Christina Grimmie: A Month Since She Went Home To Be With the Lord

*Read the latest related post here: Breakdown, Recap: Christina Grimmie's Snow White music video | "Let your feet follow your heart"

Christina’s former youth pastor who eventually became her spiritual adviser, mentioned during her public memorial service how her incredible talents in singing and piano were only the icing on the cake. Truth be told, he is right. Her wonderful personality, the good upbringing of her parents and faith made her almost perfect. She was so special. You rarely find someone having all those aspects of one’s life knitted very well together.

Think of all the great advice she gave to those who needed it or words of encouragement to those who felt down. Her wisdom was beyond her years. At that point in my life, I couldn’t even say those words. Do you realize how many lives she had saved just by tweeting something inspiring? Can you even count how many bible verses she had shared? Or did you find it repetitive of her to mention Jesus or Lord or God so many times?

The thing about her tweets at present is, people go back and look at it in a different way. For some, they find it eerie and somewhat a foreshadow of what would happen. As for me, I’d like to see it as a wonderful testament of her steadfast faith which would give me comfort because I know that her life here wasn’t in vain. Her tweets about her love of the Lord actually make sense much more now than ever.

Since it’s been a month since she went Home to be with Him, I would want to write this not to still be in despair (she wouldn’t want that) but to remember her faith. If you really are a frand of Christina, you would know how her faith was. So, if you are not someone who’s religious or a Christian like Christina, I can understand if you won’t read this. Otherwise, I hope you read through so we can revisit Christina’s inspirational and uplifting quotes that were a product of her belief in Christ.

Christina’s public memorial service was more of a celebration of her life here and the faith that she had. I couldn’t emphasize enough how comforted I am to know more about her spiritual journey. Not to mention how her family and bestfriends reiterate the fact that she’s certainly in a better place now with Jesus.

I don’t know about you but Christina’s love for Him and her faith was firm and it grew even stronger more so when she was struggling with something. That had been the case even during the tragic night of June 10. One of the members of the band Before You Exit that she was touring with tweeted this:

Few moments before the shooting incident, his family prayed with her. He mentioned that it ended with “God is good”. For Christians, the usual follow-up to that is “all the time”. She replied the same. Now, this is heartbreaking. I cried when I had known about this… more so when her brother was told that they saw her worded she saw Jesus next, even though the incident unfolded so quickly, 

Now, if you follow Christina on Twitter, you’d know that she was vocal about her faith in Jesus since she first joined this social networking site. She would tweet it almost every month since 2010 until on May 3, 2016.

There are three instances when she would tweet something about Jesus. First, when she would thank Him and give all honor and glory back to Him. Second, when she would be struggling with something herself and she needed to be reminded and comforted by His words. Third, when someone else is going through something and she would try to help you because she actually cared.

I could just post all those tweets that fall under those three instances but they are too many. I’ll just post my most favorite ones that actually have a LOT more impact since she went home to be with the Lord.

For the first instance… Christina was always grateful of all the blessings she had received. In every blessing, she won’t forget to thank Him.

 

The incredible talent that God gave her, the amazing frands that she has, and her beautiful family and friends… Do you notice how fame and wealth to her were not necessarily as important as all the above mentioned? Christina was not that kind of person, which is also why her “All is vanity” tattoo is significant. If you read the bible and you specifically know about the book of Ecclesiastes, then you know what that means. It’s not surprising why she had stayed humble and not arrogant. This is why you knew Christina was so special.

You rarely see known personalities now who could hold their selves together and maintain their sanity. Mommy Tina and Daddy Bud deserve a part of that credit. Their good upbringing of Christina and her brother is the best. And of course, those values instilled to her by her parents, which she had held on, were a product of Jesus’ teaching.

Christina had also tweeted about Jesus when she also needed constant reminders to herself of God’s mercy, love and grace.

I’m not going to elaborate to you about the core of Christianity (whether you are a Christian, Roman Catholic, etc) as a whole. Just know that unlike other world religions, Christianity is more on Jesus himself first and His teachings are secondary. There’s no Christianity without Him and if it’s only His teachings. If you are a Christian, you would know who Jesus is. It’s a shame if you don’t know Him and you are confuse on His identity and relevance to your faith.

Christina was very well aware of Jesus. She grew up in a church. She wasn’t a reader of books but she treasured the Bible. As Lauren, one of her best friends, said in her memorial service, she would underline and highlight passages in the bible. Christina’s relationship with Him was undeniable. She made it clear that she loved Jesus so much. He was her Lord and Savior. 

For the second instance… this is where probably this tweet (that has resurfaced since the night of June 10, 2016; retweeted about 80,000 times and favorited 100,000 times as of this writing) falls under. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here it is:

Here’s also another tweet that has resurfaced:

Some say that these two tweets are ironic, knowing what had happened. As for me, it has become more significant now. Notice that when Christina tweeted these, it was for herself because at that time she was going through something. At present, these messages have become directed to us. I won’t call it as a foreshadowing on her part. I don’t think she ever meant these to have a lot more sense now than before.

The first tweet is basically: It’s terrible (so horrible) for Christina to be killed. It left us wondering why this would happen. We couldn’t understand why. Let’s be reminded though, as she said, that this should not make us stop trusting Him. Things don’t happen just for no reason at all. We may not see it clearly now but someday we will, for sure. It also precedes the second tweet. In what way? Her father mentioned this also during her memorial service. God has a way better plan. We may not like how it is now. Someday when we get to see the whole picture, we will finally fully realize His way. She believed that to be true, as do her parents.

For the third instance… Lauren said during her memorial service that Christina cared deeply and loved wholeheartedly. That’s who she was. We are perfectly aware of that. She’s probably one of the most selfless people that ever lived here. I remember on one of her interviews last 2014 when she was promoting her single Must Be Love, she was asked whether she would find true love or the cure for cancer. She had chosen the latter. It would benefit not only her mother but all those who are suffering from cancer. I don’t think she would be really happy finding true love knowing that cancer is still incurable. Here are some of those tweets that fit well into Lauren’s statement describing Christina:

I read this nice article by Conrad Close of theamericancrossroads.com entitled “In Christ Alone: The Faith of Christina Grimmie”.  You see, the mainstream media wouldn’t discuss about her faith. You would only read quotes from her family and bestfriends about that. That’s as much what they would include. Good thing they don’t edit it and remove the “Lord” or anything close. There are only few articles out there that celebrate the faith that Christina had and how this same faith gives hope especially to her loved ones that she has gained eternal life with Him in heaven. For us Christians, death is not the end. There’s something wonderful to look forward to once our life in this world pass. This brings comfort to anyone who loved her and share the same faith.

It’s been a month... the media buzz has stopped (pretty much) talking about what happened. They would mention her name, now and then. For us though, we will always remember her.

If someone left a mark like Christina did, if someone was as wonderful as her, I don’t think you will totally erase who and what she had been while she was here. I’m not saying that others were not as relevant. It’s just that, throughout the short life she had spent in this world, she had managed to inspire and touch our lives, as many as more than your hands and feet can count.

I will end this article by saying that Christina’s legacy will always be around. I still cry sometimes but the tears now are more on missing her here in this world than being sad of what happened. I actually choose to look at the higher purpose why she had to leave here too soon and in that way. I’d rather have her there in Heaven with Him safely in His arms where she's free from the sin and brokenness of this world. Her family and friends want that too. Her Dad said so himself. In His presence, she can’t be hurt anymore.

We look forward to seeing her again someday. Remember when she was asked last 2014 by ClevverTV and last 2015 (10 months before June 2016) in Singapore on who would she want to have lunch and hang-out with for a day (it doesn’t matter if they’re dead or alive) and she had the same answer: JESUS. She explained on the latter interview that “It would be cool. I have a lot of questions to ask Him.” She looked excited and happy about it. Before anyone say that it’s eerie (or ironic), I’d tell you that I find it more of a reassurance. Christina is enjoying Jesus’ company.

What you can do for Christina are: to honor and remember her memory; to pray for her family, friends, frands, each other, everyone, and this world; to live a better life that Christina has inspired you with instead of being in despair; do the same for others, if your life was touched by her; if you don’t have faith before, if you don’t believe in God, maybe you should start seeking Him now; if you do have the same faith as Christina’s, treasure it, let it grow and make it stronger and love Jesus like you have never loved Him before.