron in his dedication to the farm. In Ree Ree in the multiple things that she juggles at all times. And I saw it in Uncle Marty in his dedication to one of the things he loved most – piano. Granny was a capable woman and respected by many. Whether inside the home or outside of the home, granny was not afraid to do the work needed. I remember even as she began to age and we all got a bit more worried about her, we’d drive by and she would still be picking up limbs from her yard. You couldn’t stop her! She did all things as unto the Lord. There’s a great deal that we can learn from her in that respect today.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
“Many jwomen have done kexcellently,
but you surpass them all.”
lCharm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
I am eternally grateful for the Godly example I had in granny. She held a constant, confident faith, no matter what life threw at her. She was full of wisdom. Oftentimes, laying beside the peanut butter crackers on her table, would be an open Bible. She cherished God’s Word and committed herself to studying and obeying it. She was a woman who feared the Lord. She humbly gave of herself, her time, her money, and her talents.
When we were standing around granny’s bed the night she died, though there was sadness, there was peace. Yes, there was mourning, but also there was joy.
I will miss my granny terribly. The normal practices of my life will feel different. I no longer have her to call when I’m driving home from work and won’t be able to sit with her and talk when I come home for a visit. For that, I mourn. I mourn our loss of her, but I rejoice in where she is.
I can share for hours about what granny meant to me, how she loved my family, and how greatly we will miss her. But I think I would be doing her life a disservice if I didn’t share with you the person that she placed her trust in. Granny would not want us to continue on in sadness when we think of her life. No, we get to celebrate her life knowing exactly where she is today and that, if in Christ, we will one day be reunited with her.
Ephesians 2
And you were kdead in the trespasses and sins 2 lin which you once walked, following the course of this world, following mthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in nthe sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in othe passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body1 and the mind, and pwere by nature qchildren of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2 4 But3 God, being rrich in mercy, sbecause of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even twhen we were dead in our trespasses, umade us alive together with Christ—vby grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and wseated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable xriches of his grace in ykindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For zby grace you have been saved athrough faith.
We can have peace knowing that granny is in heaven today because of a man named Jesus. The truth is this – God is the loving King, creator of all things, and the holy judge. He created a world, perfect and complete. He filled the earth with animals and fish and vegetation. He called the world “good”. He then crafted his most treasured creation – man. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Men and women were uniquely created by God. In Psalm 139 we are told that our inward beings were crafted by him, fearfully and wonderfully made. Yet, man rebelled against God. Eve, when tempted by the serpent, asked the question “did God really say?” Did God really say that we aren’t to eat of the fruit that he specifically forbade? Instead of following in her maker’s design, she chose to doubt him and eat of the fruit. At that moment, sin entered into the world. Sin is a great offense to God and it separated all mankind from Him. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. This sin spread to all mankind. No one is immune. We all choose our own way instead of choosing to walk with our creator. Romans 3:23 says that no one is righteous, no, not one.
But God, in His great love, sent His son Jesus. Sin had created a gap too wide for anyone to close between man and God. Jesus came, born of a virgin, fully man and fully God, and lived a perfect, sinless and powerful life to die a sacrificial and substitutionary death. For us to have a restored relationship with God, a sacrifice for our sin had to be made. Christ knew no sin, yet he stood in our place. He willingly gave himself up to be crucified. On the cross Christ took on our sin and died the death that we deserved. He was our sacrifice and our substitute!
Praise God, the story doesn’t end there! 3 days later He rose from the grave victorious over sin, Satan and death. God calls all people in all nations to repent and believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, turning from all idols to declare allegiance to Jesus alone as King and trusting in Jesus alone as Lord of one’s life.
Granny had given her life to Christ. She had recognized her sin and depravity apart from Him. She confessed her sin, believed that Christ was Lord, and gave her life to Him. By grace, through faith, Granny had a restored relationship with her creator.
If you are a follower of Christ, what does this mean for you? This means that, though this earthly death causes us heartache because we loved her dearly, we can rejoice. Why? Because the instant that Granny took her last breath on this earth, she took her first breath in her eternal home. The Bible tells us that, as believers, we are just pilgrims passing through. Our lives here are but a vapor. 93 years definitely does not seem like a vapor, but compared to the eternity that Granny will spend with Christ in heaven, it is.
Grief can be incredibly difficult to walk through. But in Christ, and only in Christ, we can remember the promises of the news of Christ, and we can have joy! The night granny died, tears streamed down my face. But in the same moment I wanted to shout for joy. The cause that she committed her life to was finally being made whole. Granny had given her life, walked daily in the process of sanctification, growing to be more like Christ, and now stood before her maker glorified and whole. We can grieve our loss here on earth of our friend, sister, mother, grandmother, and aunt, but we can do so with joy and in hope.
As we grieve, we can know that God is with us in the midst of our trial. His Word tells us that He is working all things together for good. We know that trials, suffering, and death on this earth exist because we live in a broken world where nothing is untouched by the effects of sin. But now no dementia plagues Granny’s mind. She is speaking clearly. Her knees no longer hurt her. She is running, jumping and dancing in the presence of her savior. No cancer affects her organs, her body is redeemed. She is reunited with her husband, her son and daughter, her parents, many members of her family, friends gone before her, my dad, and my little baby that I never got to hold in my arms.
Christian, rejoice! Granny is home with her Savior! One day we will see her again.
If you do not know Christ, let today be the day of salvation. You too can have hope in the midst of suffering and grief. Christ is calling you to himself.
I won’t adjust to this new reality anytime soon. I continue to play the saved voicemails on my phone from granny… listening over and over to how she always left the I out of my name when she said “Hey Emly!” Granny will be missed by many. I can’t really imagine our lives here without her. But I can rest knowing that one day, I’ll be with her again, united with my Savior. Her life is a testimony of faith, of love, of sacrifice, and hard work. How generous is God to have allowed me to know her and to be loved by her. Her legacy will not soon fade but will live on in all the lives of those that she touched in her 93 years on this earth.
1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
Granny has now seen face to face. She knows fully. She is home.
Remember + Rejoice 