My grandmother has been battling for some time now. She’s been battling a mind that faded?before her body. At first it was so troubling to my family, but we learned to laugh with her, talk to her imaginary friends with her, and hold her while she held her “baby doll.” Funny how we end life like we started isn’t it?

My grandmother, we’ve always called her “Mammaw,”?is 92 years old. Psalm 90 says that “the number of our?days, or years, is 70 or 80 if by strength.”?She is one stout woman!? She hasn’t recognized her family in some time, but we still recognize her. She doesn’t remember the things we remember, but boy do we treasure the memories the Lord has given us through the years.?As difficult as these days are for my family,?we are?treasuring these last moments that we will get to spend with her in this life.??

I got a phone call from one of my sisters this morning letting me know that the?doctors weren’t expecting her to live through the night so I’m sitting here in her hospital room?waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting for her to breathe her last breath? Waiting for her to get better??Waiting for some good news from one of the doctors??No, I’m not waiting for any?of these things to occur…I just wanted to be with her as she has been with me and my family during our?difficult times. I’m not waiting on a doctor or on my grandmother for that matter, but I am waiting on the Lord. I’ve learned through the years that as wonderful as doctors are, they do not hold the power of life and death. I’ve also learned that we cannot “will” ourselves to live when the last grains of sand trickle through the hour glass of our life. What are we to do when those we love come to the end of their days? What are we to do when our last days are in sight? Search for a “better” doctor, a legendary hospital, or a greater will to live? No, we are to wait on the Lord. Psalm 33 encourages us,

6 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. 17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. 18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. 20 We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. 21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. 22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you. (Psalm 33:16-22 NIV)

My grandmother’s last breath is coming, but until it comes I will sit?here at her side tonight and wait for the Lord. When I was a kid I use to dread my last day, the thought of my death, but a friend introduced me to God’s Word, and my Savior, and tonight I know that my, and my grandmother’s, Redeemer lives!? This is the beauty of life…eternal life.

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The Beauty of Life…Eternal Life