in memory of my grandma

This is what I shared at the memorial service for my grandma today:

Reflections of a granddaughter:

My grandmother has gone to be with Jesus. When I saw her this past December, she told me she was looking forward to Heaven. She had lived a full life.

She was a great example to me of a woman who never stops learning. The sheer number of magazines, leaflets and books that she owned was a testament to her desire to learn all she could on a subject.

I cannot fathom the number of new inventions that my grandmother learned to use in her life:

Band-Aids, frozen food, traffic signals, spiral bound notebooks, stereo records, ball point pens, silly putty, the microwave oven, Tupperware, Teflon cooking pans, audio cassettes, the food processor, computers and cell phones... to name a few.

As is typical of those who grew up through the great depression she was very very careful to save and re-use everything. This seems strange for my generation.. While I may not wash and re-use plastic bags 10 times before throwing them away...  I do take from this a principle of not wasting resources.

My grandmother was intelligent, gentle and strong. She knew her Bible and was always willing to help others. Her example of helping others is also in my mother and I hope and pray that it will always be a priority in my life.

I have never doubted that my grandmother loved me. She was not an "out of sight, out of mind" person. Whether it was sending settings of silverware or a note of the latest health newsletter or information about a subject she knew you were interested in... She was thinking about others a lot.

Because of her care for others, there is always room for one more person at

the dinner table. I wish I knew more stories of all the people who had dinner over at the sales house. And I am grateful that this practice continued with my mother so I could meet many interesting people.

Several years ago I found her notebook that had a list of all of her grandchildren, their birth dates and their children's birth dates. No grandchild or great grandchild was left off the list. Family was very important to grandma.

I loved that grandma and grandpa would both get on the phone when I called them. I loved knowing that I was important enough to warrant their time on the phone talking with me. Even when I moved overseas and the time zones were more challenging, they would both get on the phone when I called and want to know how I was doing.

When God called me to be a full time missionary, Grandma was one of my biggest supporters. She wanted everyone to know what God had called me to do. She prayed for me and called others to pray for me. Her support for me is already greatly missed.

Most of all...I am so grateful to the Lord for a grandmother who loved Jesus. And I look forward to seeing her in heaven where she is not experiencing any more pain.