James 4:14 reads:
I was not familiar with this verse until this week.
My Grandma passed away last Friday, April 17th, quickly and somewhat unexpectedly. For those of you who may not know the whole story, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease for almost 10 years. This devastating disease took my "real" Grandma from us several years ago, leaving behind only a physical shell and the memories of how she used to be before the disease robbed her of her mind, her own memories, and ultimately her dignity.
She was 87 years old, and lived all her life in the house where she was born. It was her wish to die in that house, and she all but got her wish. My dad is an only child, and he patiently and devotedly cared for my Grandma every day of those long years that she was sick. She had recently become so ill that he and my mom could no longer care for her in the ways that she needed, so they had made arrangements to admit her into a nice nursing home facility. She was only there for a couple of hours on Friday before she was diagnosed with pneumonia and sent to the hospital. She was only away from her home for a few short hours before she left this earth. My dad (and my mom) are to be commended for the dedicated care they provided her, and the efforts they made to help her fulfill her wish to die in her home.
At her funeral on Monday, one of the pastors referred to this verse from James and charged us all to remember that our own lives here on Earth are fleeting, but that our spiritual lives with God are everlasting. It was a good reminder for all of us, and provided me with comfort and hope.
Just wanted to pay this tribute to my Grandma and pass along this verse as a reminder to all of us that life is short in the grand scheme of the world. In the words of Swiss philosopher Henri Frederic Amiel:
"Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away."
I was not familiar with this verse until this week.
My Grandma passed away last Friday, April 17th, quickly and somewhat unexpectedly. For those of you who may not know the whole story, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease for almost 10 years. This devastating disease took my "real" Grandma from us several years ago, leaving behind only a physical shell and the memories of how she used to be before the disease robbed her of her mind, her own memories, and ultimately her dignity.
She was 87 years old, and lived all her life in the house where she was born. It was her wish to die in that house, and she all but got her wish. My dad is an only child, and he patiently and devotedly cared for my Grandma every day of those long years that she was sick. She had recently become so ill that he and my mom could no longer care for her in the ways that she needed, so they had made arrangements to admit her into a nice nursing home facility. She was only there for a couple of hours on Friday before she was diagnosed with pneumonia and sent to the hospital. She was only away from her home for a few short hours before she left this earth. My dad (and my mom) are to be commended for the dedicated care they provided her, and the efforts they made to help her fulfill her wish to die in her home.
At her funeral on Monday, one of the pastors referred to this verse from James and charged us all to remember that our own lives here on Earth are fleeting, but that our spiritual lives with God are everlasting. It was a good reminder for all of us, and provided me with comfort and hope.
Just wanted to pay this tribute to my Grandma and pass along this verse as a reminder to all of us that life is short in the grand scheme of the world. In the words of Swiss philosopher Henri Frederic Amiel:
"Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind."
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