Grandma Harris was eighty years old when I first knew her and lived to the age of ninety-four. I never saw her walk unassisted; her health confined her either to bed or to “Grandma’s Chair” in her quaint room with its lace curtains and dark Victorian furniture. My sister and I would visit her in that room for about an hour or so each day. Of Huguenot descent, Grandma had us read the French Bible to her so we could practice our French while also learning the Bible and hearing her talk about the passage we had read.
Grandma was bent and wrinkled, and she suffered severe headaches. She rarely laughed and could never comprehend our jokes, but her quiet joy and peace somehow reached even us play-minded children. We never resented our daily visits to her room. She radiated love.
When Grandma had trouble sleeping, she sometimes lay awake half the night quietly reciting chapters from her storehouse of memorized Scripture and praying for her eleven children and scores of grandchildren. My aunts took turns sleeping in her room. Quite often, in the middle of the night, Grandma would suddenly call for paper and pen and someone would write down her thoughts. She would say, “I sense that Pastor Smith in Ipswich is in need of help just now. Please write to him like this…” She would then dictate a letter and ask my aunt to enclose a check.
Days later, when the mail brought a letter of reply, Grandma would beam with joy. Invariably, the letter expressed astonishment that she should have known the precise timing and amount of need. She would laugh with pure, innocent delight. We children marveled at the conspiracy of intimacy between the Holy Spirit and Grandma.
From the book: In His Image pp. 445-446, Copyright © 1984 by Paul Brand and Philip Yancey
To the point: Grandma Harris impacted her grandchildren simply by manifesting her “normal” day to day relationship with God. God has grace for you to be the grandparent he needs you to be no matter what your circumstances are. Be that grandparent.
It is too easy to say, “But I’m not…”
It’s time to say, “God, this is who I am, use me!”