“Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” Psalm 34:11
My grandmother—lovingly referred to as “Mawmaw”—is the sweetest, most gracious and Godly woman I have ever known. As the matriarch of our family, we are beyond blessed to have her, to say the least.
Some of my most cherished childhood memories are of peaceful Spring and Summer moments spent in the backyard swing, sucking on honeysuckles straight from the vine and singing hymns out of an old hymnal, with Mawmaw and my little brother, Joey.
“Meet Me at the Eastern Gate” was always my favorite. I can’t tell you why; I doubt I had any real concept at that age of what the song really meant. But even then, God used it to plant a seed.
He planted many seeds over many moments spent with our Mawmaw growing up. And I’m so grateful to say those seeds are still being planted, as I look forward to our near daily calls or texts.
From hymnals in the swing, to the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23 coming off the whispering lips of a humble servant of the Lord, knelt down nightly beside the bed, she brought forth a heart full of gratitude for all that He had blessed her with and an expectant faith—rooted firmly in the faithfulness of the Lord—no matter the circumstances at hand. I watched her pray diligently over our family. Through premature births, prodigal children and grandchildren, struggling marriages and everything in between, Mawmaw has always sought the Lord for her family.
Never ashamed of her faith or afraid to share His goodness with anyone that would listen, she would speak of the Lord with sincere devotion from a heart so completely surrendered to Him. As we grew older and the tough questions came, she would lovingly refer back to scripture or a story from the Bible to prove His sovereignty…even when the answer was a gentle, “I don’t know, honey…but the Good Lord does. His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. We just put our hope and trust in Him.”
It was those consistent examples of praise and pleas to our God Most High that pieced together the foundation for my faith. Even when I spent seasons outside of His will, thinking I knew better for me than anyone else, Mawmaw’s prayers never ceased. And there is no doubt within me that I am standing right now in the center of answered prayers from the heart of a loving, faithful grandmother. A grandmother that epitomizes what it means to be a woman of strength, grace, grit and utter dependence on the Lord. A woman that serves her family with a selfless, servant love full of compassion and tenderness—the kind that Jesus exemplified. A woman who’s desire to grow in her knowledge and love of God has only increased over time. A woman who’s joy and strength are truly the Lord.
What an example for a girl to have. What a legacy of faith to pass along.
I could have never known then how those seeds would take root or the fruit they would bear. Nor could I have known how much I would look to my grandmother’s example when I would become a wife and mother myself.
But the Good Lord did.
Dear Heavenly Father,
We are so humbled by the love of those that you have blessed us with
and the ways that You work through these special relationships
to lead us and keep us on your path for our lives.
What a blessing to have a legacy of faith to build upon!
But even for those that did not have that as a child,
we are thankful that You see them, You know them and You will not forsake them
when they call out to You.
As mothers, Lord please help us to share Your goodness with our children,
recognizing that the most important investment we can make
is the time we take to teach them about You.
Help us to be intentional with this responsibility and opportunity
to share our faith with our children,
and we pray that they too will have a heart for You, Lord.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
