As a child, I was afraid of both of my grandfathers.   One of my grandfathers was very wealthy, at least until the end of his life.  He was a very proud man and wanted everyone to know about his accomplishments.  He did not treat my grandmother well, and divorced her for another woman.  My grandfather used to walk into church singing to make sure everyone knew he was there.  He would lift weights to show his physical strength and brag about what he was able to do.  My grandfather only cared about himself and what other people could do for him.  I am not being disrespectful; it is just who he was.

He hurt my dad in many ways, and he was not there for him.  He worked in a lumber yard, and he basically made that his life.  My grandmother picked up the slack.  My grandfather was miserable most of his life.  He thought that life was about making the next dollar and the pleasures money could buy.

When he divorced my grandmother, he married the other woman.  He bought her a nice home and the finest things money could buy.  My grandmother had a stroke when she was in her fifties and lived the rest of her life in a nursing home.  My dad took great care of her, but he had to get stern with my grandfather in order for him to help take care of some things that she needed.  We would have gladly taken care of it, but it was the principle of the thing.  I had very little respect for my grandfather.

I tried to witness to him on several occasions.  He would tell me that he asked God to forgive him every day, but that he knew that a loving God would not send him to hell.  I tried to explain that God did not send anyone to hell and that we send ourselves.  I told him that when he chose not to ask Jesus’ forgiveness, he had made the decision to go to hell.  He had a selfish heart for the 83 years that I knew him.  His caretaker said that he had asked the Lord to save him one week before he died.  Only God knows if he really accepted Jesus.  If the thief on the cross could be saved, my grandfather could be saved, too.  I only hope so.

My other grandfather was tempered quite differently, but I was still afraid of him.  He was generally a quiet man, but he seemed stern.  He sat in his chair with his dog, and you better not get in the way of the television set.  I didn’t know what he would do if he got angry.

When my mother was growing up, my grandfather was a weekend alcoholic. He would work all week and then stay drunk on the weekends.  Grandmother kept the family together.  As he got older, he had health issues and stopped drinking to my knowledge.

My dad had witnessed to him, and I am sure other family members had as well.  We had lay people from the church come by his house, and we had been praying for him.  When my grandfather was 58, he was in the hospital.  We had a new pastor at our church, and he came by to see him at the hospital.  My grandfather needed to shave, and the pastor offered to give him one.  This touched my grandfather’s heart in a strange way, and he was able to lead my grandfather to the Lord.

There was a change in my grandfather that was amazing.  I was no longer afraid of him.  I would spend the night at my grandparent’s house, and we would play checkers and a card game called Rummy.  He always beat me.  He never let me win.  I had to earn it.    I invited him to church, and he came one time to hear me sing in the choir.  Grandfather had a muscle disease which made it difficult for him to sit for long periods of time.  He never came to church again.

I knew he had gotten saved because I had seen such a change in him. The last four years of his life I actually had a grandfather, at least the kind you dream about.  My grandfather passed away when he was 63.  My grandmother showed me his wallet that was full of my pictures.  My grandfather taught the little girl that had been afraid of him most of his life that people can change.

Is there someone in your life that you have given up on?  Is there someone in your life that you are uncomfortable around or even afraid of?  Don’t give up!  Keep praying for them.  I prayed for both of my grandfathers for many years. One of them may or may not have gotten saved a week before he died.  His caretaker said he made a profession of faith.   I hope he did.  My other grandfather made a profession of faith four years before he died.  I was able to observe the change in him.  I felt in my heart that my grandfather had gotten saved.

Both of these men were saved when the Lord brought other people into their lives.  He did not use me, but he used others.  I am so thankful that God brought these people into my grandfathers’ lives.  It is never too late! People change!

Mrs. Worthington has five children and twelve grandchildren.  She serves as Principal of Pathway Christian Academy in Goldsboro.