A glimpse of eternity

My son, keep my words

         And treasure my commandments within you.

Keep my commandments and live,

         And my teaching as the apple of your eye.

Bind them on your fingers;

         Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Proverbs 7:1-3

This past weekend was a special one for me and really for all of the greater Dean family.  For we were able to celebrate the 60th anniversary of my grandparents, G. Arthur and Doris Dean.  They were married in October of 1951, at 18 and 19 years of age.  They had six children; my father is the eldest of them.  

Grandpa and Grandma have always been special to me, as have all of my grandparents.  The older I get the more indebted I am to my four godly grandparents, for giving such a genuine, steadfast example of Christ for all of the generations that are now part of our family.  Grandpa Dean is a retired Baptist pastor.  Did you know he gave up being the first baseman for the Chicago Whitesox to go to Moody Bible Institute to study God's Word and prepare to be a preacher?  And Grandma was a very faithful pastor's wife.  Growing up, I always loved going to church with Grandpa and Grandma when we visited or they visited us.  We lived far away from all my grandparents, so it was always very special to see them.  I still remember sitting in the pew as a young girl and flipping as fast as I could to find the Bible passage of the sermon, knowing that Grandpa was sitting beside me.  I wanted to impress him with my "knowledge" and the memorizing of the books of the Bible I had done in Awana Clubs.  I also loved hearing Grandma belt out the hymns and feeling *slightly* embarrassed to be sitting next to her, but at the same time proud that I was her granddaughter.  She has a sharp, distinct voice and she could really sing quite loud.  I remember sitting in church one time in Columbus, OH with Grandma and my cousin Nancy, and we snickered at Grandma's singing, but deep down we really loved to hear her sing.  

This past weekend we celebrated their 60th anniversary, and it was a bittersweet moment.  Sweet to see them complete their 60th year together, to see them share a small cake, to share a day with all my extended family, and to see Grandpa's care for Grandma.  Bitter to look into Grandma's confused eyes and see her tiredness as she battles with Alzheimer's disease and struggled to differentiate all 33 of us Deans who gathered there.  Her face looked tired and older, but her eyes (behind those glasses) were still the same big eyes I have always seen on Grandma Dean.  We had a nice reception for them and my uncle organized a hymn singing time at the end.  There were moments throughout the entire evening where I just looked at Grandma and could tell she really didn't know what was going on at all.  But when we started singing those same hymns, she sang every last word with complete clarity--with that same sharp, crystal clear voice I remember hearing my entire life.  We must have sung through eight hymns; she didn't miss a single note or word.  Uncle Kevin would announce the song title and she would make a puzzled face and raise her eyebrows, but as the others began to sing, she'd nod her head back and start singing right away, as if to say "oh yeah, that's the one!"  

Proverbs 7 talks about ingraining the words and commandments of God in our hearts.  This past weekend I found myself present in a rare moment where even in my mortal body, I got a glimpse of eternity.  I saw Grandma's aging body and foggy mind sing--without hesitation--the words of her faith.  She didn't give me her usual big kiss on the cheek and I know she didn't recognize me when I hugged her goodbye Sunday afternoon, but her eternal faith came out loud and clear when she sang.  We closed with Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine, oh what a foretaste of glory divine... and I felt complete peace about the current condition of my beloved Grandmother, knowing that she was singing those words--written on her heart--and knowing Grandma, that soon you'll get to really taste glory divine.