"Doug, if you want to speak to Grandma one last time, it's now or never."

My Dad's voice shook me to my core.

But it was nothing compared to what I heard next.

Less than an hour from stepping through the veil, my Grandma Pew... unable to see, gasping for air, rasping out each word... seared into my soul her life-long love of the Savior.

Douglas...

I love you.

Never forget...

(and then with a clap of thunder in her throat)

Jesus. Is. The. Christ.

I love you.

Goodbye.

(and the phone clicked)

Even as I type this now, I can still hear her voice. Still feel her furnace of faith.

It rocked me to my core, and I will never forget it.

And that was the finale of a life filled with constant teaching. Never-ending encouragement. Non-stop love and devotion to the Lord and her family.

She always sang a hymn when she taught us.

So many times she'd host a cousin sleep-over and sing us to sleep with a hymn or primary song.

"Did You Think To Pray" was a favorite. But there were many others.

And those songs seemed to attach themselves to the emotional fibers of our family.

She didn't have a degree in music. But her soul sang all the time. And she encouraged us to sing and play.

Her favorite family get-togethers were marathon talent shows... 4+ hours of piano-playing, singing, and more.

And it was all summed up with that phone call that sent fire through the receiver and deep down into my heart.

Only a handful of moments in my life left a mark the way this one did.

Another happened after the first difficult month of my mission to Chile.

As I sat on my bed, feeling sorry for myself, I read a letter from my Dad.

And along with this letter... that became like a talisman to me through many more challenging times... came the clear memory of a song.

Not a song in the hymnal or primary book.

Not a song you've probably ever heard.

But a song my Dad had composed when I was a teenager.

A song that carried his testimony to my memory from 5,300 miles away and gave me the guts to pick myself up and keep going.

This is getting a bit long, so I'll save the story of this song that saved me from despair until tomorrow.

For now, let me ask you...

How are you passing on your testimony?

It's something that's been on my mind a lot lately.

Well, I'll share a bit more tomorrow about this song.

And I'll tell you what happened to me when they asked me to sing a solo at my grandmother's funeral. Another unforgetable moment. It had nothing to do with me or any musical ability of mine. But everything to do with a special vehicle of the Spirit.

Until then,

Doug