Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Legacy of the Pearl

i have been sitting here for a few minutes, thinking of a great title to this post i am about to write. i know i haven't updated my blog in weeks. no excuse there, but my granny passed away thursday morning. :( my grandmother was 98 years old (imagine that!) and although i wasn't that close to my father's mother, the past week has taught me a lot about the legacy she has left for me. no, it has nothing to do with money or riches. she has given me so much more than that.

my granny brought her whole family to know Christ as their Lord and Savior. as a young girl back in china, she came to know her Savior because her own mom became a Christian. i've always heard miracle stories about Christians in China, but never did i imagine i'd have my own "Heavenly Man" story.

my great-grandma was on her death bed. she was sick for a while and people around her thought she was already dead (well back then, they didn't have all that equipment to tell if a person is comatose or lucid). suddenly, she was seen groping for something in the air. apparently, she was having a vision or a supernatural dream of sorts... (i am telling this as this was told to me during my granny's memorial service) somehow, in her dream, my great-grandma found herself in paradise. she came to a gate and saw a man dressed in white. she asked to enter paradise, but the man refused, telling her it wasn't her time yet. my great-grandma insisted, and so instead, the man hands her this huge white pearl and says "take this and look at it everyday. you must tell everyone about it's beauty." so my great-grandma takes the pearl and runs home. on a steep hill, she tumbles and the pearl falls from her hand. so she gets on her knees and searches for it. hence, the groping action in the real world.

when she awoke, everyone asked her about the "groping" and she kept mentioning about the pearl. she even looks for it around the house. the very next day, a lady missionary knocks on their door, and gives my great-grandma a bible. this was no ordinary bible! it's cover was as white as the whitest pearl. then the missionary tells my great-grandma to "take the bible and read it everyday. you must tell everyone about it's beauty."

waaaaaaahhhh.... and so, because my great-grandma came to know Christ, she spread the good news to her daughter (my granny!) and my granny, through her faithfulness, brought my gramps and his buddhist family to know Christ as well! and the legacy lives on because now, her whole family are Christians too. my uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews. me. :)

Acts 16:31 says "Believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. You and YOUR HOUSEHOLD!" this is God's promise, and it has been fulfilled in my granny's life. now, i take the promise for myself and my family (even R's family!). all things will work for us. i know that for sure now.