Never give up

As Christmas approaches my mind is drawn to my parents. Mom left her cancer behind in 1985 and Dad woke up with mom in 1991. I find it cathartic to scan my dad's old slides into my computer. The picture above is of my mom's parents taken in 1972. My mom was raised literally on the Virginia/West Virginia border. The state line split the house in two. My grandfather was a typical man of his times. As a child I found the remains of his still. While a life long gambler, drinker and general abuser, he managed to raise 13 children. Mom was number 6. Times and troubles and according to here sister a boy named Tag caused here to run away to her older siblings in Baltimore Maryland during WW2. In Baltimore she meet both Jesus and my father. She was 17 when they married. Life was hard for her mother, very hard. Somewhere along the line her mother entered into a relationship with Jesus as did most of her siblings. Grandpa resisted the call of a relationship with God all of grandma's and mom's lives. Admittedly, grandpa, by all accounts, was not a very nice man but mom really desired him to find the freedom she had found in a relationship with God. I only saw him two times in my life, but every Christmas mom would feel those tugs on her heart for her family. She prayed for him her entire life but died not seeing her prayers answered. God had a special plan. A couple of years after mom's homecoming dad flew to a rest home in Virginia where my 98 year old grandfather was living. At that time he told dad that after news of mom's death one of his sons showed him the way to a relationship with God and how he too could go to heaven and be with grandma and mom forever. He entered into a new relationship with God and changed his way's as evidenced by his answer to dad's query "are you still betting the numbers?" His response: "No, a Christian man doesn't do that sort of thing". Incredible!

When Grandpa finally did pray to receive Christ, mom was right there with Jesus and knew it. Her prayers were rewarded with the shouts of praise from the angels that she got to hear! Check out my archive blog for 8-1 for a more detailed look at how prayer transcends time. Years of unanswered prayer finally paid off. Perhaps you are feeling some tugs for your friends and family this time of year too. NEVER GIVE UP. God brought my grandfather to him in his mid nineties! God will answer your prayers too. Never Give Up!