“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” (Prov 31:30-31)

My Grandma Rena was the glue that held our family together. She faced numerous hardships growing up and even after she married. When she was a child, one of her brothers died when he had a seizure and fell into a puddle of water and drowned. Her mother died when she was only 16, and her older sister Lillian, who was already married, finished raising her.

She met my grandpa when they were both kids picking cotton. I heard their story for the first time when I was probably about ten or eleven years old. I had to write a story about someone in my family, and I wanted to write about my grandparents. I can still remember their laughter as my grandma described meeting my grandpa when she was only eight years old and his response: “At that time, I thought she was the ugliest girl I had ever seen!”

By the time I came along in the late 1970s, my grandma had raised six kids (five boys and a girl – my mom) and helped raise a bunch of grandkids, too. My brother and I and one of my cousins were the youngest of all the grandkids – and there were a lot of us. Most of my cousins were a little older than me, so I grew up with their kids and spent countless hours with them at their grandparents’ house, who were my aunt and uncle. We would sometimes meet at my grandparents’ house (their great-grandparents) to play. Confused yet? I thought all families were this way, but as I got older, I discovered that’s not the case. It made for an interesting dynamic.

My grandma wasn’t in very good health when I was young, but after a heart attack and bypass surgery when she was 73, she changed her entire way of life. She began to cook without salt, she baked everything, and she walked all over town. But we grandkids knew we could still find fresh-baked cookies at Grandma’s house. When she made her famous pound cake, she somehow resisted eating it. She believed that she’d been given another chance at life, and she wasn’t going back to her old habits to mess it up.

She was one of the strongest, wisest women I have ever known. She taught my grandpa how to read soon after they were married. She thought for herself and taught me to do the same. She loved to laugh, and we spent countless hours playing games and watching TV. I lost count of the number of times we watched the movie Pure Country. Grandma loved George Strait, and I fell in love with Kyle Chandler. I still watch everything that man is in.

Whenever I faced problems of any kind, she would quote Scripture to help guide my path. She encouraged me to be myself and not to do things just because my friends did them. She taught me to study the Bible to discover God’s truth and not to take someone else’s word for it. She showed me the importance of having my own, personal relationship with Jesus.

She would have been 99 years old on September 1 if she were still alive today. She lived to be 85, and though I miss her every day, I’m so glad that I got to spend the first 26 years of my life with her. I’m thankful for the example she set and that my mom and her siblings continue to live out that example.

Dear Jesus, thank you for my grandma and so many wonderful memories of her. She provided a living example of your love for much of my life. Help me to live as an example of you to others just as she did. Amen.