August '26

 

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord. -Psalm 100:1

Like the month of May, August's picture carries a special weight to it that none of the others do.

My grandmother, my Gran, created this picture along with 12 others (13 total) to be a calendar for my grandad.  It is with his blessing, that I was able to include it in this year's calendar.  The drawing is of a Marshallese man making music with an instrument.  She and my pawpaw lived on Kwajalein, Marshall Islands for about 14 years.  My dad and uncle lived there some throughout their childhood.

This month is for everyone who knew and loved my Gran.  It's for those who ache for her here on earth & those who have already joined her at heaven's gates.

For:

PawPaw, Dad, & Uncle Steve

Mom, Aaron, Noah, & Isaiah

Uncle Charles & Barbara, Aunt Pat & Robert, Uncle Wade & Robin, Uncle Doug & Janice

Aunt Jane & Kenneth, Aunt Eileen & Mickey

& my maternal grandmother, Nana, who had such a sweet relationship with my paternal grandmother, Gran.

There so are many more.  She loved well and was loved by many.

 

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord. -Psalm 100:1

If my gran was anything she was JOYFUL!  Her laughter filled the house and no meal was ever quiet.  I treasure the memories of her and miss her dearly.  I am so thankful to have grown up with her as my grandma and my pawpaw as my grandad.  This one's for you, Gran.  I love you forever.

It's true- the first thing to come to mind with Gran is that she was known for her laughter and her joyful spirit.  She never met a stranger and showed kindness to everyone and anyone.  It's also true that she could be serious.  She was "real" and authentic in a way that let you know none of that joy was fake.  

To be honest with you all, I am really struggling right now.  My soul feels like David's when he said "Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.  The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distress." -Psalm 25:16-17

I really wish I could get her perspective on what my life has turned into...this never ending carousel of doctors, therapists, hospitals, and medications.  I would ask her how to handle it.  I would ask her how to walk this path with the joy of the Lord.  I would ask her how did she do it when life was hard & you want to give up.  I would ask her all of those things and more.  I would ask, but I also have an idea of what she would say.

She would remind me that nothing that happens to us is outside of His hands.  Everything we face, every day we battle the storm...it has to go through Him first.

So do not fear, for I am with you;

    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you; 

    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

-Isaiah 41:10

She would tell me that I'm never alone.  Even when you are alone, you are still in the presence of Jesus.  He is with you.  He is behind you, in front of you, and on both sides - and He can even fill in the corners.  

And I [Jesus] will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—  the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

-John 14:16-17

She would tell me that there is purpose in the pain, there is a purpose in the suffering, a purpose in the loneliness.  Each and every day- it's a gift.  And only on this earth do we walk through things so that we can know Christ in His suffering.

 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

- Philippians 3:7-11

She would tell me to fix my eyes on Jesus.  

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

- Hebrews 12:1-3

Then she would say, "Start with the letter A.  Name all the attributes of God you can think of that start with A.  Then go to the letter B...and so on."

Lastly, she would tell me that she loved me and then crack a joke that would make us both giggle.

Even if you don't have a "Gran" in your life- you can have Jesus.  I pray if you're struggling today, you might sense Him sitting with you.  Looking to scripture for your next breath.  Cry out to God and then cry out again.  When you weep, you never weep alone.

John 3:16 – "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Romans 5:8 – "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 15:9 – "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

John 15:13 – "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

John 4:19 – "We love because he first loved us."

You are loved more than you know.