A Legacy of Faithfulness

When my sisters and I were growing up, Daddy told us stories about my Grandmother, Anna Verona. I hung on every word, because the more I learned of her, the more I appreciated the legacy of faithfulness she left behind.

Like, when my dad was a young boy, he and his brothers started arguing about who would haul up the coal from the basement: “It’s your turn,” the oldest insisted; “no, it’s yours,” the other punched back. Daddy told me later that while they fought, their thin, frail mother quietly carried the full bucket of coal up the steep stairs on her own. (In doing that, she taught them service.) Then, when my father was a teenager, he came home late from work, and found his mother sitting by the pot-belly stove reading her Bible. (In that, she taught my dad the value of spending time in God’s Word.) On another occasion, when he came home from a church outing, he found his mother in her chair, praying for him. (In that, she taught him the value of prayer.) 

I never met my grandmother – she died in 1928. But I can see Deuteronomy 6:6-7 written all over her life. The passage says, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” 

Friends, it’s Grandparents Day! Thank God today for the older generation He has placed in your life – and if your grandparents are still in your life, find a way to give them honor today (especially if, like Anna Verona, they are a godly example to you and others)!