Eulogy at Granny's funeral

On March 5 my Grandma Sadie went to be with the LORD at the age of 96. Judy and I flew home and the family asked me to give a short eulogy.

The year is 1933. The country is in the midst of the Great Depression. A young family is trying to make a living from their vegetable farm selling produce. God blesses the couple with their first child, a daughter. And then the baby gets sick. Deathly sick. She gets pneumonia, and despite the family’s best efforts, the baby is expected to die. The old-timers said it like this, "They laid her out to die."

A young Sadie Galyen does not give up on her baby. As the baby rests, she prays, asking God to heal her baby, trusting Him, begging Him for a miracle. She later told me that when the rest of the family expected my Aunt Helen to die, she knew that God would heal her.

And God answered her prayer, God healed baby Helen, and 77 years later, God rewarded Granny’s faith in Him with 5 other daughters, and allowed her through my Aunt Rosemary's family to see five generations.

Granny had the gift of faith. She trusted God for the impossible, and saw God provide for her. Granny’s faith was so strong that when I was a little boy, I thought that my Grandma Sadie would live forever. And even though I later realized that I was wrong, I thought she would live to be at least 100. And she almost made it to 100.

And so to me it does seem unusual to be here.

However, Granny is living forever. 80 years ago, Granny became a follower of Jesus Christ, publicly confessing Christ as her Saviour at Carmel Baptist Church. In fact, according to my Aunt Judy, Granny remembered the song that was playing when she responded to the call to receive Christ, “LORD, I’m Coming Home.”

Granny is truly home now.

So how did she live out her deep faith? How did she follow Jesus Christ? How did she follow His footsteps? Well, she followed Christ with her boots on, that’s for sure.

Granny’s favorite Bible verse was Philippians 4.13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

And she recited that verse as she kept her yard clean. Yes, at the age of 96, living in that 80 year old house near Chilesburg—do youall realize that my mom was BORN in that house!—how she did all that is beyond me. In talking to my Uncle Karl and Aunt Patsy, when she put on her boots to drag a heavy limb out to the brush pile, she would ask the LORD for His strength, remember that verse, and even though it took her awhile, she dragged that old heavy branch out to the brush pile!

Granny was a very generous person. She loved to give and gave to several ministries, including a children’s ministry in the Dominican Republic where Judy and I live and minister. When I told her that her giving was enabling the children ages 4-10 to get an education and to get fed, Granny replied, “Giving to those children gives me a purpose in life.”

She followed Christ by loving her family. She had a deep love for her children, and if you’ve seen the pictures on the TV monitor in the next room, you’ll see her in her mid-90’s caring for my Aunt Paula’s grandson Trevor.

And I’ll add that she even loved her sons-in-law. She once said that she had the best sons-in-law in the world although my dad said that I could tell you, “At times Grandma Sadie could be really feisty.”

My family, your lives are a result, a testimony to the deep faith, the love, and the generosity that Granny lived and practiced.

Let's remember Granny by living out her life verse, "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me."