Friday, June 3, 2011

Last Minute Grace

Excited today to have my wife guest post an amazing story of Grace that we witnessed first hand.  Enjoy the passion in this post and feel free to click the links and follow these amazing people on Twitter!



I had seen a “tweet” by a friend,  Justin Salters  “It’s never too late for a second chance, Eleventh hour grace is still grace”, that brought me back to a time that I got to see the full extent of God’s Grace in my life and more powerfully in an amazing man’s life, an “eleventh hour” revelation of Grace.
My whole childhood I knew that my Grandfather was an outsider, an outcast, an embarrassment, the town drunk.  I would see him and want to walk in the other direction, avoid him in any way possible.   I had NO GRACE for him, yet I was suppose to be walking in Grace.  He was a child of God who desperately needed a second chance
In my early 20’s after grasping what Grace actually means, I came to an incredible revelation that this man needed to be LOVED and know that he is LOVED and that he is not alone. He needed to feel and know what this means.    I decided to travel 3 hours home to tell my Grandfather how I felt.  He wasn’t home.  I left a letter with some amazing homemade soup.   “Dear Grandpa- I love you, you are not alone.  Jesus Loves you more then you know.  Grab a hold of him, experience his Love and Grace to the fullest”  So practical, yet in the next few hours and months I would experience what a tangible act of Grace can accomplish.
I travelled home, praying he would see how much I truly loved him.  I wasn’t home for more then 10 minutes when my phone rang.  We talked for hours.  He knew he was loved by me, but struggled accepting God’s wonderful, almighty Grace.
I would see him at holidays, and give him a hug, show him I cared, let him know that he wasn’t alone.  He knew that I LOVED him and that Jesus did too.  Yet he struggled.  
He couldn’t understand why God would love him, someone who had wasted his life on booze.
9 months after my letter and soup delivery ,I received  a phone call that Grandpa Ken was in the hospital and that his liver had failed and I needed to come see him right away.  I drove the 3 hours, praying that I would make it to the hospital to speak Love and Grace one last time.
When we arrived he was unconscious, yet could hear our words and mumble to me.  I read scriptures to him, reminded him of God’s Grace, and how much I truly loved him.  His last days were tough ones,  but in his last hours on Earth - He began to mumble.  I asked him if he had accepted the Grace of Jesus, and if he was praying.  In a clear word he said “YES”    A peace came over that room that evening that was an incredible experience and total moment of how amazing God can be.  I told him that when he see’s Jesus to call my name.   
His last words were “Good bye” and “Heidi Heidi Heidi”.   I still smile and think about that moment in his and my life.  

This is why I am thankful that Grace does not expire and does not align with our sense of timing.  Grandpa Ken may have thought he wasted his life but Grace tells us his life mattered.  If it wasn’t for this beautiful love, I wouldn’t be able to share his story.

Heidi blogs on life and her health journey at www.kozlofenhoffblog.blogspot.com.  She is the mother of 3 incredible children and active in ministry with her husband Larry.  And she thinks you are an incredible person!

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