What's it Like, Grandma?

This week especially, I can't help but ponder what heaven must be like. I wonder what my babies are doing and seeing and experiencing. I try to wrap my mind around the glory of heaven, but in my humanness, I know I can't even come close to comprehending. You see...this week, my Grandma went to be with Jesus in heaven. I wonder what it was like for her to see Him face-to-face. I can't help but picture Grandma holding my babies in her arms. What's more, I also see her holding three of her own babies, as she too was a "Mommy with Hope," much like you and me, who had to say goodbye to our children long before their time.

I want to share some thoughts about my Grandma that I pray will bless your heart...

Grandma knows the pain of losing a baby.

This is one discussion I sure wish I would have had with grandma when she was alive. I always knew about her babies who died, a set of twin boys named Kelvin and Randy, and another baby lost to miscarriage. I knew about these babies, but never talked to Grandma about it. I don't know why. I always wondered, especially after Chloe died, and even moreso after our two miscarriages this past year. I guess in my mind I chalked it up to the old idea that "it was a different generation" and that she probably wouldn't be comfortable talking about it. I feel sad that I never had that conversation with her. I think about how I have felt when others have failed to acknowledge my babies lives and I can't help but think that it must have been so hard for Grandma, all them years ago. In being with family and learning more about her from my aunts and uncles this week, I learned that Grandma visited their grave faithfully, every Memorial Day. She never forgot them, just like you or I will never forget our precious babies. They are forever a part of each one of us.

Grandma recognized her great-grandchildren, my babies, who went to be with Jesus far too soon. She acknowledged my precious Chloe and my nephew, Matthew, who was stillborn in 2005, as her great-grandchildren that preceded her in death in her obituary, which she wrote while she was still alive. What an honor.

One of our family traditions is that Grandma crochets baby blankets for the new babies in the family. This is a lot of crocheting, considering my grandma had 14 living children, all of whom had children of their own, which is my generation. Now, we are all having children, and there are even some great-great grandchildren. In fact, Grandma was survived by a whopping total of 91 grandchildren, which includes great- and great, great-grandchildren! I can't tell you how much it means to me to have a crocheted baby blanket for ALL of my children, even those who never had the chance to be wrapped up in it.

Grandma knew her Savior.

Finally, I want you to know that my Grandma knew Jesus. She came to know Him in her older years after a visit from my aunt's Pastor. I learned more about her testimony of salvation this past week, as details were shared at her funeral. She heard the gospel, took some time to contemplate it, and made the decision to give her life to Christ, praying in surrender privately. She later shared with my aunt, and asked that she pass along the word to her Pastor, that she did accept Christ. The beauty of the gospel is that God meets us right where we are. For Grandma, it was later in life. We know from Scripture...

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth you confess and are saved."
(Romans 10:9-10)

Because Grandma knew Him, we can have full assurance that she has met Him face-to-face. She has been reunited with her babies, and with mine. She is experiencing the unfathomable glories of heaven right now, as I type. She is with Him for all eternity, because she knows her Jesus. I can't help but wonder, what's it like Grandma? What's He like? What are your babies like? What are my babies like? One day, I'll find out for myself, only because I know Him too. What about you...Do you know Him?