Showing posts with label grandpa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grandpa. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Glasses

Had another painful day. I forgot what it feels like to hurt all day long! Need to head to bed, and pray that tomorrow will be better.  Night dear friends!

The Glasses
Mother's father worked as a carpenter.  On this particular day, he was building some crates for
the clothes his church was sending to some orphanage in China.  On his way home, he
reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone.  When he mentally replayed
his earlier actions, he realized what happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed
and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut.  His brand new glasses were heading for China!
The Great Depression was at it's height and Grandpa had six children.  He had spent $20 for those glasses
that very morning.  He was upset by the thought of having to buy another pair.  "It's not fair," he told God
as he drove home in frustration.  "I've been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and
now this."
Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States.  He wanted to
visit all the churches that supported him in China, so he came to speak one Sunday at my grandfather's
small church in Chicago.  The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting
the orphanage.  "But most of all," he said, "I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year.  You
see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my
glasses.  I was desperate.  Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses.
Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were
much in prayer about this.  Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair
of glasses lying on top.
The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in.  Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all,
he continued: "Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just
for me!  I want to thank you for being a part of that."
The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their
church with another, they thought.  There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas.
But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the
Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.
I found the story here:
and I got the photo from here:

"Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you're going to live your life."   ~Joel Osteen

"A good thing to remember is somebody's got it a lot worse than we do."   ~
Joel Osteen


Monday, August 29, 2011

The Grandma Test

This was a cute story that my friend sent me today, so I thought I would pass it on...for the sole purpose of making your smile!  Of course, I didn't show it to Jeff! :)
Good night dear friends!

GRANDMAS ARE SMART
I was out walking with my Grandson. He picked up something off of the ground and started to put it in his mouth. I took the item away from him and I asked him not to do that.

"Why?" my Grandson asked.

"Because it's been on the ground; you don't know where it's been, it's dirty, and probably has germs, and sometimes germs make little boys sick and not feel good" I replied.

At this point, my Grandson looked at me with total admiration and asked, "Grandma, how do you know all this stuff?? You are so smart."

I was thinking quickly and said to him. "All Grandmas know stuff. It's on the Grandma Test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Grandma."

We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but he was evidently pondering this new information.

"Oh....I get it! He beamed, So if you don't pass the test you have to be the Grandpa."

"Exactly," I replied with a big smile on my face.

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"Becoming a grandmother is wonderful.  One moment you're just a mother.  The next you are all-wise and prehistoric."  ~Pam Brown

"If becoming a grandmother was only a matter of choice, I should advise every one of you straight away to become one.  There is no fun for old people like it!"  ~Hannah Whithall Smith

"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother."  ~Proverb

Sunday, June 7, 2009

The red balloon!

Today is Saturday, and all day I have been very tired. Maybe that big day at the hospital was more than I should have tried? I really felt right about it though, some days are like that...I just have to pay quite a few days when I do something that big. I spent the morning with Amy, it was fun being with her again. I had missed being with the kids while I was gone. We went shopping for material for the baby's room (Jenny's room). Actually she and Angie will have to share, but still we need to get her bedding and blankets made. Afterwards I had to come home and go to bed for a couple of hours and then Amy and I started helping Lauren get ready for Prom. She and a bunch of friends are all going together this year. It is hard to imagine that she will be graduating this week.

It doesn't seem that long ago that Lauren was the fired up little toddler, who could never stop from getting into trouble. Oh I worried how I was going to raise such a tough little spirit and look at her now. She is all grown up and beautiful on the inside and the out. She knows who she is and has a 1000 dreams and plans for the future.

I missed my mom today and our family who is out of town. It is always during these SPECIAL MOMENTS in your life that you want family and friends to be there to share them with. Brad and Krystal are in Idaho going to school and the rest of our family is spread out. Mom, has been gone for almost 9 years now. I remember how funny and crazy she thought Lauren was, wouldn't she love to see her now? I hope she can. I truly feel like she isn't that far away. When she first passed away, I continued to email her every day. I know that sounds crazy but it was very therapeutic. I am not sure why I stopped?

So tonight, I guess maybe because I don't feel very well or ...just because I am missing my family right now... that I would like to share with you a sweet story that I found. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Good night

BENNY'S BALLOON

BENNY WAS SEVENTY WHEN HE DIED RATHER SUDDENLY OF CANCER IN WILMETTE, ILLINOIS. BECAUSE HIS TEN-YEAR-OLD GRANDDAUGHTER NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO SAY GOOD-BYE, SHE CRIED FOR DAYS. BUT AFTER RECEIVING A BIG RED BALLOON AT A BIRTHDAY PARTY, SHE CAME HOME WITH AN IDEA---A LETTER TO GRANDPA BENNY, AIR-MAILED TO HEAVEN IN HER BALLOON.

RACHEL'S MOTHER DIDN'T HAVE THE HEART TO SAY NO, AND SHE WATCHED WITH TEARS IN HER EYES AS THE FRAGILE BALLOON BUMPED ITS WAY OVER THE TREES THAT LINED THE YARD AND DISAPPEARED.

TWO MONTHS LATER, RACHEL RECEIVED THIS LETTER POSTMARKED FROM A TOWN SIX HUNDRED MILES AWAY IN PENNSYLVANIA:

DEAR RACHEL,

YOUR LETTER TO GRANDPA BENNY REACHED HIM. HE REALLY APPRECIATED IT. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT MATERIAL THINGS CAN'T BE KEPT IN HEAVEN, SO THEY HAD TO SEND THE BALLOON BACKT TO EARTH--THEY JSUT KEEP THOUGHTS, MEMORIES, LOVE AND THINGS LIKE THAT IN HEAVEN.

RACHEL, WHENEVER YOU THINK ABOUT GRANDPA BENNY, HE KNOWS, AND IS VERY CLOSE BY WITH OVERWHELMING LOVE FOR YOU.

SINCERELY, BOB ANDERSON (ALSO A GRANDPA)

~Michael Cody

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." ~ Henry David Throreau

"Mourning is not the end of the relationship.
Our love for them does not die with them."