Give Many Thanks / Grandma the Easter Queen

Give many thanks to the Lord on high
For He poured out all His love
Unto us, His blood He gave
So HE might by righteousness save.

Accept this gift! I do command.
For He has given a gift of land
Not of the earth no far on high
Far beyond the deep, blue sky.

Give thanks for the grass, the trees
Give thanks for the sky and seas.
Be grateful for what He did one day
On the rugged cross not far away.

If He was not beaten on that night,
No telling what might be our plight!
So if He did not for us die,
We would never see on high!

Easter is not for the Bunny
It's story is not light or funny.
Quite serious is what He endured
To be with Him, He has ensured!

Like a perennial, He is so
Perfectly beautiful, He died, But rose!
Wonderfully constant, true is His love
Please! Accept His gift from above!

By: Madline Grace
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EASTER QUEEN
Yes, indeed. I picked that name for a very special reason. My Grandma WAS a Holiday Queen from top to bottom, inside and out! I have to say that Christmas and Easter were her favorite holidays; but today I will talk about Easter and one special flower.
One of Grandma's greatest qualities was giving of herself to everyone else. Many holidays, she would sit in pain while trying to have a good time; while nobody else had any idea what she was suffering. Last Easter, everyone knew that Grandma's back and neck were hurting badly, but that didn't even stop her from making Easter special for everyone else. Also, no telling what we would have done if we had known that Easter was her very last holiday.
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Since Grandma was the unofficial organizer of all family get-togethers, she assigned each of her daughter's families to bring one or two dishes for the afternoon Easter feast! The meal consisted of: marinated vwegetables, baked chicken, potato salad, deviled eggs, frozen fruit salad, pasta salad, veggies and veggie dip, and of course, Easter candy!
Once, out of the ordinary, she bought a piniata for us to enjoy beating the life out of! I don't think Malachi could quite contain himself when he had baseball bat in hand!:)(But then, neither could I!) And once that candy fell on the ground, no one was standing on the outside premises!
We always made sure that we thanked Grandma for all that she did in person and card, but sometimes I wonder if it was always full-hearted thanks.Every wrong I ever had in thought or word towards her, was immediately regretted the day she died. She wasn't just Grandma, she was a friend.
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Once Grandma was transferred from the small hospital in her town to the Coliseum, we knew she wasn't going to hold on much longer. We all knew that she wanted to stay with us,(and we never wanted to admit it.) but now that she is in heaven, I know for a fact that she wouldn't come back for anything.
Right before she died, she lifted her hands and said, "I'm ready!" Which tells me that she got a glimpse of heaven. And the next morning at 10:00 A.M., our Uncle called to report that the nurses weren't receiving vital signs. She had died around 8:30.
At her funeral, we were shocked to realize exactly how many lives she had touched in only 67 years. Countless women were changed through her work at the crisis pregnancy center.
It has always been a fad in the Butler household to take the date of your birth and match it with a verse in Proverbs 31.(her birthday was on June 8th) Grandma's verse fit her perfectly.
"Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die."
Proverbs 31:8
Countless children were saved from appointed deaths from unknowing mothers who didn't seem to know better. Not only were the children saved, but the women also.
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Grandma's funeral was the saddest hour of my life thus far. Her last four weeks our life had been thrown out of proportion and with her death, we were thrown even farther out of orbit. We were almost in shock, but realized enough to know that Grandma was gone and we had no hope of ever seeing her again without the hope of heaven. Thank JESUS for that!!! Even a year later, I catch myself remembering her common phrases every time we'd see her; and quite honestly, I began to cry. Disapprovingly thinking back, I questioned why God would allow such an unfortunate thing to happen to such a young, wonderful, happy person; and why we were made to walk through something so awful as this grief. In some ways, I now understand. But, oh what I would give, to see my Grandma walk through our front door!
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After the funeral was over, and the bouquets of flowers were being carried away, I noticed a loose red rose hanging from one of the remaining bouquets on a stand.I picked it out and looked it over, wanting so bad to keep it!But one of my cousins warned me against it and advised me to put it back. This I did, sadly. But much to my delight, as that bouquet was being carried away, the very same red rose slipped out onto the floor. Umbeknownst to eveyone else, I swooped it up with the greatest delight! I still have that rose on my shelf upstairs. And every time I see it, I remember Grandma and the sweet way she would smell when you hugged her goodbye after every visit that she wished would never end.
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So you see why exactly I titled this post the way I did. The post pales in comparison to who she actually was. She was more than a memory, our Holiday Queen, our Grandma.
May your week be blessed with the light of JESUS!:)
Madeline Grace~