Embrace God’s GRACE and Hang ON!
Mom experienced God’s grace. Her father died when she was two. She was raised by a mother who loved her and raised her with great attributes. She was able to travel, learned to work, graduated from college and held important jobs on her own. That’s a lot of grace, Depression era!
Mom exhibited grace through her wonderful smile and could exhibit a gentle grace that was charming to others. One time over lunch, we were at Saltgrass. We were sharing a meal which was NOT my idea; it was the idea of the Depression-era baby in our group. We split a steak equally. However, she got six asparagus stalks and I got three. My favorite vegetable!
Ann showed her charming grace by asking the waiter for the recipe for the Shiner Bock bread. The waiter kind of put her off and ignored her. The manager came by and she asked him. He crawfished a bit and said that they could not give out the recipe. She asked if he could give her the ingredients. He said, “Sure.” He came back with his handwritten list of ingredients. She began to ask questions about how they mixed what and when. Within five minutes she had the exact amounts of each ingredient and how they treated it. She drew him out. Gwen used to refer to it as “Mama Mojo.”
Mom continually experienced God’s grace. She recognized how much God had forgiven her by His grace. Ann recognized how God had carried her marriage along despite some of her gaffs and goofs. She wrote this in a note,
“After 62 years of marriage, I love to reflect on God’s pursuit of His own and that no human love will satisfy the soul. He keeps us seeking Him. He would not have invited us to seek Him if it wasn't the desire of his heart. His grace has blessed me beyond measure.” She closed it with the “Jesus’ Prayer”: “Be merciful unto me, a sinner.”
Ann recognized God’s all-sufficient grace at work in her life. God says that His power is perfected in our weakness, that His grace is sufficient.
As Ann’s body began to fail in the final weeks, she experienced God’s grace through an image He gave her of her home-going. I read the following from the blog which Gwen journaled along the way…
I do think it is significant though that in Mom's last weeks here, she thought a lot about the eagle scene from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King. As she got closer to the end, she couldn't remember details like Tolkien's name or the name of the book/movie. I overheard her trying to tell an old friend who had stopped by with homegrown tomatoes and love. She couldn't come up with the words she wanted so Mom said, "You know, it's written by that mathematician and the story is a myth, but it goes along with the Bible." [Isaiah 40:31 with eagles soaring which I read earlier.]
She explained to me that she was thinking of after Frodo and Samwise had disposed of the ring, and had run outside on Mt. Doom, and the mountain was erupting into rivers of lava, leaving the hobbits exhausted and stranded on an island of rock. Then the eagles came and carried them to safety, just like they had rescued Gandalf before.
Of course, Mom was dreaming of the end of her own hard journey, when she too would soar like eagles. And God is faithful and kept His promises to Mom. She did finally fly away. But this passage reminds me that God is faithful to me too. He doesn't lose track of me. He doesn't come and go. He lasts. He gives fresh strength. Thank God.
Grace Wins! Ann received her freedom from this world on Saturday night, June 30.
By God’s grace, Ann entered into the presence of our Lord. The apostle Paul wrote, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8)
How is it possible that human beings, who are estranged from God, can be present with the Lord Jesus upon death? The Bible says that we are born estranged from God because of sin. We are a rebellious lot. Like Ann said, “Egos die hard.” Most of us resemble that remark. The reward for being stiff-necked is independence from God now and for all eternity. God desires differently for us. He loves people. Jesus died a sacrificial death on the cross so that all who believe in Him might live. He died in your place for your sin. He offers life—abundant now and eternally in His presence—to all who commit their lives to Him.
I challenge you to accept God’s offer of life today. Receive Jesus into your life. Acknowledge your inadequacy and need of a Savior. Invite Jesus into your life. You can do this in the silence of your heart. He will forgive your sins and enter your life to lead you.
I challenge you to receive God’s wisdom in your relationships. Be teachable! Own your sin. Keep your vows with humility. Embrace God’s grace and hang on! He will work. May you go in His peace.
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