Thank You Lord!

This past weekend, we were blessed as a family to celebrate the life of my sweet Grandma Kreger! She would have loved the memories we made over these last couple of days. She would have laughed with us as we recounted stories, played Cahoots, and looked through hundreds of old photos. She would have loved to have all four of her boys and eight grandkids gathered together in one place. And she would have loved seeing the youthful spirits in her great-grandchildren!

As hard as it was to say good-bye, we know it is just temporary until we get to see her again. Thank you for the legacy you have left for our family to carry on for years to come! We love you Grandma! 

(This was just a little piece I wrote for the funeral to help capture some of my favorite memories of my grandma.)

It is hard to put 98 years of life lived on this earth into words. And for the incredible woman my grandma was, it would take a series of novels to hold all the memories and stories of her life. I opted on sharing just a few of my favorites. 

My grandma and I were exactly 70 years apart. Yet I never remember thinking my grandma was very old because she was young at heart and full of life. Some of my earliest memories revolve around wonderful days spent with my brother at grandma’s apartment. We loved getting to spend the weekend with her and she loved getting to spend the weekend with us as long as we didn’t argue…which never happened, of course :) Our weekends were filled with dinners of mac & cheese and hot dogs, roller skating in the basement, and making homemade play-doh. Her favorite activity, however, was probably playing Scrabble with us…or should I say beating us in Scrabble. Grandma knew every 2- letter word in that dictionary. And we always had to check the oven before turning it on because that is where grandma stored her cereal! 

As my brother and I got older, our weekends at grandma’s became less frequent as our lives got busier with school and other activities. But that didn’t change her involvement in our lives. She was ever present at our activities and one of our biggest fans. I cherished the fact that I got to see my grandma every Sunday at church and loved stopping by her Sunday school room each week to say hi! Since my grandma was the only family we lived close to, she was an important part of every holiday gathering at our home. 

Family was always one of the most important things to my grandma. She loved to travel and see her grandkids. Since we all lived across the country, I don’t think anyone was more excited than she was when we decided to start our Kreger Family Reunions every 2 years. These reunions became the highlight of her year! Meeting and holding those great-grandbabies did wonders for her heart and soul.  And those 4 boys of hers, she loved it more than anything when they were altogether in one place! The stories she had on them were priceless! 

Yet while I will treasure all these memories forever in my heart, there is one particular memory that has shaped my life for eternity. All those years of sleepovers at my grandma’s gave me a glimpse into the thing she valued the most, and that was her faith. Each night before she went to bed, my grandma would read her bible and kneel beside her bed to pray giving thanks to Lord for His blessings and lifting up those in need. It came as no surprise when I found a journal she kept for a short time and one of the phrases she wrote most was, “Thank you Lord!” 

My grandma loved the Lord and was incredibly grateful for His grace in her life. If you talk to anyone who knew her, they would comment on what a joyful and loving woman she was to those around her. Even in her years at the nursing home, she quickly became one of the favorite residents due to her positive and joyful spirit. It is this gratitude to the Lord that I want to carry in my heart for the rest of my life.

I want to leave you with Psalm 100 today. It simply captures my grandma’s heart in the purest form, and it will be what I always remember about her. 

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” 

Thank you Lord!