Found - Tribute to Grandma

I happened to find the eulogy I wrote when my Grandmother was called home to be with the Lord more than 3 years ago. So, once again to remind myself that I need to make the best of the time I have on earth, preparing for heaven, making a difference, I attach what I have written below .....

A tribute to my grandmother, Mdm Wong Choon Sim,
called home on 16 February 2004

Although my grandmother had not been well, all is definitely well with her soul.
I would like to sum up her life in three words: faith, hope and love.

Faith
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.

My grandmother had great faith. It is her faith that has greatly encouraged me. Even in her sickness, in her pain, she had always prayed for God to heal her. Never did she once blame God for what was happening to her.

When she was hospitalized in May and then in July last year for pneumonia, we were worried that she could not make it for my sister’s wedding in August. But by her faith, she did.

When we asked her where she’d like to go upon her discharge, she said she would like to visit my sister’s place which was on the fourth floor, with no lift landing. We were worried about how she was going to make it. She told my brother-in-law, “I will walk” and by her faith, walk she did.

When she was hospitalized again in January this year, she badly wanted to go home to celebrate Chinese New Year. She was disappointed when the doctor said she was not well to do so, especially when she had a very bad breathless episode lasting about 2 hours. After that episode, she told my sister, “ I thought I would never see the sun rise again”. It was that serious and much later, the doctor hinted that that episode could have been fatal. But, by her faith, she did manage to go home for 4 joyous days in the midst of Chinese New Year (from the 9th day to the 12th day – 30 January to 2 February).

My grandmother truly had great faith.

Hope
1 Timothy 4:10
And for this we labour and strive that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the saviour of all men, especially those who believe.

My grandmother put her hope in God. She had the peace of God which surpasses all understanding and she knew that she would dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6). She once joked that her house in heaven was ready, the only problem was that her passport was not ready yet.

Almost everyday at the hospital, I would sing one of her favourite Hokkien songs to her. The title can be translated as “hold my hand, my Lord” and the last line of the song goes something like: “As I walk before the gate of God, I hear God’s voice calling me, his child to enter into His presence”. This line holds a special significance for us as we know that we are all children of God, called into His presence.

Now, my grandmother has been called into God’s presence. She is now in heaven, with God, in a much better place, where there is no pain and no sorrow. There is only much joy and rejoicing there.

Love
1 John 4:21
And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Upon my grandmother’s death, I had people coming up to me, nurses at the hospital, neighbours, strangers… basically they told me my grandmother had been very nice, she was always smiling, she was sociable…

I witnessed this “niceness” myself. On Saturday morning, the nursing manager on finding out that my grandmother had difficulty swallowing her medicine, took it upon herself to pound the medicine and mix it with orange juice and fed it to her. It was a horrible concoction but my grandmother drank it up bravely and was gracious enough to say “thank you very much” in English to the nursing manager who was non-Chinese.

She never wanted to trouble people. She even apologized to our maid for causing her so much inconvenience. The maid told me that my grandmother had been very sweet to her and she feels her loss greatly. It is as if a knife had pierced through her heart.

I share the same sentiments as our maid. Although my grandmother was never rich materially, she was rich in the ways of God. And this is the legacy she has left behind for us: to have faith, hope and love. She had made a difference in her life. She had been M.A.D – making a difference in her life and this has prompted me to think how I would like to live mine.