healed, and has learned what God’s love and comfort looks like. When I headed
to Peru I had no idea how my life was about to be shaken in a matter of a few
days.
Peruvian family found out that it was my birthday in the morning so they
decided to throw me a birthday party! I couldn’t believe that people had met
for merely a few hours were planning my 24th birthday party. I went
to bed and in the morning I got up early to check my e-mail. When I checked my
e-mail I found out that my grandmother was in the hospital and not expected to
live because the cancer she has been fighting for a long time now had spread
through her entire body. The doctors said she wasn’t going to make it. I was
devastated as I read these words. I am living at my host home away from my
team, and keep in mind I had only known my Peruvian family for less than a day,
but when I went into the kitchen where my Peruvian mother was (Sharon) she
asked me what was wrong. I tried to tell her in my broken Spanish that my
grandmother was dying. When she heard this and I began to cry she hugged me
with so much love. I pulled myself together and went to breakfast with my team
at the church so I could tell them what was going on. When I arrived they sang
happy birthday to me as I walked up the stairs and then I just started crying.
My teammates comforted me and prayed with me and they walked back to my host
home with me so I could e-mail back home and talk with my family. I found out
that my grandmother was still alive but not expected to make it much longer, and
then as I began to cry uncontrollably my Peruvian grandmother and Peruvian mother
both came and hugged me and wiped the tears off my face with their hands. I
couldn’t stop thinking how these women who have only known me for a day were
wiping my tears from my face – what an image of God’s love in this time of
brokenness.
The next night we had
prayer service at the church. It was the first time we had been to a service in
the church and our first time meeting the people of the church so I tried to
put on a brave face but I couldn’t keep the mask on for long. As the service
began the pastor, who had heard about my grandmother, got up and told the
service that we needed to pray for my grandmother. As everyone began to pray
for her I lost it. I was sobbing, the kind of sobbing where you can’t even
breath. My teammates were there to comfort me and my Peruvian grandmother and
Peruvian mother came and wiped the tears from my face. I was in awe of how much
love God had given me at this grief stricken moment. My heart was broken but at
the same time my heart was being filled with love. The next morning I learned
that my grandmother passed away at the same time we had the prayer service
where I had sobbed in front of the church. I had peace that she died when God
was orchestrating such a broken yet loving moment for me here in Peru.
Because I wasn’t able to go home for the funeral I decided
to have a funeral for her here in Peru. I had planned on going to the ocean
(about an hour away) and send out some flowers for her, but there was a Tsunami
alert so I decided it wasn’t wise for me to go. Then I realized something BIG.
God wanted me to give the flowers I wanted to buy for my grandma to the people
who had comforted me in my grief. So to honor my grandmother’s memory I bought
flowers for my Peruvian family. The smiles on their faces as I blessed them
with flowers brought joy to my heart, and when I handed the flowers to my
Peruvian grandmother she began to cry. I wondered when the last time anyone had
bought her flowers was. For me I realized that I was so blessed that God had
given me the gift of blessing my Peruvian grandmother even through the sadness
of losing my own grandmother. And although it was a simple gesture and not a
huge funeral I felt that I had made my grandmother proud by sharing love to
those who had shared their love to me.
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted“.
