I had one grandmother who taught me how to shop, ask for what I wanted and be a business minded woman. She loved jewelry, had amazing (and expensive) taste in how she decorated her home and was not afraid to admit it. It’s her pink chair that I sit in every day as I build my business.
She didn’t play small, so I don’t either.
If she was still here, I’d buy her the coffee mug that says, “I love Jesus, but I cuss a little.” and it would describe her perfectly. She was a leader. She was stubborn. She got stuff done. She was always prepared. And I admired all of those things about her.
This is the grandmother that called me “missy”, she loved me immensely and it showed. She would make me coffee (aka milk + sugar with a side of coffee) when I came to visit and always had at least 20 bottles of nail polish and her face cream beside her chair at all times. She always had a housekeeper, got her nails and hair done regularly and never ran out of anything because she always had more than one of everything.
My other grandmother was my soul sister in a different way. She was a disciple maker, caretaker and kingdom shaker. She was small but mighty. Sweet with a little heat. If you were to meet her, she would remind you a lot of what you read about in Proverbs 31.
She taught me to be a hard worker and plant seeds … she had a green thumb, I do not. But I’ll gladly plant seeds for the kingdom as long as I live. When she spoke, her words were wise and she gave instructions in kindness.
I admired her boldness, something both of my grandmother’s had, but in different ways. She was often invited to speak and preach and was a spiritual mentor to many. I would often brag about her to others while letting them know that if it sounds like I’m preaching — I come by it honest.
On the day that she passed, I went through every card, every recipe, every note that she had written me. And then I opened a Bible she had given me. Inside was a note that I never knew existed until that moment. This Bible was her 85th birthday present TO ME. Who gives people presents on THEIR birthday?
It was a Bible that she used to preach at funerals. She also used it to dedicate my children to the Lord. All of the notes and verses that she used for both boys were tucked inside. God is in the details. I had already been asked to speak at her service and I knew that it was only in God’s timing that I would find that letter from her at that moment. Only to turn around and use the same Bible at her service.
As the days have passed, I was also given a box full of her spiral notebooks and notes. In these pages are all of her sermons. As I’ve started going through them, it’s been a sweet time of feeling like she is right here, talking directly to me.
But I’ve decided to share them. Slowly, over time, my plan is to write about them here … while I sit in my pink chair with my freshly painted fingernails. I hope you’ll join me.
