Grandma

"I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and now, I am sure, lives in you." 

(2 Timothy 1:5)

I've always loved this verse.  Not enough kudos go out to grandmas... and the impact they can have on our faith journeys.

Today I'm thinking about my Grandma Louisa White.  In her younger days, she was a nurse, who spent her live helping others.  I remember her later years with much fondness.  We'd drive up from Arizona to their house in Montana every couple of summers or so.  Grandma had a wonderful little vegetable garden in her back yard.  I loved her fresh rhubarb sauce (think apple sauce with sweetened rhubarb flavor!).  I loved digging for worms (night crawlers) with Grandpa in that garden, prior to going fishing.  She was a gung-ho outdoorswoman!  She could fish with the best of us.  She had no problem cleaning the fish we'd caught... and sure knew how to fry them up after (yum!).  She was an accomplished painter, who loved to paint her favorite flower - the pansy!  And I don't know why I think this, but I seem to remember her being fond of stories.

But above all else, Grandma White was a woman with a deep & abiding faith.  She raised my father with similar convictions... who, in turn, raised me.  Grandma White loved music & hymns & singing.  I remember going to church with her (and Grandpa).  And I remember the summer she came out to visit us in Hawaii.  It would be the last time I ever saw her, as she died later that fall during heart surgery.  At the time, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer.  She simply said, "The world needs more Christian lawyers."  Indeed!

Thank you, God... for my Grandma... who helped shape who I am today!

(What do you remember about YOUR grandma?)