in the garden

i was in hobby lobby a couple weeks ago. they play old school christian music. hymns. as i was wandering around, i dialed in to a specific song they were playing.

instantly the memories flooded over me. i teared up just that fast. thankful for large sunglasses.

i could see her, wheelchair pulled up to the piano, gnarled arthritic fingers slowly playing the chords by memory.

i could hear the thin wavering soprano voice, warbling almost,

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.


she's been gone 15 years. this song always transports me back. my grandma loved jesus. more than anything. it was evident.

she lived a hard life, through world war ii and the depression. two sons died while in high school, hit by a drunk driver and killed at 14 and 18. her husband died while my mom was still in high school. another son took his own life 20 years ago.

and yet at the end of her life she loved jesus more than ever. i think she knew she was getting closer.

and when she sang this song, i really thought she knew what it meant to walk and talk with jesus.

this song and puffed wheat cereal. gets me everytime. i know someday i'll see her in heaven.

i'm so thankful for the legacy of god fearing parents and grandparents. i hope i pass that on to my kids. they may stray for a while, but i hope and pray they grow back to him. cause a life without him has no hope.