Our Mindful Eye

Today was Mum's Day. The gift I always ask for is time together as a family.  I usually use my days (Mum's Day and birthday) to get my adult kids to do things they won't otherwise do, at least without some pushing.  Those things are going hiking, going to the lake, or going on an adventure.  A couple of years ago I used my birthday to get my family to hike the Manitou Incline in Colorado, that was fun!  Now that my kids have kids of their own, Mum's Day is an even better celebration, but I no longer feel the right to claim our activity, after all I am not the only mum now.

After today's fun, I got on facebook and just began to tear up.  I loved seeing everyone's old photo of their mum, or their own photos of when they became a mum.  I was so moved.  I decided to dig out my own photos and have a trip down memory lane. It was then that I decided what my photo would be. 

In the middle of this mess of photos is my all time favorite photo of my own grandmother.  This women means so much to me!  She is the mother I didn't have, she is the person who pointed me to Jesus during my formative years until the summer before ninth grade when she took me to a Billy Graham movie where I went to the front during an alter call. She introduced me to the church that I still go to 31 years later. Long before I accepted Christ for myself, I knew not to ever take the Lords name in vain. She threw me my one and only birthday party as a kid. I visited her for a few summers growing up, and she took me everywhere she went.  We went out to breakfast, stopped at every garage sale within a 25 mile radius, visited her favorite shops, and went to work with her.  When I visited, I got to be a kid and it was fabulous!  She loved to buy craft supplies as she hoped that one day she would have the time to make stuff. It was like a candy store for me.  I dug through her boxes and boxes of stuff and made my own things. She also had trunks full of pictures and boy did I love going through them! 

Needless to say, I love this women so much!  She isn't in great health, and now lives in assisted living where she is not a happy camper. Her mind is definitely slipping but she can surprise you.  I have several memories of her that just crack me up.  For instance, when my kids were small, I decided I wanted an industrial look in my house.  Instead of buying curtain rods, I bought big hooks and hung them from the ceiling, and then hung my curtains on that.  When she came over and saw that, she put her arm around me and said "why didn't you tell me you couldn't afford curtain rods?"  I cracked up and told her no grandmother, I did this on purpose.  She just couldn't understand why I would do such a thing.  

God used her so much in my life.  Because of her prayers, I can only imagine.....  Because of how God used her, I was able to make choices that broke the cycle that existed in my family.  Because of her I was able to raise my two children in a way that did not reflect the way I grew up. Because of her this apple doesn't even look like the tree in which it originated. I praise God that she is my grandmother. 

I wonder if Tracie West will post something related to Mum's Day also? If not, I already got to see several photos of the wonderful tribe of women that she comes from!  

This is a current photo of her.