My granddad was the strongest man that ever lived and he loved me. I loved him too. I loved everything about him, his Italian accent, the way he could grow garlic in the garden and the way he said my name "Sadah."
It made me so sad when he had a stroke. After his stroke he couldn't walk anymore so I would sit by his wheelchair and keep him company. He would tell me stories of his childhood, what it was like to grow up in Italy. He told me about tending to sheep. Though he was confined to a wheelchair through his stories we traveled back to days of his youth.
Granddad never got tired of hearing me read the gospels. He would say,"Sadah, I lika all the Bible but read to me again about Jesus." My granddad was a strong independent man and it was hard for him when he loss the use of his legs. One day I found a picture in his house of Jesus holding a lamb. "Granddad, when you were younger you were like the sheep in this picture who are running all over the field. But now your like the lamb that Jesus carries." From then on Granddad kept that picture where he could see it.
Granddad gave me a special gift. Every night as I would climb the stairs to go to bed he would call out, "Sadah, Goda blessa youra good heart!" It's been many years since I was a young girl climbing those stairs. In fact I am now have grandchildren of my own but sometimes as I'm falling asleep I can still hear my granddad calling out his blessing.
Lord Jesus, thank You for the blessings You have placed in my life.
Isn't it a blessing that He designed families the way he did? I'm so grateful for the four grand parents (intentionally separated that word for emphasis) that He gave me. Each of them has been livng examples of different attributes of Christ throughout my life. I'm just so glad that my children have you as their grandmother. Someday I hope they will honor you the way that you have honored yours.
ReplyDelete