We opened the door to shouts of pure joy.
Never having met us, she wrapped her arms around each of us as you would a long lost friend.
In the room straight ahead, praises of another tongue resounded.
The table was set with treats,
and the un-containable joy of the Lord filled the atmosphere as brothers and sisters embraced the unity of Christ; complete with beaming smiles and boisterous laughter.
Grannie is one of the most fantastic people I've ever met.
In fact, I aspire to be like her one day.
Not only because she's bad-ass and braves the frigid waters of the Baltic Sea every morning
(which is rumored to be the secret to her longevity),
but because she's what love looks like.
Never mind that she took in complete strangers and loved us as her own.
That's just the start.
Every Tuesday evening,
we have family group at grannie's house.
It's always incredible and beautifully awkward.
For our final meeting, we had the privelige of hearing grannie's story
thanks to our lovely translator Pauls.
At an early age, grannie experienced the saving power of God.
Literally.
His hand of protection was over her life.
She and her family had gone swimming one day,
and she was swept away by the waves deep into the sea.
Her family thought that they would never see her again.
Grannie laid on her back and began to backstroke.
Eventually, she grew tired and simply lay on her back.
Hours later, she had floated back to shore and walked herself home to surprise her family.
Next she told us briefly about life during the Barricades.
The barricades were confrontation between Latvia and forces loyal to the Soviet Union in January 1991.
The events are named for the popular effort of building and protecting barricades.
Latvia, which had declared restoration of independence from the Soviet Union a year earlier,
anticipated that Soviet Union might attempt to violently regain control over the country.
After attacks by the pro-Soviet OMON on Riga in early January,
the government called on people to build barricades for protection of possible targets.
Grannie told us that while the bombings were happening,
she wanted to run away.
But she realized that God would not want her to run.
So she stood by and shouted at the planes,
crying out to God and knowing that he was her protector.
Another time, she and her two daughters were in her apartment
when two guys walked in.
They began shouting at her,
and one of the men had a knife in hand with plans to kill her.
She simply looked him in the eyes and said,
"Why do you do this?
Don't you know that Jesus loves you?"
It was a full on spiritual battle.
The man with the knife stood directly in front of grannie.
Three times he lunged at her.
Three times his hand mysteriously veered right-
missing grannie completely.
After nearly an hour,
the men gave up and walked away.
Shortly after, the man returned to grannie and apologized,
claiming that he had no idea what he was doing that night.
When we asked Grannie if she was still friends with the man,
she simply said, "of course,"
in such a manner as if to say,
"Why wouldn't I be?"
Grannie is an unsung hero.
Everything about her life exudes the love of Christ.
Day after day,
people enter through her door knowing they are more than welcome.
She is a friend to all and withholds from no one,
expecting nothing in return nor any recognition.
So here's to you grannie,
even if you never see this.
Though we both speak a different tongue
and struggle to communicate verbally,
your actions truly do speak louder than words,
and I am truly blessed to have met you.
