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The Gift of Grandmothers

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which

first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother

Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. (2

Timothy 1:5)

How many sights do you know that are lovelier

than a fully-grown man tenderly taking his elderly

mother’s arm and supporting her as she walks from the

car to the door or from

the waiting room to the

doctor’s examining

room? Have you seen

anything warmer than a

grandmother reading a

story to a child who sits

transfixed or lies in

peace or giggles like mad on

her lap? Young mothers are

beautiful, but what is it about a

white-haired, elderly mother

who still tenderly touches her

fifty-year-old son and fixes his

hair down as she did all those

years ago when he couldn’t do

it for himself?

B. G. White of Jackson-

ville, Florida wasn’t eaves-

dropping but was glad she

heard what she heard. It was

mid October, and the trees along the Blue Ridge Parkway

were ablaze with color. At an overlook where all this could be

appreciated, she stood next to a woman who was showing the

view to her elderly mother.

“Isn’t it wonderful of God to take something just before it

dies and make it so beautiful?” the daughter said as she gazed

at the fallen leaves. “Wouldn’t it be nice,” the mother mused,

“if He did that with people?” The younger woman looked at

the stooped, white-haired figure beside her and said so softly

that she thought no one else heard:

“Sometimes He does.”

I know that civilized societies and countries are held to-

gether by governments that seek the welfare of the

law-abiding majority. I know thatand I’m grateful for it. I also

know that society is blessed by devoted schoolteachers,

conscientious social workers, just judges, and ethical lawyers.

I’ve seen what passionate men and women can do for societ-

ies when they embody noble principles in the centers of

power. And only a fool can dismiss as nothing the thousands

of community organizations in the cities and towns of the

world that cater to the emotional and physical needs of count-

less unfortunate people. But all these beautiful men and

women had mothers and

grandmothers (or those who

stood in the place of mothers

and grandmothers) who helped

to shape their characters. For

good or evil, it’s people who

change people—and there are

no people who change people

more than mothers and grand-

mothers!

One little boy put it very

well when asked what a grand-

mother was. He said: “A

grandmother is a lady who has

no children of her own, so she

loves everybody else’s.

Grandmas don’t have any-

thing to do except be there. If

they take you for a walk, they

slow down pastleaves and cat-

erpillars. They never say

‘hurry up.’ Usually they’re fat, but not too fat to tie your

shoes. They wear glasses, and sometimes they can take their

teeth out. They can answer questions like why dogs hate cats

and why God isn’t married. When they read to you, they

don’t skip words or mind if it’s the same story again.

(Continued on page 3)

Woman to Woman

Vol. 3, No. 6

“And ye are complete in him.” Colossians 2:10

Nov./Dec. 2000

Our Mission Statement: Believing that we can find

completeness in all areas of our lives only “in him, who

is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians

2:10), it is the mission of Hearth to Hearth to provide a

forum for Christian women to reach out to each other in

friendship, with joy and hope; and to encourage each

other to find our completeness in Christ as we sojourn

here on our way to the kingdom.

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