Remembering my Gram on her birthday...

Last week as I approached my parent’s house a brilliant orange caught my eye. The two azalea bushes were in full bloom and their color was breath taking, to say the least. The sun was shining and after thanking God for the beauty I knew another blog had been birthed in my head. Before walking out back to snap a few photographs I went in and said hello to my parents and daughter. The first question asked was not “How was school?” but “Did you see Gram’s azalea bush out back? It is beautiful!” I had to laugh since I had only come in the house to be polite and was itching to get outside to capture its beauty to share with you. After sharing this with my parents I started to walk out the door when Dad insisted on driving me. So with my Daddy and camera, I was off.

While venturing out back and during the azalea bush’s first photo shoot Dad shared his memories of digging the azalea bush out at my Gram’s house and transplanting it to their property. With the azalea tired from smiling in the Sonlight, Dad and I rode back to the house and continued the trip down memory lane with Mom. It was my wise mother’s idea to incorporate Gram’s birthday into the azalea blog. The creative genius in my mother is an added inspiration and supplement for my original plans. Thanks Mom!

I grew up with my Gram as my next door neighbor. My grandfather passed when I was in third grade but Gram was never alone. My Aunt Nancy lived with her 24/7 yet the rest of us were there the majority of our daylight hours. Gram didn’t have rules and the cupboards and fridge were full of the foods we weren’t typically served at home. It was great. During the summer we would spend countless hours swimming in the pool and sitting on the front porch listening to Gram tell about her life and how things had changed. I’ve always cherished the time spent with my family and I continue to thank God for each of them and the memories forever etched on my heart and mind. Gram’s house was the hub for family celebrations ~ whether it were Sunday supper or a birthday party. Everyone gathered for fun, fellowship and food. Everyone left with cheeks sore from laughing and bellies busting the buttons on one’s pants off. Life was and is good!

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Just like the azalea was uprooted and transplanted, we have the opportunity to be "uprooted" and "transplanted" through our acceptance of Jesus as our Savior. Life is a gift and each child is a gift to their parents - our parents raise us with morals and ethics with faith and strength and then as get older we have a choice to make. Will be trust in Jesus and let the roots nurtured by our parents flourish? Or will we grow out of control, weakening our beauty only to eventually stop blossoming? The choice is ours. I'm thankful for generations of family who are both faithful to each other and God. A priceless and precious gift.
 Psalm 100 NIV - A psalm. For giving grateful praise.  
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 
 Worship the LORD with gladness;
   come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
   It is he who made us, and we are his
   we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving
   and his courts with praise;
   give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
   his faithfulness continues through all generations.

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I’m blessed with wonderful parents who are even better grandparents. During the school year they invest time and wisdom in my daughter, having warm snacks ready and activities planned for her when she gets off the bus each day. Two generations blessed with great grandparents, I pray to be half the grandmother my Mom is to Mary and my Gram was to me. Thankfully these are shoes I won’t need to where for a decade or more, Lord willing. Happy Birthday Gram! You've left a legacy of love, faith and hope...

Be sure to read tomorrow’s blog to see how nature is a true gift from God with the red bud and azalea returning for another debut. A new and vibrant perspective revealed.

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Ephesians 3:16 - 18
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen
you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,
 to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ...