Trials and God's grace

After I got back from my Calculus class this morning, we got a call from my grandma (mom's side). She left a message saying that she had bad news. When mom called her back, she said that grandpa had died during the night. This was totally unexpected. They don't know the cause of death yet, but my guess is it was heart related. He has had several heart surgeries in the past. Regardless, it definitely hit us pretty hard. We are pretty sure that he did not know the Lord. That was the hardest thing for me. I can't explain the emptiness that I feel. It hurts so much to realize that he rejected the gospel. I just want to ask why anyone would refuse such an amazing free gift. I really don't know what to say. How do you respond when someone passes away without trusting in Christ as their savior? It leaves little room for peace.

Having said this, I must trust that this is God's plan and that He knows what He is doing. His plan is always the best plan. We have been blessed by many people already. Mrs. Lovegrove came over right after we found out, and took care of Jonathan while mom was making phone calls--a huge help. Mrs. Babb has also been a great encouragement to me personally--I am clinging to Psalm 46:1. Almost everyone from the Bible study talked with both Christina and I today at Cal baptist. Their love and words of encouragement has overwhelmed me. I know that there are a lot of people praying for us. Prayer is powerful! I am forever grateful for your prayers.

I know the question that you want to ask--"How is everyone doing?" In short, we are doing much better than I would have expected. Mom flew up to Sacramento with her brother to be with grandma, and make arrangements for the services. We are probably going to have the services down here in Southern CA, but I really don't know yet. God was gracious in the fact that mom's last communication with him was an email that said, "I love you dearly." Christina has shed quite a few tears, but I think she is doing fairly well now. We have been keeping Jonathan busy, and he is doing pretty well so far. Dad seems to be doing well, although I'm not sure that it has fully hit him yet. As for myself, God's grace has been sufficient as He promises in 2 Corinthians 12:9. My main prayer request now is that God would be working in the hearts of those that will attend the memorial service. Death causes people to really reevaluate their life. Pray that God would draw people to Himself through this hard time. Pray that God would give me opportunities to share the gospel, and boldness to do so. As the song "People Need the Lord" puts it so well, "What could be too great a cost, for sharing Life with one who's lost?" I don't want to go through this with more relatives. There is great peace when God takes one of His own home, but when someone dies without knowing Him, death does leave a stinger. I am not afraid to die, nor am I afraid of losing someone that knows the Lord. Not that it wouldn't be painful, but there is such an overwhelming peace that comes when someone has lived a life for Him. I want to have this peace for each of my relatives. As of now, I hardly have it for any of them. Please pray for them!