Christian Living

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Some of my happy childhood memories were the many times I visited my grandparents’ home. Grandma and Pappy were quiet, gentle people who lived on a farm near the tiny town in Iowa where I grew up. Pappy would play checkers with me, and Grandma only smiled when we explored the depths of her closets upstairs and come downstairs to model the old-fashioned hats she still kept hidden away. The shallow creek near the white farmhouse would entertain us for hours as we dug for “treasures” and unearthed old-fashioned glass bottles that once held perfume, medicines and even an ink well. After our treasure hunting, we’d pick blackberries and bring them inside, where Grandma would give us ice cream for our newfound natural topping. The pantry was a magical place where she’d help us make apple pies just our size out of the tiny tins on her shelf. The hard brown sugar from the pantry shelf would soften quickly in the oven so she could bake with it and we would sneak pieces of the warm, sweet treat.

Grandma outlived Pappy by only a year, and I remember visiting her in the nursing home where her memory of us had faded. We brought old photo albums when we visited her because while her shorter term memory had disappeared, she still remembered people from her youth. Toward the end of her beautiful life, all she could do was smile at us and my dad would never forget to bring her favorite candy, Andes Mints. She refused to eat them, however, until she passed the box to each of us first.

The legacy my grandparents left for me is treasured in my heart. Their example showed compassion, love and a gentleness that shone through everything they did. Even when my grandma lost her memory, her generous nature shone only brighter to me as she continued to witness with her actions even though her memory had gone.

I hope to leave a beautiful legacy as well. As I continue to be faithful and draw closer to the Lord, my prayer is that my soul and spirit will flourish and bloom so I will always be a witness and testimony of Christ’s love to my family and everyone whose path I cross. Someday, if I’m blessed by the Lord to live long enough to lose my memory from old age, my prayer is for it to remain unmistakable that I am a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, even to my final day on earth. We all leave footprints of memories and a legacy on this earth; and I want my legacy to lead people to Christ by my example. And above all, when I go home to the Lord, I want Him to be able to say “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”, as I’m sure that’s how He greeted Grandma and Pappy.

Exodus 20:6 “…for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Psalm 100:5 “For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Proverbs 3:3 “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.”

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