Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened...

I've been putting this post off, but I feel like it needs to be written.

Most people reading already know this news, some don't, but my grandma passed away last Saturday.  I wrote in a previous post of her surgery and the struggle I had with being here through that.  How hard it was to know this was going on and not to be there or be able to do anything.  But she made it through that, and I believed she was going to pull through.  And indeed, the Lord gave our family a tremendous gift by allowing her to have a few really good last days after that surgery to say goodbye.  I was able to skype with her while she was still doing okay in the hospital.   And then I woke up Saturday morning to news that my grandma had had a incredibly difficult night and had made the decision that she wanted to go home to be with the Lord.  She was tired of fighting and knew that the quality of her life here on earth would be incomparable to what she would experience united with the Lord.  And with great strength and courage, she told the family that she had no fear and was ready.  Total peace.  Complete faith.  Utter surrender. 
What a tremendous woman.  As I was home and spending time remembering with my extended family, I was just struck what an incredible family I have.  And how, this is in large part, to my grandpa and grandma.  Their love for each other.  Their love for their children.  Which in turn, led my aunts and uncles to marry who they married and raise their children they way they raised them.  My grandma was a woman of faith and strength.  And what stands out the most is how much she gave of herself in total humility.   Even in her death, she gave a tremendous gift to those left behind by choosing to die in such a courageous and peaceful way that allowed all of us to be comforted.  She knew what lay ahead and embraced it. 

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest..."  Matthew 11:28.

My grandma knew this truth and knows it in an even more real way now that she has experienced complete restoration. 
It has been a little difficult to get back into the swing of things here in Guatemala.  A little tough to accept that my Grandma is gone.  I'm a little tired physically, emotionally, spiritually.

 But that verse holds truth for me also...