A Legacy

I haven't blogged in a while. I have been spending so much time on Facebook recently that I have used up my words. I tried to write these words on FB but they didn't seem sufficient enough even about placing them on the web. So I decided to go further.

I spent the day with extended family today. We met at my mom's house. My grandparents drove up with my cousin (further known as M) family. This cousin is the daughter of their only daughter. My uncle and aunt came up. Their two boys and their families came up as well. My brother and his girlfriend were there. In all, there is 16 adults and 15 children in this house. At the end of dinner, M's husband got up to clear his plate and offered to take hers. She used that opportunity to remind the rest of the girls at the table how to get your husband to serve you. Feeling irritated, I didn't respond much. The conversation then turned to how my grandmother has serve my grandfather coffee in the bed EVERY morning for almost 64 years. That is a LONG time. My cousins and I reminisced about those days when you were threatened within our lives not to wake up Papa. He worked shift duty with the electric company so there were times when he'd sleep during the day. We spent alot of time outside. LOL!!!! Everyone turned back to my grandmother and how that was just too long to serve. My grandfather smugly joked about how he just couldn't stand for a wife that didn't obey him.

I tuned out the rest of the conversation and eventually went to be close to Underdog who had also moved on from the table and didn't hear this particula conversation. But I couldn't get it off my mind. Sixty four years is a long time. . .but she was faithful.

My female cousins and the even the wives of my male cousins don't value the idea of wives serving their husbands. They give my Mimi a hard time. But I LOVE that aspect about her. Looking back, she was my model. She inspired my play as a little girl. I was playing like being a keeper at home as Titus 2 described but I didn't even know it. I wanted to do what my Mimi did. I wanted to be just like her.

I sat down to write her a letter tonight. I just felt like someone needed to rise up and call her blessed. While I believe my grandfather, uncle, and dad love my grandmother, I fear there just isn't enough praising going on. It's just not done much. So I decided to do it myself. She is my hero. I don't know if she's saved nor do I know if she even knows Proverbs 31, but she lived it out daily.

My grandmother not only worked tirelessly to serve her husband, but she serve her children and grandchildren in many ways. She sewed clothes for the 3 granddaughters. She crocheted afghan after afghan after afghan. She made quilts for all of us as well. I found out today that she loved quilting. Who knew? She had to give it up when the arthritis kicked in. She still crochets alot. We all have way too many baby afghans that have collected through the years. They are treasures to me now. When I was a little girl, she made me one of my favoite dolls. It was a Texas Tech Cheerleader. Her creativity is neverending.

There is no shame in the type of service that my grandmother gave to my grandfather. I think she recognized something that most women miss because they are now too busy looking out for themselves. She recognized that there were difference between her and her husband. She knew that God created her differently. She knew that she could offer her greatest work and serve in the home. She didn't need a job outside to be fulfilled. She found the most fulfilling job in her home serving those that she loved the most. No wonder they will celebrate 64 years together this coming Ground Hog day. Whether they believed the distinctions celebrated by God in scripture, they lived it out. I have no doubt they have had ups and downs. But I wonder if it's the quiet submissiveness of my grandmother that might have often kept the peace when things seemed in such an upheavel. What a woman!!!! She deserves nothing but praise for her life not ridicule. I write this today to give that to her.