I was playing dominos with my family memorial day when I got the text. Our dear friend Heidi, a.k.a Granny, had passed away.
She was 96 years old so it might sound like it wouldn’t be shocking at all, except it was. She was doing great and I had just talked with her a couple weeks before.
I interviewed Heidi back in March for my inspiring mom series. We talked at length about her life experiences, her passions and pursuits, her encounter with Jesus as Her Lord. It was a wonderful conversation that I felt priviledged to have. I cried when she told me to enjoy my babies while they were young and I was still evrything to them. It was sage wisdom and I needed the reminder.
Heidi was always an encourager. At our church in Texas she welcomed everyone and she would greet her special friends with a kiss on the cheek. I don’t do “friend kisses”, but Heidi was certainly an exception. One of the sweetest compliments she ever gave me was she said in her soft weathered voice “Whenever I see a pretty dress I think of you“. I’m not super girly, but on Sundays I do like to wear pretty dresses. In fact when I got one of those “All About Mommy” fill in the blank sheets for Mother’s Day this year one of the sentences was “My mom looks beautiful when ____________” and SJ wrote she gos to chrch (meaning goes to church). I know a lot of churches are casual these days and I am totally 100 percent cool with that, but I still have a section of my closet for my Sunday best. I think it’s precious that Heidi thought of me as the girl that wore pretty dresses to church and 10 years later so does my 7 year old.
Although I have to admit Heidi’s passing has changed my walk with God in a dramatic way. It was less than a month ago that I published that interview with Heidi for Inspiring Moms. Just weeks ago she called me up raving about how much she loved the piece and it brought her so much joy to relive those moments and walk down memory lane. She lived life to the fullest and saw God’s faithfulness at home and abroad. At the end of our wonderful conversation she said “I think I am going to go read the story again”. It is an encouragement to me to hear so much positive feedback from Heidi’s friends and family that read this testimony that was so fresh from her heart, but even more so I am grateful that Heidi got to read it before she left this earth and to hear that it meant so much to her. What a blessing.
It’s the timing of it all that blows my mind. We had absolutely no way of knowing that out of her vibrant 96 years that very month that I posted Heidi’s story God was going to call her home, BUT GOD KNEW! He knew. And I feel a tangible increase in faith knowing that I can hear from God. He is directing my path. It’s one thing to believe that, but to it’s another to see it in action. As a mother of four sometime it feels like I am under house arrest and it’s hard to hear anything let alone that still small voice. But because of Heidi’s story I was reminded that God is in control.
Those of us close to Heidi are all saddened by her abscence, but we know she is now living a life greater than any of us could ever imagine.
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