Great Grandma

I (La Maestra) have been very blessed with a life filled with Grandparents. Up until a few days ago I had three of my four grandparents still living. Shortly after leaving for the Sahel both of my Grandmothers became ill. On March 25th my father's mother joined my Granddad in heaven and we rejoice with her being with the Lord and being at peace. We are sad to miss this time when one wants to be surrounded by family, but I am grateful to have such a supportive family that is going to use technology to 'bring us to the funeral'. I am grateful that my children had such a great time getting to know each of their great grandparents this past summer. Because we were living in with my parents, our visits were more frequent. I am grateful that I had a chance to go to church with my Grandma this past summer (not a common thing for a pastor's wife). And afterwards she cooked us a roast, potatoes, applesauce and even Smile On, who was 2 at the time, remembers her peach pie. There is not enough space to go into all the fabulous memories. But the reason that I share this is because I believe the roots of us living in the Sahel are found in the lives of my Grandparents. Supporting mission through prayers, finances, hosting missionaries is as common to my Grandparents as breathing. They passed the importance along to my parents who continue to pass it along (which once you are a parents you realize how hard this really is).