What a busy week it's been; but oh so fun! On Monday my Grama Lou arrived from PA. This is her "Grama trip." She left last Friday from Pittsburgh and traveled to my cousin, Jen's, in Lexington, KY. She spent the weekend with her and then came to my house for a few days. Grama Lou won't fly....therefore; her mode of transportation (unless Grandpa is driving) is Greyhound or Amtrak. Well, since Nashville doesn't have an Amtrak station, she traveled this part of her trip via Greyhound. I don't know how she does it! I absolutely don't have the patience for anything like that--for sure! She'll agree and freely states, "It's not for everyone." Luckily Grama Lou is so happy and laid-back whatever the circumstances. This is how she manages to roll-with-the-punches with all the constant traveling set-backs you're offered with Greyhound. Her bus was supposed to arrive at 3:40pm Monday. She was coming from Lexington, KY to Nashville, TN via Cincinnati, OH, Louisville, KY, Elizabethtown, KY, Bowling Green, KY and then finally to Nashville! She arrived at the bus station in Lexington at 8am to discover that her bus was going to leave 1.5 hours late--already behind schedule and she hadn't even left the first station! So by the time she arrived in Louisville, a whole 77 miles west of Lexington, it'd taken 9 hours! (They had a three hour lay-over in Cincinnati!) Oh the joys of traveling by bus! Definitely NOT for everyone! I assure you my patience would've been spent when I'd found out at the first station that the bus wasn't leaving for an extra 1.5 hours. Grama Lou though, being the sweet-spirit that she is, just laughs it off and gets out her knitting. Oh what a patient heart. I'd love to be more like her. Needless to say, her bus did not arrive "on time" to Nashville. She arrived about 8pm. But that's ok; we didn't waste any time catching up! I love how despite the geographical distance between all of my family members, we constantly stay connected with our cell phones, text messaging and of course e-mail. The joys of technology just totally fascinate me! But oh, please don't let there be a problem with any one of these savvy things! I definitely come unglued when that happens. I can't figure those things out. Just PLEASE let them all work the way they're supposed to. :-)
Late nights chatting, reminiscing, laughing, watching "Crook" on tv, going out to eat, and just simply hanging out in our pj's half the day is such a treat! I introduced my Grama Lou to Angie's blog, Bring the Rain, and got her all caught up on her story and also Nicol and Greg's story. I even had the honor of introducing her to BETH MOORE! I have a DVD of Beth’s lesson on “Biblical Happiness” from the 2007 Women of Faith pre-conference from Denver, CO. ("There is a scriptural premise for being happy; Beth digs deep into the Word to show that happiness may be circumstantial, but it is not bound by any circumstance.") For all of you who are familiar with Beth Moore’s amazing gift of Christian teaching, you know how exciting and passionate she is about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My Grama just loved her! Of course, it’s rare to find someone who doesn’t really appreciate Beth’s gift of teaching God’s Word. But what a treat to worship our Heavenly Father together with my sweet Grama Lou in the comfort of my living room!
I just started the Beth Moore Stepping Up Bible study this week too. So Grama and I worked together on one of my homework assignments. It’s such a treat for me to share my faith with my grandmother. She’s always been such a godly woman to me. She taught me the “Lord’s Prayer” when I was very young. It was my first formal prayer to learn. She also taught me the “Hail Mary” prayer too. Although I’m not Catholic, I’ve always admired her commitment to her Catholic faith. I was baptized and raised Methodist, following my Mom’s example. She was raised Methodist too. (I’ll tell more about my faith beginnings in another blog.)
My Grama Lou has such a heart of gold--such a giving heart. She selflessly gives of her time, money, and energy to several charities. One of her biggest projects is Gifts for the Unborn that she and her brother began several years ago. Together with the help of lots of supporters across the country, they assimilate baby gift packages that include hand-made baby booties, baby shampoo, powder, and lotion. These are distributed to Women's Crisis Centers all over the world! Yes, even internationally! They began this ministry shortly after their mother passed away. To this day, it continues to grow. What amazing stewards of Christ to share their love, time and energy trying to help woman choose life over an abortion. These small gifts are just tangible items to help these women realize that the life they are carrying has worth--that they matter. I'm sure we'll never know this side of heaven how many lives have been saved by the generosity of my Grama Lou and her brother, my Great Uncle Rich, and their teams of workers who faithfully continue to knit and crochet baby booties for these precious babies--gifts from God. But God surely knows! My great Grandfather, Grama Lou's Dad, and his wife, Nora are also instrumental in sewing these baby booties together for the gift packages. My great Grandpa, Doc, will be 105 years old on October 14, 2008! What a blessing in our lives he is!! Even in his old age, he gives of himself to sew these baby booties together for all of these babies around the world. The breadth and depth of their ministry amazes me. My Grama's charities are only just beginning...she also quilts for children who are hospitalized. This charity is called Project Linus. She's been making these quilts for years. Another thing she does is knits helmet liners for our troops at war in Iraq.
I just started the Beth Moore Stepping Up Bible study this week too. So Grama and I worked together on one of my homework assignments. It’s such a treat for me to share my faith with my grandmother. She’s always been such a godly woman to me. She taught me the “Lord’s Prayer” when I was very young. It was my first formal prayer to learn. She also taught me the “Hail Mary” prayer too. Although I’m not Catholic, I’ve always admired her commitment to her Catholic faith. I was baptized and raised Methodist, following my Mom’s example. She was raised Methodist too. (I’ll tell more about my faith beginnings in another blog.)
My Grama Lou has such a heart of gold--such a giving heart. She selflessly gives of her time, money, and energy to several charities. One of her biggest projects is Gifts for the Unborn that she and her brother began several years ago. Together with the help of lots of supporters across the country, they assimilate baby gift packages that include hand-made baby booties, baby shampoo, powder, and lotion. These are distributed to Women's Crisis Centers all over the world! Yes, even internationally! They began this ministry shortly after their mother passed away. To this day, it continues to grow. What amazing stewards of Christ to share their love, time and energy trying to help woman choose life over an abortion. These small gifts are just tangible items to help these women realize that the life they are carrying has worth--that they matter. I'm sure we'll never know this side of heaven how many lives have been saved by the generosity of my Grama Lou and her brother, my Great Uncle Rich, and their teams of workers who faithfully continue to knit and crochet baby booties for these precious babies--gifts from God. But God surely knows! My great Grandfather, Grama Lou's Dad, and his wife, Nora are also instrumental in sewing these baby booties together for the gift packages. My great Grandpa, Doc, will be 105 years old on October 14, 2008! What a blessing in our lives he is!! Even in his old age, he gives of himself to sew these baby booties together for all of these babies around the world. The breadth and depth of their ministry amazes me. My Grama's charities are only just beginning...she also quilts for children who are hospitalized. This charity is called Project Linus. She's been making these quilts for years. Another thing she does is knits helmet liners for our troops at war in Iraq.
Many years ago, my Grama Lou was diagnosed with macular degeneration. This diagnosis was devastating to her given the need of her vision to perform the necessary focused work to knit, quilt, and crochet all the things she does for others through these various charities. When she was diagnosed, she began taking Occudyne (ocular vitamins) everyday. Macular degeneration is a debilitating disease that eventually robs its victims of their central vision. How could she continue to work so diligently with all of her charities if she couldn't see? She prayed earnestly for healing and took her vitamins faithfully. This condition is normally irreversible; however, my Grama was completely healed!! She continued to go to the eye doctor for regular check-ups and eventually he told her that there was no longer ANY evidence of macular degeneration--AT ALL! PRAISE THE LORD!
I have so many fond memories of times shared with my Grama Lou! I'm blessed beyond measure to have had so much time with her and so many in my family. I'll never forget the late-night hours we always see together when we're visiting so as to fully maximize our time together, and the stories upon stories that we can go on and on over. I believe I get my "gift" of story-telling from my Grama Lou! :-)
One of my favorite desserts is bread pudding from Famous Dave's BBQ. While Grama and I were listening to Beth Moore's study on DVD, Gary so thoughtfully went to pick up some bread pudding for us to share together! The above picture is of Grama and I digging in and her trying this decadent dessert. She agreed that it's definitely a dessert to remember! Don't worry, we shared it with Gary too!
Grama Lou and I had a wonderful time together! I will always remember the many times she's come to visit me and how often my sisters and I were able to visit our grandparents (both sets) in PA while we were growing up. As adults we continue to make the journey back-and-forth to PA to visit our family "up north." Those times are always so much fun and so relaxing. The special times we've all shared together and the many, many beautiful memories we've made together will always be cherished. I hope that all of you reading also have many fond memories with your loved ones that will always hold a special place in your hearts. Life is short--enjoy the times with your loved ones while you can!
Blessings,
Dawna
Hope you enjoyed the links within the text to various websites and also the pictures. I'm still learning how to do all this neat stuff!!
Hope you enjoyed the links within the text to various websites and also the pictures. I'm still learning how to do all this neat stuff!!
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