Grandma.

This week has been a busy and crazy week.  The main thing I've needed to write about is the passing of my Grandmother.  For those of you who are friends with my family on Facebook, this is probably not new information, but for some of you this will be. 

On Monday (9.14.15) I received a call in the morning from my mother saying that my Grandmother on my father's side passed away in the night.  This was not something that was unexpected, she was up there in age and her health was declining.  I was able to see her before I made the move to AZ in the summer, with the mindset that it would most likely be my last time seeing her here on earth.  

In this post, I just wanted to communicate some thoughts and feelings that I have with thinking and reflecting on her and her impact on my life.  

My Grandmother was a giver.  Giving gifts was something I remember her doing:  whether a mountain of presents containing a copious quantity dollar tree toys as a young boy...or money to help out with gas on my detour to visit her in her home town of Little Falls, on my trips to my family's cabin...She was always giving.  

I lived around 2 hours away from her back home, so visits happened semi often, but it wasn't as much as some people do if you have relatives within 20 or 30 minutes.  In this thought, however, my life has been drastically changed through her generosity, and my late Grandfather who died when I was 5. 

There's more to the story than what I am writing right now, but the long story shorten, is that I was able to pay my college debt and have a great start right out of college into the world of a full time job (in this case, teaching!).  This seemly impossible task (The no college debt part) was made possible by my Grandmother.  She paid for much of my college, and, through her generosity, made even this trip to Arizona possible.  I am so thankful for her support, and the path of life I am on has to do with her support.  

Me and Grandma At the D&E Klemme Wedding.

Words cannot express my gratitude to my Grandmother.  I wish there was a way to communicate it, but I am unable to type it.  One thing I do wish to say, to all who are reading this, is this: make a difference in the lives of those around you.  

My Grandmother is with the Lord now.  She was (and is!) a Godly individual, a selfless individual who's life was lived for those around her, her family.  I am challenged by this. She used her skill, something she was good at (which is giving gifts) and utilized it to impact others (like myself).  The challenge I wanted to communicate to you who call yourselves believers in Christ, is this: what does your love look like?  I think a lot of times we (including myself) get bent out of shape on what we cannot do (the sins) and we don't look at what we CAN do...for others.  

"I don't smoke, I don't say mean things, I don't use words that others find offensive"...

Great for me...But in the end, what will that do?  Maybe more years will be added to my life, maybe I will have more friends, but still those things don't last. How you love, how you impact others, that WILL last.  And from the overflow of their joy, more lives will be changed.

How you love, how you impact others, that WILL last.  And from the overflow of their joy, more lives will be changed.  

I saw the love of God lived though my Grandmother.  Not in a way where we communicated and had deep theological talks, but in the simplicity of her support.

Through my Grandmother I was able to be funded to go to Crown College,
Through my Grandmother I raised enough money to take a trip to Jerusalem,
Through my Grandmother I was able to make a move to Arizona for a job teaching,
Through my Grandmother I was able to start a payment on a new car.

If you are reading this and we met through Crown College, our Jerusalem Trip, or here in Arizona, much of this was from the love my Grandmother shared with me.

But.

I don't want to just say it was my Grandmother, a better phrase would be as follows:

It was through the overflow of God's love through my Grandmother,  my funding to Crown College was possible,

It was through the overflow of God's love through my Grandmother, my trip to Jerusalem was possible,

It was through the overflow of God's love through my Grandmother, my move to Arizona for a job teaching was possible,

It was through the overflow of God's love through my Grandmother, I was able to start a payment on a new car.  

Through the overflow of God's love that I feel from my Grandmother, I hope to continually impact the lives of students around the country and around the world.  

My question for you is this: What does your love look like, and are you living it out? 

1 Corinthians 13:8-10:

"8 Love will never end. But all those gifts will come to an end—even the gift of prophecy, the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages, and the gift of knowledge.9 These will all end because this knowledge and these prophecies we have are not complete.10 But when perfection comes, the things that are not complete will end."