Family Heritage

I am very blessed to have a godly heritage. My grandparents have been with the Lord in Heaven for 15 and 16 years now. My granddaddy died in 1995. He was 91 years old. My grandmother died almost exactly one year later at age 86. They were the most amazing people! I miss them an awful lot! By earthly standards, they didn't have much. They lived in a small town in Mississippi. When they got married, they bought some land from his daddy and he farmed that land. This was his trade. They raised five kids in a three room house. Not three bedrooms, but three rooms. There was the kitchen, a living room which had a bed in it, and one other room that had two full size beds. Oh and thankfully it had a bathroom inside, which was added on at some point. I loved this old house! It had a front porch where we could sit and watch the cows graze in the pasture across the gravel road and wave at folks as they drove by.

Like I said earlier, they didn't have much by earthly standards. But I am so glad that I was taught that those aren't the standards in which life is measured! My grandparents had the sweet love of Jesus. So by heavenly standards they were rich! They loved life and loved being with their family. My granddaddy KNEW the word of God. I asked him one time how he knew scripture from memory so well. His answer to me was, "If you'd read it as many times as I have, you'd know it too." What incredible advice that was! He knew the Bible backwards and forwards. Anytime he came to visit us, he would find any of our Bible study or Sunday school books and just sit and read. He was always reading the Bible or some commentary on it. He had a true hunger for the Word of God. Grandma was the type of woman everyone loved to be around. She could make anyone feel welcomed. She was so witty and loved to make people laugh. I cannot wait to be reunited with them one day! I am so blessed to have had them in my life for so many years.

Now that they have gone home to be with the Lord, I have adopted my husband's grandmother as my own. She turned 94 a week ago! Just like my grandparents, she was born and raised in rural Mississippi (not the same town, but similar in many ways). She is a precious lady and I love her very much! It has been years since she has been able to “go to church”, but she would always watch church on TV.

My wonderful father-in-law has done an amazing job taking care of her needs for the last 25-30 years since her husband died. For the past several months, he has faithfully gone to her home each morning and helped her get out of bed and into her wheelchair where she spends her days. Then each night he would go help her get back into bed. I cannot even describe to you what an incredible man he is. He is such a servant and has lovingly taken care of his mother. Unfortunately, because of her frailty and her complete inability to move from bed to chair or vise versa, she cannot continue to live alone. Sadly, she has just been moved to a nursing home. The fact that she has continued to be able to live alone and take care of herself this long is an attribute to her strong character. She has shown love to me and my children every time we come near her! She loves to remember stories from when my husband was young and would spend the night with her and her husband, their grandfather.

Again, my family is so blessed to have this heritage. I also am grateful for the example of my mother helping to take care of her parents in their final days as well and the example of my father-in-law taking care of his mother all these years. They have shown the love of Christ to their parents and in doing so have shown love to Christ.  Matthew 25:40 “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Let this be a reminder to talk to your kids about their grandparents and pass along the stories of their family heritage. Although my kids never had the privilege of meeting my grandparents, they know all about them because we talk about them all the time!