I wish I could talk with my grandmother. It seems like it would be easy to sit at her kitchen table, to be warmed by her loving gaze, and to feel the satin soft skin of her hand around mine.
We’d speak in hushed tones, her voice kind and gentle, with a subtle Southern drawl.
I’d present her with a question.
“How do I raise a faith-filled family?” I’d ask.
Well, Mamo resides in heaven. And there’s a deep chasm of change between the times in which Mamo raised her brood and the times in which I’m raising mine.
But, when I imagine sitting beside my grandmother, asking my question, here’s what I think she’d say:
1) It’s okay, necessary, to fill yourself up.
Of course, Mamo would say it like this: “Shawnie-babe, there’s an outflow to motherhood. To taking care of our husbands, our children and our homes.
“You have to make sure that you’re filled up. Take time to get alone with God. Fill your heart with His Word. Hold His promises. Let them live in your own heart. You can’t nourish others if you’re running on empty yourself.”
2) It’s a wise thing to practice praise.
I can almost hear her. She’d probably say: “There’s always reason to praise the Lord. Hard times come. Hard times go. But if you’re looking, you’ll see Him there, always, right in the middle of what you’re muddling through.
“He’ll never leave you, Darling. And He’s a mighty God. We’d all be wise to learn to tell him so.”
3) Live with your eyes wide open–learn to see the Lord in the small stuff, too.
Mamo would probably place her hand on my cheek right about now. Her green eyes would glimmer wonder and love.
She might say: “Darlin’, learn to see the goodness of the Lord in a ray of morning sun. On the face of your child. In the way that your husband smiles or reaches for your hand. Learn to see Him in the gladness. In the joy.
“But don’t forget to look for Him in the sadness, too. A heart filled with the presence of the Father is a heart filled with peace.”
I miss my grandmother. I know that as long as I’m this side of heaven, I always will. I have the benefit of her wisdom and love for the Lord as it ran straight through the family line from my own dear mother to me.
It’s the way that I’ll raise my family, too.
Needing grace. Clinging to truth.
And standing on a foundation of faith.
