Faith like a child...

"I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it." Luke 18:17

A dear friend of mine very recently lost a grandparent. Listening to her talk about it brought to mind my own grandmother, who past away in 2004. Losing a grandparent is hard, especially if you have had the privilege of growing up knowing them. I was lucky to have a few grandparents around as a kid. My Grandma Bebe, my mom's mother, was probably the closest. She was always there, as a child, as a teen and as a young adult. When she passed away, the big gaping hole she left was felt by our family, church and many in the special needs community.

Let me tell you a little about my Grandma. She was born in Juneau long before Alaska reached statehood. Her childhood was not easy, to say the least, and ended at 15 when she married the only man she would ever love, my Grandpa Tom. She had 8 children, six of whom she raised on a homestead in Willow. Life was rough, home steading in Alaska was not easy on anyone; hauling water, chopping wood, etc... as well as freezing winters and muddy springs to cope with. They never had a lot of money and worked hard for what they did have. Her two youngest children came a long as a surprise in her late 30s, first Michael, then Crystle. By this point many of her older children had families of their own, in fact, my aunt was born one year after my oldest sister, almost to the day. When Crystle was only 6 years old, my Grandfather suffered a heart attack and passed away, leaving my Grandma to care for their two remaining children alone. She did her best to provide, eventually starting work at a bus barn as a bus aide for special needs children, a job she would keep for the next 20+ years.

Those are the facts about my Grandma, the framework of her life here on earth that helped to shape who she was. Who she was is more complicated then the sum of her life's events. Grandma was loud, a byproduct of having a half deaf father, but it was almost like her zeal for life could not be contained by "normal volumes". She loved to sing, loud and unabashed. She loved to watch strange shows/movies, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" being one of her favorites. Grandma ate weird foods, liked to chew on chicken bones and, despite being a diabetic, loved sweets. She could have a temper and be stubborn, but mostly was a sweet, fun, loving woman. She loved her family, loved her friends, her church, her job and the sweet kids she saw every morning on her bus routes.

The single most defining factor about my Grandma was her love of Jesus. Never in my life have I seen a more pure, innocent, adoring love then the love my Grandma had for the Saviour of her soul. This isn't to say that she didn't struggle at times, life dealt her many blows and Grandma was human after all. She just didn't complicate it like so many of us do, didn't question every aspect but simply accepted it like a child knows that her father loves her. One of my favorite stories about my Grandma is from my wedding in 2000. We held the wedding and reception in separate locations and somehow Grandma got lost in the transit. She went home to get her cordless (home) phone and then drove around with it in case we called her. I don't tell you this so you can laugh at her, though it is funny, but it is to demonstrate the childlike view my Grandma had of life. An innocence that never disappeared, despite years of hardship and sometimes heartache. It was this innocence, this childlike heart, that allowed her to have that sweet, pure love of God. Her "kids" (as she called them) from her bus routes likely shared this sweet innocence, allowing her to understand them in a way many people likely did not. It permeated her being, seeping out onto those of us privileged to be near her. I believe the light of Jesus could shine brightly through her because she didn't muddle it down with too much humanity. These are things that I remember the most about my Grandma, the things that still bring tears to my eyes even as I write them. She was one of a kind, even her unique name, Bebe, means baby, as if God whispered in the ear of her mother and named her Himself.

Bebe & Thomas Graham