Submitted by Ulia…This past Sunday, we celebrated Grandma Bessie’s 101st birthday! Despite her age and her weak body, she is amazingly cheerful and thankful, and she thanks God for sustaining her these many years.
When I first began visiting Crown Bay at the beginning of summer, Grandma Bessie was doing poorly – her health, her spirits were down. She wasn’t strong enough to join us for Sunday services, so our whole church was praying for her body to strengthen, for her spirit to strengthen. Perhaps in part due to our prayers, we’ve seen a marked difference in Grandma Bessie. She has rejoined us for Sunday service, and as much as her coarse voice can handle she heartily sings along with the hymns, often from memory. Her regular prayer request has been for the other residents at Crown Bay, and that she could share God’s love with them.
One weeknight I went to visit her and some of the other residents, I entered Grandma Bessie’s room and met her at the door because she was heading out on her wheelchair. “Are you heading out, Grandma Bessie?” “Yes, I’m just going to take a walk.” “You want some company?” “No, I’ll be fine, my wheelchair is wonderful.” As I watched her down the hallway, I saw her pause to talk the other residents in the hallway. About fifteen minutes later, I ran into her again in the hallway. She didn’t see me because she was intently reading the names of the residents in a certain room before she went in to visit them. I was really heartened to see her because she was answering her own prayer request, making friends in order to share the God’s love and give hope to the other residents.
About an hour after I had first seen her, I went back to her room and she was exhausted. I think the trip around the nursing home wore her out, and she was slumped in her wheelchair next to her bed. She arose when I said her name, and as always she was very thankful to see me, promising that she would pray for our church to be a blessing to the Crown Bay residents.
I’m very thankful for Grandma Bessie, for her love, gratitude, and the example of her faithful life that she has lived before God. My heart always feels so humbled and cleansed after I spend some time with her; she gives me a clarity on what life is all about – loving God and loving people. She always thanks our church members, but we are so much more thankful that she answered God’s call for her to be a missionary to China, so thankful that we have had the wonderful opportunity to get to know her through our ministry at Crown Bay. We interviewed her on her birthday and asked what advice she would pass on to younger people such as us, and she urged us to listen to and trust in God’s word, and we will experience His great blessing in our lives. She is a living testimony of that kind of blessed life, and I hope that I’ll be just like her at 101 years old!
Wow. Praise God for her living example of faithfulness.
Wow, Praise the Lord for Grandma Bessie’s faithfulness and loving heart.
man, thats awesome. i hope i can run this race as faithfully as grandma bessie.
want to grow old like her!
i am encouraged and inspired by this spiritual warrior…
Wow.. What an amazing example of faithfulness, humility, joy, and love..
what an amazing turnaround! God surely answers prayers… i remember visiting her during the summer and how she seemed so frail.
and to hear that she’s going around to cultivate relationships with people despite being in a wheelchair challenges me to deny myself even more so as we meet up with new students to bring them to a point of responding to the gospel!
You can just see in Grandma Bessie so much joy and humility, love for God and for people. I’m so thankful for her example and that we’ve been able to know her and be a part of her life.
What an example of faith
I really hope to finish the race like her.
I am so continually challenged and inspired by Grandma Bessie’s life. As a Chinese-American Christian myself, I am so grateful to her and others who sacrificed many years to bring the gospel to people who eventually brought it to me. I hope that one day I may be able to follow in her footsteps and finish the race like her.
go grandma bessie! i hope that when i’m as old as her i’ll be wheeling around sharing the love of God with people…
what an inspiration!
I’m so thankful to read this post and hear she’s still going strong. She is such an amazing and faithful woman… every time I see her it makes all of my cluttered thoughts dissolve as I see how good God is.
I am really thankful that our church has the opportunity to meet people like Grandma Bessie- it’s really challenging to see her faith in action even at her age…
Thank you for sharing this story! Grandma Bessie’s life is such an inspiration!
Praise God for Grandma Bessie. Every time I see her when I visit Crown Bay, she always encourages me to keep doing the good work. Seeing her reminds me of how much her and other heroes of faith has sacrificed to keep the gospel living. I want to be like her. And I’m so glad her health and spirit is doing better.