Faithfulness through the Generations

We visited my grandparents the other week. Grandpa is 91 years old and Grandma is 88. The Lord has brought them through so much in their lives. I remember sitting down with my grandpa and talking about his experiences during the war for one of my high school papers. The war had been many years before, but the emotions and memories for him were still so real and painful and difficult to talk about. A particularly painful time was when my grandmother was taken to a concentration camp because of her family's involvement in hiding Jews. The Lord brought them through that and guided their family here to Canada, where they were able to raise their 7 children. And now they watch those children raising children and see their family grow through the generations. How amazing it must be to look back over the years of pain and joy and know that God was there through it all--working out His plan and purpose!
Here's Karlyn with her Great-Grandma, who is always the lady--hair done and stylishly dressed!

Jonathan was quite amazed with Great-Grandpa's harmonica...and then was given a little one of his own! Here they're playing a little duet!

Last week, Ian's Oma Veenman, turned 90 years old. We were able to celebrate that with her and the extended family. She has been suffering with Alzheimer's for many years now, so we're not sure how much she realized what was going on that day. When family members first said hello to her, she did raise her eyes towards them. Soon after that though, she was pretty tired and slept through much of the afternoon. It's so hard to understand the Lord's purpose when a loved one has Alzheimer's and it must be especially so for Oma's children. And yet, God does use it for His purpose, maybe to teach, or to test, or draw us closer to Him. There's much we don't understand, but one thing we do know--one day she will be with her Lord in glory--restored and glorified. We praise God for that assurance.