Tuesday April 20, 2004

We all knew it was ensuing quickly, but I still don't quite understand it. Mrs. Peck collapsed on Friday and is now asleep with Jesus. That is an odd saying for someone who loved Jesus on this earth. Because we tell little kids that the dead are just sleeping, but as we grow and study the scriptures more, we learn that they are not asleep, but rather they are praising the Father forever. Everything that hurt her in this life, the pain she had to endure is relinquished and her body is made perfect in Christ. Mrs. Peck, though not my official grandmother, was much more than just Jen's grandmother to me. She was family, and not just family that I had to love because they were related, but family that I loved unconditionally and simply.
If you know me at all, you know I'm not the most touchy-feely girl in the world. I'm a big proponent of the personal bubble and always have been. But Mrs. Peck invaded and crushed my bubble over and over again, and in the best possible way. Since my junior year in high school, she took it upon herself to teach me to be a good hugger. She would hunt me down at each service and hug me, whether I stood there uncomfortably, or started to hug w/the 1-arm quick slap on the back hug. Eventually, I came around and searched her out, and hugged her: a real, and not-forced hug. I hugged her because she first hugged me... Whoa, She was showing me Christ even through something as simple as a hug. "We love because He first loved me" 1 John 4:19 (thanks for finding that Nan)!
So, I guess all I can do is miss this wonderful lady, and praise the Lord for the impact she had on my life. I can only hope to be as influential for the Kingdom of Christ as she was throughout her lifetime. Praise God for this women of the Lord.