Today has been a good day. Breakfast with my grandparents and a bunch of their posse. :) I got called out a lot today for some reason by random people...they said I was "out of place"....what? Because I'm too young to be with the "Jack's Gang"? Goodness...haha
Not only was it great to hang with some awesome older people, BUT I saw another friend of mine who was doing the same thing with her kids and her father-in-law. :) Breakfast with grandparents is just fun :) Coffee and quality time with a pretty cool generation of people who actually have some pretty great things to tell us about....maybe our generation should stuff in a biscuit and just listen to the fun they can tell us all about :)
Then....later, I ran my errands and had lunch with one of my great friends that I only met a few years ago. I love it :) God gives me built in friends that have known me since my birth (aka my Grandparents) and NEW friends...like some that I've just met since I've been in Florence. God is good. I realize this without a doubt :)
So honestly, it's interesting how much VALUE every person on this earth really has. From grandparents to parents to siblings to extended family and to people we meet who we come to LOVE as MUCH as family...our friends. They all give so much to us if we just open up to WHO they are.
The other day I went to visit my other grandmother who isn't at a restaurant for breakfast on Friday morning with friends.My grandmother, who sadly lost her husband, my Granddaddy, earlier this year. My grandmother, who has Alzheimer's, and honestly, can't remember me anymore I don't think. I got to visit her at a place that specializes in Memory Care. It was an experience. I walked into a room full of dining tables and chairs with older people sitting all around them, not saying too much at all. They all have either Dementia or Alzheimer's. Some worse than others. Nana seems to have it on a pretty bad level compared to most. They ate some delicious food: fruit, chickin, green beans, and CHOCOLATE CAKE :) Nana didn't eat anything really, but mom and dad sure enjoyed some of it ;) ha. Anyway, God was there...even as I looked around a room full of people who struggle with REMEMBERING...God is still in them. It was pretty sad for me to SEE this though. But then, I look over and a group of 5 ladies and my daddy starting to sing some hymns....SINGING line by line...HYMNS....by what?...by MEMORY???
God is good.
It hit me that if my generation ends up in a place like this...will we even know church hymns? Would we even know the same songs? Be able to sing TOGETHER? I dunno... Nevertheless, THIS group sounded beautiful...I cried a little... but hey, its hard not to cry when you SEE God.
So to end this LONG post...I sat with Nana for awhile as the others continued singing and my mama and Daddy were just great helping sing along with them..they started a whole circle full of Memory Care patients singing gratefully to a God who loves them so much.
But Nana just sat in her chair at the dinner table. I watched them singing over in a corner. I looked at Nana. She wasn't singing. BUT. She had her head leaned back...with a slight smile on her face. She had her eyes closed. She looked at peace. God is good. My Nana who I used to play some hardcore Scrabble with...shoot basketball with outside...and just confide in anytime I needed, was sitting beside me, saying nothing at all, BUT in peace and listening to people singing to a Great and Awesome God.
I'm blessed to have 2 grandparents who are still decently healthy. I've had one grandfather who is already WITH God, and one grandmother, Nana, whose life is relying on daily PEACE with God. I have a great family..period. AND... great FRIENDS-still expanding! So, to see the value of each person individually, if I open myself up to letting God SHOW me, I can see how great He created PEOPLE to be.
-danielle
