Going Home

Jon's Grandmother, Verna, died September 10th at the age of 98 years old. We were able to attend her funeral. Grandma Verna had stopped eating and drinking several days before she died, so we knew it was a matter of time before she passed away. Jon's Mom sat by Grandma Verna's, (her mother-in-law) side daily, comforting her, praying and singing to her. Other family members visited during her last few days of life as well. There was scripture read aloud to her and hymns sang to her. Someone shared at her funeral, that after several hymns, Verna who had been lethargic and unresponsive managed to say out loud, "Amen."

She also said to my mom-in-law, "I'm going Home." And after hearing several family member's stories of Verna's life, they said Verna knew where she was going after she died.

The theme throughout her funeral was Verna's giving to others. Her niece shared that there were 3 things that made her think of Verna:

Bible: Because Verna had her Bible on her lap and read it constantly when anyone visited her in the nursing home. She knew scripture passages and liked to talk about them. She had a strong faith in God.

Beans: She had a large green bean garden that she grew to feed her growing boys. Rows and rows of them.  Verna had adopted Jon's father and his brothers, when her sister, Jon's Grandpa's first wife had died from breast cancer. Verna married her brother-in-law and adopted his sons. She stepped right in and took care of the boys treating them as if they were her own.

Behind-the-scenes: She was a quiet woman, but she was always giving to others. She liked to help her church's ladies group.And as a farmer's wife, she made hot meals for the guys in field, did the accounting, did parts runs to town and fed anyone who happened to stop by the farm. She did things behind-the-scenes and she liked it that way. She did not like attention on herself.

Jon shared that Grandma Verna was a giver and we can all learn from her. But Grandma would say, that it's not what she did on this earth that got her to heaven. She is in heaven because she believed that she was a sinner, she needed a savior and that God gave His only son to die for our sins on the cross and she asked Jesus to forgive her of her sins. She is in heaven because she accepted God's gift of salvation.

When it comes to dying, we can't take anything with us. But we can die with the knowledge that we shared the good news with others. The good news? Believing that Jesus' death on the cross to free us of our sins was so we can live with Him eternally (FOREVER) in Heaven after we die. It's that easy.

If you would like to read more about God's simple plan of salvation, please click here: http://www.godssimpleplan.org/gsps-english.html

We are blessed to have had Verna in our lives and her legacy of faith has been passed on to others.

Psalm 116:15,"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants."