Day 12 of Prison Break of Thoughts – 31 Days of Inner Release

My grandmother knew.  She gave me a beautiful gold pendant of praying hands when I was young.  She left me her Bible when she died.  The same Bible that I hardly used until I was in hospital at age 32.  Then it went with me everywhere, even though the words were blurry and I could not read them then.

She knew that I would be the one to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.  She must have been praying for me a lot.  She probably knew I would end up writing.  I used to write letters to her, as she lived in Canada and I was in Barbados.  I remember as children we would visit over the Christmas holidays.  There was a play room in the basement which we loved, toys there that we never had at home, and everywhere carpeting, cozy.   And there was another room also, Grandad’s Hobby Room and we could never enter. Grandad collected stamps, created beautiful woollen rugs, did the hardest jigsaw puzzles and I can’t remember what else.  He was gifted in many ways.  We were afraid of him sometimes, very tall, straight backed, strict, but kindly and he liked a good laugh.  He and Grannie took us on a trip to Disney World when I was 8, driving all the way from Canada.  When Grandad was diagnosed with bone cancer, and it went into remission for many years, they took the opportunity to travel extensively, overcoming his fear of flying in the process. Grannie must have been praying through that time too.

Christmas in Canada at our grandparents house when we were little was full of excitement.  There would be a huge decorated box that contained the gifts and when we were all dressed in our Christmas frocks, we would get to pull our gifts out of the box in the beautiful drawing room that was only used on very special occasions.   I remember there was music too, but I don’t remember from what source.  We would have delicious meals at the long kitchen table, with the adults in the drawing room behind us.  Our uncle, who lived with them, would ensure we only used our own glass, and they had our initials on them.  We shared the television with him, his ball games and our cartoons, and were thrilled with the extra channels – at home there was only one channel.  It would take a very long time to get each of us dressed in our outdoor gear, to go in the snow and play.  We never stayed out long, but how I loved the snow.  So white and soft and silent, I would lie in it and make snow angels.

I will be a praying grannie too one day.  I can’t wait!  I hope they will have some vivid memories too as I did, unexpected jolts to times long past, taking us back to the simplest of family times.  My main prayer is that my children, grands and beyond will know and experience God’s love and faithfulness.  It is readily available to all.

Today is Day 12 of the series Prison Break of Thoughts – 31 days of Inner Release that I am writing for #write31days challenge.