Putting the "GRAND" in Parents

To get to grandma’s house in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, we had to drive down miles and miles of dirt road.  Her house was in a little community called Richwood’s. At the time, I didn’t think there was much “rich” to the community.  After all, I was a kid who was growing up in the city of St. Louis.  We had it all; so I thought! 

Grandma’s house was not fancy.  On the front porch was her laundry room with all the primitive conveniences – a tub, a washer that had a ringer to get the water out and a line that was attached from the house to a tree to dry the clothes.  As you walked into the house, there was a woodstove in the middle of the living room, a couple bedrooms and a kitchen.  To use the bathroom, you had to go to the outhouse that was located about a hundred feet from the house.  On a cold night, those hundred feet may as well have been two thousand feet!

Grandma’s yard was filled with chickens running around, a huge oak tree with a tire roped to a limb for anyone to swing on and an old white abandoned church building that set at the very corner of the property. 

All around were dirt roads, rice and watermelon fields.  My dad’s one room school building was just up the road.  It was dilapidated, but became a place for all of us to hang out and play when we visited grandma. 

As I write, I can see myself running down the dirt road or playing in my dad’s old one room schoolhouse or watching my grandmother catch a chicken that would become our dinner that night.  I can see the tire swing and hear the crackling of the fire as my siblings and I lie on pallets of grandma’s hand stitched quilts.  I can smell the bacon, biscuits and homemade chocolate gravy.  I can feel grandma’s warm hands as she would touch my face or hold my hand or hold me in her arms.   I see her face. I hear her voice.  I miss her. 

Proverbs 27:19 describes the heart of most grandparents, “As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.” The heart of a grandparent is full of love and grace and tenderness and joy and patience and kindness and peace.  Grandparents are “grand” because they have learned that life needs laughter and meals around the dinner table.  Grandparents see the value in spending time with their children and grandchildren.  Grandparents are grand because they focus much of their attention on God and have conversations with him all through the day.  Grandparents are grand because they no longer have the rush to get a job done; they are now more relaxed and enjoy every moment with the very people they love so much.  Grandparents are grand because like Jesus, they allow us to come to them for rest and receive their inner gentleness without conditions. 

Proverbs 17:6 proclaims that “Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children.”  Yes indeed they are, but grandparents are the steady in the storms and the light in the dark when we are scared and the hope that everything will turn out ok and the hand who wipes our tears and holds our heart. 

Today, I am thankful for grandparents.  I am thankful that God gave them a heart to love unconditionally and be packed full of everything that is kind and good.

Remember, Be God Controlled!

Brian