Around New Year's we got a chance to travel and see Wesley's grandmother Narine. We couldn't believe she had never seen Caleb in person! He loved her! He crawled all over her and she just laughed and laughed!
The visit was wonderful, but difficult at the same time. Over the last year Grandmother had suffered numerous strokes and other life threatening problems causing her sell her house and move into an assisted living residence. We were blessed to have seen her on her "good days" and thoroughly enjoyed every moment we were able to spend with her as well as Wesley's aunt, uncle and cousins.
Because of her strokes she has been left almost blind and even more hard of hearing than before. She shared with us that when we arrived she knew it was us because of Wesley's silhouette in the door frame. I couldn't help but think how frustrating life must have become for this once very independent woman.
Something I have always been thankful for is the spiritual heritage that I have become a part of when I married Wesley. He has spiritual roots that grow deeply and are strongly set in the foundation of Christ. Narine is part of that and I know I can always look forward to uplifting conversations with her. Despite her "set backs" this year she shared with me a few things that she has learned recently:
- God still has a plan for her life and He can use her even if she is blind, deaf, and finds it difficult to move around. She asked God to only keep her here as long as she can be of service to Him and bring Him glory--even if it is frustrating.
- Not to take reading the Bible for granted. Even with a large print Bible, she still struggles to read God's Word.
- Things don't matter. She lost her favorite scarf in the move to her new residence. She had had if for years and always prided herself on taking her time to find the right one for the right price. "What time I wasted," she said, "when I'm sure I had much more important things to do."
- She was sure He still had things for her to learn. He was allowing her to go through all these frustrations to "prune" her because God prunes those He loves.
As I sat listening to this beautiful, godly, older woman talk about what God might still be trying to teach her and the ways He was "pruning" her, I was reminded that no matter how old we are or how long we've gone to church we must never stop growing. We must never stop learning about God, His character, and must never, ever stop making ourselves available to be taught or "pruned". John 15:2 says, "... every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." Even at Narine's stage of life (when most of the world casts them aside) God still has plans for her to be fruitful.
"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."--Philippians 1:3-6
