“I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” (2 Timothy 1:5)
This is a verse I read in a recent Sabbath Chinese Bible study. Timothy had a model of faith: his grandmother who taught him about God as a child. This reminded me of my grandmother. I grew up with my grandmother and mother in church. I remember when I slept at my grandmother's house as a child, me and my cousins used to listen to my grandmother's testimonies about how my great-grandfather was blessed by the Lord and led the whole family to the Lord; and how the Lord Jesus looked after my aunts and uncles and exhorted us to keep the Sabbath happily. All these testimonies were deeply imprinted in my mind.
I remember that my grandmother used to go around doing holy work, praying in many brothers and sisters' homes, and even went to the homes of brothers and sisters who needed fasting and prayer; although she could not read much, she could recite many hymns. After I had immigrated, every time I went back to my country, I had to visit my grandmother. When I had to leave and part with her, I could feel the loving and reluctant gaze behind me, and I didn't dare to look back at her because I would also feel reluctant. Whenever I phoned my grandmother, before I hung up the phone, she would always say, "May the Lord Jesus bless you and be with you." Although my grandmother was worried about me because I was abroad, as long as the Lord Jesus is with me, she would be relieved.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 4:6-7)
Due to the pandemic in 2020, I did not return to my home country. In July, my grandmother laid to rest all her earthly labors and rested in the arms of the Lord. My grandmother once told me, "Grandma doesn't ask for anything now, all I pray for is that when the Lord Jesus takes me back to my heavenly home, don't let me be sick for too long, just like my mother” (my great-grandmother rested in the Lord's bosom after being sick for four days). After my grandfather passed away more than ten years ago, my grandmother lived all by herself, and my mother stayed with her at her house almost every night. It just so happened that my father was hospitalized for a few days in July because of a heart attack, so my mother stayed home to take care of him. At 1 AM, my grandma called my mother and said she got up to go to the bathroom and her legs were too weak to get up from the floor, so my mother rushed to grandma's house in the middle of the night and later got a doctor to give her an infusion. Unfortunately, she didn't get better, and the next day my grandma became unable to move half of her body and her speech was a bit mumbled. My mom and uncle rushed my grandma to the hospital. On the first day she arrived, the doctor said grandma had a stroke. Now it was Wednesday, and my grandma's hand extended three fingers and then pointed towards the sky. My mom asked her, "Is it that Lord Jesus will take you back to your heavenly home on the third day?" My grandma nodded her head. Next, she stretched out her five fingers and pointed to the sky, and my aunt asked her, "Is the Lord Jesus going to take you home in five days?” She shook her head and kept gesturing with her five fingers. Auntie asked again, "Is it Friday that the Lord Jesus will take you home?” My grandma nodded her head. When it was Thursday, my grandma stretched two fingers and pointed to the sky, meaning she had two more days left. So, my mother discussed it with my aunt and uncle and decided to bring grandma home and keep her company with the whole family. At 1:00 a.m. Friday, grandma indeed rested peacefully in her sleep in the bosom of the Lord. We were sad to see her go, but we were thankful because we firmly believed that she was returning to the heavenly home, to a more beautiful home.
“Then I (apostle John) heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’” (Revelation 14:13)
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” (Psalm 116:15)
Although the last time I saw my grandmother was three years ago, I remember the way she sang the hymns and prayed, the way she was doing holy work, the way she helped me pray for the Holy Spirit, the way she walked from the slope of our house to the church for morning prayers, the way she laughed and told us when my great-grandfather sold fish balls on the Sabbath and was splashed with feces, and the way my grandmother urged me to trust the Lord when I visited my younger uncle in the US, who was seriously ill. Grandmother completed her duties, finished her race, and kept the faith. We who are still in this world should also strive to know and pursue God, so that God is not only the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and not only the God of my grandmother. Rather, God is also the one that will shepherd you and I throughout our lives.
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