Tidbits &Table Talk: Tribute to My Grandma: Ruth Kent, Happy Mother's Day!

Remembering a Woman of Faithful Service
August 17, 1920- April 27, 2011

As I sit and think about my Grandma: faithful servant comes to mind. Throughout her life she lived a life of service ministering to those around her: family, friends and students. Each day she provided an example of how to walk with the Lord and do it well. She taught and raised her family with a strength and courage that was inspiring. Her influence reached many. Her faith in the Lord Jesus kept her strong till the end…and she sure lived it till the end. She spent time daily with the Lord in her prayer time and Bible time and through the books she read.

Grandma was in tune with the Holy Spirit. It amazed me how she would just know things and how the Holy Spirit would speak to her and impress certain things upon her heart. Her relationship with the Lord Jesus was the most precious thing in her life. And when she looked you straight in the eyes you knew you better listen because she was about to say something very important…and often helpful!

She was a loving Grandma that was always supportive in all that we did. She loved all of us no matter what, in spite of our shortcomings and mess-ups. She loved all of her grandchildren, her children and their spouses unconditionally just as her savior Jesus Christ loves each of us unconditionally. Her favorite verse about love:

Romans 8: 35, 37-39

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

She lived this out every day. During our conversations over the past few months she would say, “Holly I don’t know why the Lord still has me here… I am ready to get out of line and be with my Savior.” I would say “Well Grandma it’s because He is not finished with you yet.” And she would respond, “Well I guess your right, but I just can’t wait. “ And then she would tell me about her interactions with people and it was evident that the Lord still used her to influence others for His glory. A few years ago I asked her to fill out a book of memories for me and in it she wrote about what she believed would happen when she died… “I will be in the presence of God the Father, seeing Jesus face to face. I will be praising and thanking them for their love, grace, faithfulness, and the blessings, peace and contentment I enjoyed during my earthly life. Heaven will be beyond anything I can imagine!”

Her example inspires me, her life challenges me, and her love for others humbles me. I can only pray and strive to live like her and one day hope that my grandchildren will be saying about me that “she was a Faithful Servant of God and till the end she praised God for His infinite love, mercy and grace”.

One thing I leave with you is this: Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? Because Ruth Kent would want you to know that Jesus loves you unconditionally and that He died on the cross for you and He took your sins. And once you have accepted Him as your personal Savior you can live with Him for all eternity. This decision doesn’t mean that there will be no more trials during your life, but it does mean that you have a loving Savior who is there for you and will be with you through the trials but also the triumphs in this life. Grandma wrote about what being a Christian means to her: “to strive to focus your attention and actions on things that will please God and further His kingdom and to desire to fulfill God’s plan for your life.

May my Grandma’s life be an example that we remember and look to strive for in our lives. As she put it, she was just “promoted to Heaven” and one day I will see her again, rejoice with her and praise our Savior together.