My date with Grandma...

Last night I had a lovely date with my Grandma, Gladys. She is one of my very favorite ladies in the world....besides being my grandmother, she has been a constant example of someone completely devoted to God. She has inspired me in many ways, one of which is by memorizing large portions of the New Testament, and also by always praying for her grandchildren. I know that God listened to her prayers as well as the daily prayers of my parents for me and chose to save me from many harmful and destructive things as I was growing up, even protecting me despite MANY stupid decisions that I made, especially between, oh, say, the ages of 15 and 19! I am SO grateful for the prayers of my faithful Grandma....she has truly left a heritage of Godliness for me to follow.
So last night we went to a banquet in support of Charles Price, the former president of Capernwray Bible Schools, and present pastor of People's Church in Toronto. It was a blessing to be there, aside from the fact that the servers brought me a throbbing, twitching hunk of cow on my dinner plate. Ewwwwww! I'm not a big fan of steak (I know, weird) as it is, but this one was completely raw inside-I swear it was practically still breathing. I think I was meant to be a vegetarian.
Now I did feel a little in the minority last night, which I don't mind at all, but felt a little awkward initially as I stepped into a sea of white hair and felt like everyone was staring at me! And then I realized, this was a dinner for those who support Price's ministry, not a speaking engagement. And people who are young like me, well, we simply don't normally have any money to support ministries over and above our tithe. Some beautiful hymns were sung last night...which I love, and especially appreciate the words of some in particular. However, the last song that was sung nearly had me undone. You know that feeling you get when you've been up too late and everything makes you really giddy? No? Oh, I guess it's just me! Well, I don't know if 9:00 pm is just too late for me now, or if it was a combination of the tiramisu dessert and the uncooked cow churning in my stomach, but I really had to contain hilarious laughter during that last song. The singer was enviously passionate, had a great voice, and the hymn had good words, most of which I may have missed due to my attempts to control myself. It was like suddenly stepping into a very dramatic opera...the vibrato, the facial expressions, the quiet calm lulling phrases, and suddenly the booming, forceful animated shouts, more vibrato....you really had to be there I guess. But suffice to say this dramatic performance, coupled with a sea of expressionless, solemn faces really struck me as funny.
The blessing of the evening was being with my Grandma, and hearing Charles Price speak. It's so much easier to listen to someone when they have a fantastic British accent. And what he said was very good. He used the illustration of our lives as a glove, with Jesus being the hand that can come in and make the glove fulfill its function, and of us being a car that remains separated from the gasoline which represents God, until we invite him into our lives. He also talked about his own life, saying that when he was a teenager, he really wanted to get away from home and all of the problems there. So he did, but he found that these problems all followed him because they originated from inside of him, in his own sinful heart. And this is what Jesus came to deal with. How true! Another good point was made when he spoke about the people who ask him, regarding his teaching ministry (which is mainly just teaching the Bible, verse by verse) who his target audience is. He responds "everyone" to which they say, no, can't be...not everyone can be drawn in just by teaching the Bible. To which he responds yes, actually they can, and that is what the Bible tells us. It's not our methods, or funny stories or fancy programs that convict people of their need for God, it's the Word of God, which is alive, and pierces our hearts, and convicts, teaches and builds us up in our faith. So good to hear that truth from a pastor!
So we had a great time, and were encouraged by stories of people who were coming to know Jesus through the ministry on TV. Thanks for inviting me Grandma!