Sunday, August 17, 2008

Over the River and Through the Woods...


Tomorrow we will go to be a part of celebrating Grandma Charlotte's life. We will spend Monday night and Tuesday in Georgetown (Danville area), IL. We remember Grandma Charlotte tonight and think about the things she loved. She made great lemonade. She loved doing crafts. We think about the odd little treasures you could find in her house and in the barns. She would recount stories of making meals for the hired hands that worked on the farm. Her house is filled with antiques. She could remember where each one came from and the story about it.
Jason began telling me tonight about how Grandma's farm seemed to be such a place of strength when he was a child. There were new tractors and big well-cared for barns. Reflecting on how through the years things would begin to deteriorate, the tractors were sold and now the loss of Grandma, we are reminded of the brevity of life. If our lives don't count for Jesus Christ and His Kingdom, our time on this earth is empty and our strivings are in vain. This challenges me to continually be placing my time, my family and my choices before my Father God for his guidance and his approval.
One last story...when I told Lynnea about Grandma Charlotte, she asked me, "so Mommy, will this weekend just be a sad weekend?" I told her that if she felt sad or if Daddy did, we could talk about it, but not everything had to be sad. She responded, "but Mommy can we have a party or celebration or something?" When I asked what she meant, she said, "Grandma is in heaven now! We should celebrate that!"

5 comments:

Detroit said...

Lynnea had it right! So beautiful. I pray that despite the sadness of losing such a dear one we truly can celebrate! Love you

Brittany said...

That last picture had me totally cracking up! It exudes her personality soooo well!

The 4 H. kids have me laughing as well. How fun!

It was good to see you tonight. Jill can help you find my blog, if you're ever interested in it.

I'm sorry for your families loss. I've known Charlotte since about Jr. High. She and I worked together a few times at the Miller's and I always enjoyed her company. What a great woman of God!

Brittany said...

Ok, because lousy grammar bothers me, that should read "family's" in the above comment. I need sleep...

....t said...

i cannot remember Grandma Char wearing her hair like that. She looks about 25yrs old....t

jillybean said...

okay, so it's taken me a while to read this. Greg just asked me last night if I had seen it and I was reminded to check it out. Such a good post and so true. That's a "great" picture of us with her. When you mentioned it the other day, I couldn't remember which one you might have used. John and Bob are the best in this picture! :)