a prayer warrior has gone home.

this has been a busy and unexpected week on the island. what did i say in my last blog entry? to quote me:

i have heard several things like these over the last month and i'm wondering if God is preparing me for something. they have stuck with me. i mean how many times have you said to yourself, "i'm not so sure i can do that God. surely someone else is better suited for that job. someone else can invite that neighbor. someone else can help that person out. i don't feel like i can do the job as well as someone else. someone else will do it. i don't have time right now to do that." i know i have uttered those words or something like it to myself.

so today i am asking myself, "what am i doing that requires faith? am i listening to what God is prompting me to do? am i willing to do what God wants me to do and if i am not, then why."

that's what i wrote tuesday morning on my blog. early wednesday morning i received a call from my sister. she called to tell me my grandmother (my dad's mother) had died. she died tuesday night at home. i am not really, really close with her, but as i sit here and type this i know that this world has lost a prayer warrior. she was always on her knees praying for someone. although we have lost a strong, strong christian woman, to borrow my sister's words, God has thrown her a welcome home party and is excited she is finally home.

i tried to make sure paid attention to what i could do for my family. my grandmother left a daughter, an adoptive son, many grandkids and many great grandkids behind. the loss is felt the most from my aunt. they talked almost every day, several times a day. i am always at a loss of what to say to people when something like this has happened. in fact, i have a tendency to shut down my emotions a little until some time has passed.

so anyway, i was talking with my sister yesterday on the way to the airport about some of the things we remembered about my grandma when we were younger.

my two sisters and i have very fond memories of going to her house every year to watch the wizard of oz. do you remember that used to come on annually? when we would go over there we would make bonuts (basically it's donut holes). we would make little balls of dough, fry them, and cover them with a cinnamon and sugar mixture. yummy. we would also make tuna balls. although i wasn't a big fan of tuna back then, i did love these. i can't remember how these were made. i think they were kind of like sausage balls but with tuna. she had a very, very tall slide in her backyard. one of those tall metal slides. she would give us a piece of wax paper to slide down. she always had a beautiful christmas tree. she made the best green beans. my older sister loved her hot macaroni salad. my sister said, "can you imagine what she thought when her son brought over a woman who had three small children?" my grandmother accepted us and welcomed us in her family. she shopped all year round for christmas presents for us. in fact a couple of weeks ago my mom and my nieces went over there to visit her. it was raining and when they got inside the house they were soaking wet. while my aunt was going through a room in my grandma's house getting it ready for company, she had found a bag of umbrellas. my aunt said that my grandmother had called her and told her she found six umbrellas (two for each for me and my two sisters) and had bought them so we would never have to be wet again. we are to keep them in our cars. mine are in my trunk and will stay there. as my sister and i cleaned up her house a little yesterday, we found christmas presents already purchased, some already wrapped and tagged, all over the house. she was on a fixed income, but she thought about her loved ones all year long.

God knew He was calling her home. last night as i was leaving my grandmother's house, my aunt said, "you know God knew what i needed. i haven't gotten any sleep these past couple of nights. tuesday night i did not sleep at all (that's the night my grandma died), and wednesday night it was very little, but you know what, monday night i had nothing to do and j (her husband) was out of town. i just thought i would relax and veg, but do you know what ended up happening? i fell asleep early, woke up at 3 a.m. to take off my contacts, and went back to sleep. i slept for 12 hours that night. God knew i would need the rest and He gave it to me." i think God was preparing my heart. again i think of Philippians 4:19.

Philippians 4:19

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

no one can tell me we do not have a God who does not love or care for us or does not provide for us even before we know we need it.

so today i will be dropping my children off with my wonderful sister-in-law. she will watch them today and tomorrow. we have a family thing tonight and the funeral tomorrow. please just be in prayer specifically for my aunt and her family. even though they are a strong, Christian family too, still the loss is very deep for her.

i guess that's it. thanks for reading the my ramblings. if you do not know of my God who i am talking about, leave a comment and i'd be happy to tell you all about Him and what He has done in my life!