Ruth Graham - On to Glory

 

Ruth Bell Graham now knows what we will have to wait to find out. She knows what it is to stand in the presence of the Lord she has loved and served all these years, free of pain, young again, and rejoicing with the angels and saints of the ages. She is home.

I first heard of Ruth's death from some blogger friends and there has been a swelling of emotion in my heart and moisture in my eyes. What a giant among women! I have often wondered how I would feel when I received word of Billy's passing. I am feeling some of that now with the death of this grand and faithful lady. My heart is with Billy and the family and there are tears in my eyes. She was the heroine behind the hero. She held a family together and caused it to thrive while Billy traveled the world. She was a giant among women and a true soldier of the cross. In these recent years, she has been very ill and frail and Billy has been by her side daily, reading the scriptures with her and loving her.

I know he rejoices in her victory and is devastated by the loss.

Here is an excerpt of his statement:

"Ruth was my life partner, and we were called by God as a team," Billy Graham said in a statement. "No one else could have borne the load that she carried. She was a vital and integral part of our ministry, and my work through the years would have been impossible without her encouragement and support.

"I am so grateful to the Lord that He gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we've had in the mountains together. We've rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven."

It is what I call happy/sad to say goodbye to Ruth Graham. Thank you for letting me know. Here is a news link:  Ruth Graham  and here is the tribute from the Billy Graham Evangelisitc Association: Tribute The daughter of missionary doctor, Nelson Bell, Ruth began life in China and  always had the heart of a missionary. She was a prolific and inspirational writer and a devoted mother and wife.

Once asked if she had ever considered divorcing Billy, she joked that she had never considered divorce, murder maybe, but not divorce.

Everyone who knew her understood it was joking. Her humor was legendary. Her pastor's wife wrote:

This is just an instance of her sense of humor. She was always so kind to think of giving me gifts at Christmas—she did this for many people. But one Christmas she gave me a needlepoint pictue with a mule on it, and the words on it were, “If at first you don’t succeed, nag, nag, nag.” She always had such a cute sense of humor. —Dorothy Thielman, wife of Calvin Thielman, the Grahams’ longtime pastor in Montreat

She created a refuge for a world citizen to which he could retreat from the limelight and be himself. Without Ruth Graham, the ministry of Billy Graham could not have happened.

Congratulations to Ruth Graham on her graduation to glory!