Thursday, November 29, 2012

Lifted Up

This blog posting is in response to week one of the Bible study on the book, Greater, by Pastor Steve Furtick.

Growing up, I had no one to look up to.
Unfortunate….but that is the way it was.

Once my parents had divorced, at the tender age of nine, my mother and I moved back to her home, where we lived with my grandparents for a period of time.
Although life was not easy for me back then, with all that had happened, I was very blessed to get to know my grandparents.
As it is written in the book,
“The president probably won’t release a statement calling us the greatest anything when we die…Nobody will post a blog entry about our lives…” pg 7
my grandparents were certainly not prominent people, but they had a great impact on my young life. Although I would not realize much of the wisdom imparted to me from them for years later, the few short years I had with them were precious and enlightening.

My grandparents, unlike my parents, lived lives that honored the Lord. I didn’t understand much of their ways, but I had a strange admiration for them. My grandmother was very strict. I recall one day when I was on the veranda shouting back and forth with the neighbor kid across the street. I must have been ten years of age. My grandma walked on to the porch and, without a word, grabbed a hold of my ear, and led me back into the house. That hurt!
Once safely inside, she simply said, “Young ladies don’t behave that way.”
I wasn’t used to being corrected….but I was used to being yelled at. She hadn’t yelled.
Who was this woman and why did she behave so differently?

My grandpa, dear sweet grandpa; he wouldn’t slap a fly if it sat on his nose. Having served in World War 1, he took no pleasure in any form of violence. He did not believe any child should ever be spanked. Grandpa was honored with a purple heart, but his heart remained broken throughout his life as he remembered lives of his friends lost in that war. Senseless war, he used to say. War is senseless. He loved to walk me…and sometimes my friends….down to the corner store where he would buy us penny candies, tootsie rolls, and such.

Grandma was the disciplinarian, and grandpa was the spoiler. They could switch those roles, and did, on necessary occasions, but that is generally who they were.

They always spoke of blessings from God; how He had watched over them…always. They spoke so many words to me that I would later learn were straight from the Bible.
Neither one spoke ill of others. Oh, how I wish I could say the same about me.

They would say the familiar old saying, “If you can’t speak anything well of someone, don’t say anything at all.”
They honored that saying.

I miss them both so much.
As I sit here typing this, tears are welling up in my eyes.
I learned a lot about love from those two wonderful people. They were people with faults; imperfections and sins. Still, they were people who left their mark, who mattered, maybe small in the world’s sense, but huge for their only granddaughter who had only them to make a vast difference in her life.

“Nobody will post a blog entry about our lives.”
Grandma and grandpa….I just did.



14 comments:

  1. Judi, I'm tearing up. My grandparents have both passed away but they watch over our home in the living room each and every day and are always there for inspiration and guidance, arent they?

    Heartwarming. {{{Hugs}}}

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  2. Hi Jenny,
    Yes, my grandparents have long since passed as well. Yet, as you say, each and every day their memories live on....still present to teach, guide,and inspire.
    Thanks for sharing. Hugs to you!

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  3. Judi,

    What a beautiful post! You have me in tears this morning! Thank you so much for sharing :) They surely are smiling down on you from above!

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    1. Hi Julie,
      I am so glad my post touched your heart. Too often, my response is tears when I remember special moments and special someones. Thanks for your email.
      Have a great day!

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  4. i loved loved the way you ended this especially. What a great post!! you are a great writer!

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    1. Wow, such compliments! You really made my day...thanks Jenn! Have a good one.

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    1. Thanks, wolfedenmom. May God bless you as well. I appreciate your comment.

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  6. Beautiful Judi. I know your grandparents are honored by your loving memory of them and the legacy they left for you. -Sue

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    1. Thanks, Sue. They certainly deserve to be honored...although I know they wouldn't believe so. :0)
      Have a great day!

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  7. Beautiful! I was in tears at the end, too. What a great tribute. :)

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    1. I do so appreciate how my posting touched your heart, Heather. Everytime I read it, everytime someone responds, I am in tears once again. Thanks for letting me know your thoughts and feelings.

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  8. Julie such a beautiful tribute to your grandparents. Fond memories for me because one of my grandmothers had a great impact on me and still does each time of think of her. This touched my heart, brought back memories of going to church with Granny and I am a bit teary eyed too! Debbie W. (OBS Leader)

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    1. Thanks Debbie for your thoughtful comment. We never forget the ones we love! Blessings to you today.Judi

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