praising to the end

We visited my family in Missouri this weekend. On Friday we went to visit my grandparents. They have led more people to Christ in a year than I will likely ever lead in my life. I asked my grandfather last year how many people he thought God had allowed him to lead to Christ and he said "I don't know, I don't keep count. I have records so I could go back and try to figure it out. I know it picked up when I turned 80 to about one a week." He is trying to stay retired right now at the age of 85 (I think) so that he can care for my grandmother who has Alzheimer's. She has been a wonderful woman of God for many years. It is hard now when she is often confused, she can never remember my name, or even recognize numbers, and she needs constant supervision, but it is also a joy that some elements of her personality are still there. She is still loving and thankful, and God has spared the part of her mind that learned all the hymns she has sung for the last 50 years. At church Sunday morning it was great to watch her singing the hymns without needing to look at the words. She can still praise. Both of them, to the very end, are oriented toward the kingdom of God. That is what I hope Anastasia and I can be if God gives us long lives on this earth. Anastasia has wonderful grandparents too. We are unusually blessed in the spiritual heritage we have.