Easter - He Is Risen

Since Easter is a special celebration I have to share a story about how special Easter was for me this year. About 6 weeks ago my 97 year old grandma died. She lived on her own until she was 93, I think. Then the last four years her health has been up and down.
She was an amazing woman. She was adopted and raised by her grandmother, and even turned down scholarships to college to get a job and help support her family. She was hard working, dedicated to family and basically just a sweet little old lady.
She has seen a lot of change in her lifetime. One change she had to make was learning to drive at the age of 74. That is when my grandpa died of colon cancer, and he had always been the driver.
About a week before Grandma died I went to visit her in the nursing home. We were focusing on prayer in our church and I had decided I was going to ask Grandma about her prayer life. We did not often talk a lot about personal faith in our family, at least with Grandma it was a very private thing. I wanted to know what Grandma thought was important about prayer, so I was going to ask.
However, when I got to Grandma's room she was napping and I woke her up to at least say hello. She then had a hard time staying awake as I shared about what my family was up to. I knew Grandma would not be able to share about prayer with me, but I asked if I could pray with her. (This too was not a very common thing since it makes me feel like "pastor" and I don't want to be Grandma's pastor, just her grandson.)
I prayed for God to hold her in his arms. I prayed for God to give her rest. And I thanked God for the blessing she was to me and my family. And when I finished praying, Grandma looked at me and said, "I accept that." I am not positive what Grandma meant by that, but it spoke to me that Grandma knew God would soon be holding her in his arms and she was at peace with that.
This was the last time I saw Grandma alive, she died on that Tuesday morning before I could get to the hospital. But I am fine ending our time together on this earth in prayer.
So this Easter is special to me because I do celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but I also celebrate that Grandma is now participating in the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus proves that God's love for us is strong, even stronger than death. If you are unsure if you will be with God when you die, all you have to do is accept it. Just accept God's love and then learn to love God back.