Sunday, May 11, 2008

Cadillacs and Volkswagons ~ pt. 2


[As a 'follow-up' to my April 13th post regarding
"Spring Cleaning," and my hubby's comment about my housekeeping:
“my mother is the Cadillac, and honey,
you’re the Volkswagon” !!
]

My Grandma is 97 -- she'll be 98 this summer! She is a mother of nine and lives in PA. I have lived most of my life in NY. When we were young, we'd make about 6 trips a year to visit her. With nine kids and a HUGE garden, Grandma's time was 'understandably' given to meals (which came from the garden) and child-care. I'm going to assume that house-keeping wasn't the top prority. She was always baking homemade breads, making homemade jellies and jams, and canning all the fruits and veggies the trees and garden produced. Her dinners always included a 1-inch thick piece of her bread with peach, plum, or strawberry jam... I can still taste it! And when we would leave to go home to NY, she would always go upstairs to her room, while we waited downstairs, patiently (and excitedly!) for her to return -- with 'treasures' to give to us! Those treasures included small porcelain kittens and puppies, bunnies, birds, and other figurines -- one time she even gave us a horde of 'Cracker-Jack-type' of treasures -- I remember spending hours playing with.

One visit, when I was in high school, my Grandma shared with me, a dream she had -- she dreamt that she was Raptured! She described the feeling of being compressed into thin air, as she watched her clothes drop to the floor, and she, herself, was caught up into the air... it was so real to hear her describe this -- and I've never forgotten that. That was about 30 years ago, and at that time, she was very 'in-tune' with world events relating to the European Common Market. Her expectation of Jesus Christ's return planted a similar seed in me -- to "watch and keep my lamp burning!" (Matthew 25)

Now when my family visits Grandma -- (me, hubby, and three kids - my college boy, and 2 teen girls), we like to take her out to lunch. Conversation is a little more difficult, being that she can no longer hear as well as she used to, but if you encourage her to talk, she'll bring out her treasures: her wonderful insights into the Person and work of Jesus Christ! On one trip, about 2 or 3 years ago, we took her home after lunch and walked into her house -- She went into her room, and came back with a beautiful, small blue-glass bowl, and gave it to me. Then, she gave us a 'final word' -- since we were leaving to go back to NY, and wouldn't make another trip till spring. She would always say, she'd never know if she would be here 'on this earth' -- come spring. This time, though, she spoke to my kids, her great-grandkids -- and told them to WAIT for the Lord to bring their future spouse to them. She shared with them her pastor's story: how he had been praying for a wife, and kept hearing a name -- "Lee" -- and he told the Lord, that's a guy's name!!! But one day, he met a lovely lady on campus, and when he asked her name, she replied: "Lee"! As tears welled up in my eyes, I looked around her house - I could see through some piles of "clutter" there were 'treasures' .... but I knew what the true TREASURE was: it was Grandma! The Words of life that poured out of her mouth, to share with her GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN -- my children! -- this was a godly woman! And I was hugely blessed!! To those who have eyes to really 'see' -- she is the pearl of great price!


She opens her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness...
Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.
Proverbs 31:26, 31