One hundred years ago today, May 18, 1918, my paternal grandmother passed away due to complications of childbirth. My Dad was one month shy of his third birthday. My grandfather was a good man who had married later in life to a young woman who was the love of his life. In rural areas of Kentucky in the early 1900's jobs were scarce and he moved his family often as jobs became available. But the day he buried his beloved wife, his moving days were over because you see, he could not leave her in that church cemetary, all alone. He stayed close by, visited her grave often, and never married again. He and his two little boys began attending the church that sits right beside her grave, and eventually began sweeping the floors, building the fire, filling the water bucket, locking or unlocking the doors, simply put, his new home away from his home became the church beside her grave.
In time, he became a Christian, a very respected man in the church and the community and his youngest son, my Dad, married a local preacher's daughter and they began serving together in that country church. My parents were married 70 years, had 10 children, never lived anywhere else but in this same small community and as of today, exactly one hundred years later, I'd like to share with you what God has done with that great loss, that great sacrifice.
7 of their descendants are ordained Baptist preachers.
One of their sons-in- law is a Baptist preacher and my sister is a preacher's wife.
There are deacons, Sunday School teachers, musicians, song writers, published authors, and a group of gifted and talented believers who would not be here today if that beloved wife and mother had not lost her life, if she was not buried in that cemetary beside Nelson Creek Baptist Church.
It was a tragic loss, it was heartbreaking and a loss that my Dad never forgot. And only Heaven will reveal the multitude of stories that are yet to be told and written because God had a plan much bigger than our finite minds could understand.
Today, you may have experienced a tragic loss that makes no sense, that cannot be explained. There is no way my grandfather could have comprehended what God would do with his loss, but in heaven today he can say, "It was worth it all."
God has a plan, and when you become discouraged by circumstances you cannot control, by things that hurt so deeply you feel you will not live through it, press into the God Who loves you beyond measure and remember this: God views our lives with eternity in mind, He uses the most unlikely of people, the most difficult, heartbreaking of circumstances to accomplish His sovereign plan, and He will always bring the greatest good from the deepest hurts.
Penny
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