We love you Granny.

It has been a sad week for Andrew and his mom's family. Andrew's "Granny" went home to be with the Lord this past Thursday.

Five and a half years ago, Granny was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Since then, she had a few bouts of cancer, but she was always a fighter and had a positive attitude. Overall, the last few years of her life were filled with sweet family time and lots of travels. She never let the cancer get the best of her.

Granny's funeral was today, and she requested in advance that Andrew speak. Of course I'm partial, but I thought Andrew did a very good job. I was proud to see him stand up there representing his family. It's so neat to see how the more time I spend with Andrew,  the more I see him as a leader and well-respected man. I'm truly fortunate to have him as my husband. (AJ, I love you!)

In honor of Granny, I wanted to share with you bits and pieces of what Andrew said at the funeral so you all could get just a little taste of the delightful woman I've been able to know for the last few years (beware it's a little long)...


"I want to start out by giving you all a glimpse into Betty from the aspect of her grandchildren. Over the last couple of days, I have been able to spend some time with a few of the grandkids, reminiscing and talking about some memories from growing up with Granny.  The first thing that keeps coming up from everyone I talk to is how steady and strong she was.  Regardless of what life threw her way, she seemed to just take it in stride, and fight back extremely hard, when necessary. And as we all know, she continued this tenacity as cancer came into the picture.  She fought longer than anyone thought she should or could. Unfortunately, for all of us grandkids, we got to experience this same tough side of Granny everytime we seemed to forget our manners or get into mischief that we should be avoiding. But she did this because she genuinely cared about how her grandkids were going to turn out when they grew up.  She wanted to take pride in us when we grew up...


... During her final days, my father-in-law told me that he had spoken to my mom by way of email, and she said to him: 'even though the end is so vividly clear, I still learn things from her everyday.'  That is how Granny worked - she was always looking at ways to help out other people and make their life more comfortable and drop that little nugget of wisdom at the most unlikely times...

... As tough as the last week has been, I definitely have to look at this time as an opportunity to rejoice.  In Philippians 1, Paul tells us that 'to live is Christ and to die is gain,' and that 'to live in the flesh means fruitful labor,' but for Paul, he said: 'my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.' How exciting to know that Granny has finally gotten to depart; something that Paul longed for, she has gotten to experience.  Later, Paul explains that the time that we stay in the flesh is for Christ’s sake.  We do not have to worry about departing from the flesh until we have satisfied what the Almighty God of heaven has set before us to do.  How satisfying to know Granny has run her course and fulfilled God's intent for her...

... Once again, for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, we are celebrating someone that is no longer at home in the body, she is where we would all rather be, at home with our Lord." - ARJ

Granny will certainly be missed by all who knew her. But as Andrew said, we celebrate knowing she ran her course and is at home with our Lord.