Experience as a Guide

She was raised in an area of Estill County, Kentucky, called Patsy.  Though she left Patsy by her teen years, her mountain-girl ways stayed deeply ingrained in her spirit. Her mountain heritage and determination never left her.  She married and had two children.  She became a widow when her oldest was two and her second child was yet unborn.  Faced with a limited education, few employable skills, and two young children, she faced an uncertain future.  Her brothers and sisters wanted to separate the children and take them to rear as a way to ease her load.  Problem was, you don’t tell a girl raised in the hills of Eastern Kentucky that she can’t do something.  One skill she had was sewing and that skill would become her means of caring for herself and her two children.  She would later remarry and divorce from an alcoholic husband.  On her own again, she keep her determination, provided for her children, and kept on sewing.  Her children eventually married and gave her five grandchildren, each of who affectionately called her Granny. 

Each of the grandchildren would spend time with Granny as she did alterations for a local men’s store in Winchester, Kentucky.  She would let them cut pieces of leftover cloth and sew little pieces together on an old pump sewing machine.  She would always give them some money to run down to the five and dime store for candy or ice cream.  Anytime one of them stayed with her, they were assured of some special spoiling.  She was like a second mother to each of them.  She loved them dearly but wasn’t hesitant on giving her opinion on something they did.  However, no one outside of the family better say anything negative about any of them.  They might get an ear full. 

She spent the later years of her life living with her daughter’s family.  She died in 1993 at the age of 90.  Everyone in the family swore she would outlive everyone.  Like all funerals, stories of her life were shared.  Stories of her occasional slips of the profane tongue, her countless hours doing alterations for her family, her do or die determination that carried her throughout life.  Everyone in the family knew their lives had been greatly impacted and made easier by the little girl from Patsy.

The little girl from Patsy was my mother’s mother, my grandmother.  From my earliest memories, she was always present.  I cannot count the hours I spent under her feet listening to her stories of her father and her life in Patsy along with the hard times when my mother was little and Granny’s efforts just trying to live.  By the time I was 16, she came to live with us permanently.  At that time, I didn’t realize what those years would mean to my life and ministry.

In an age where youth is esteemed and old age treated with scorn, young people cannot relate to the wisdom of age.  My grandmother’s impact on my life has helped me to always be comfortable around and sharing with those in the latter years of their lives.  I knew from an early age to value life experience and the wisdom of those who have lived a lot longer than I have.  As I reflect on my life and the determination I have to overcome, I know where I got it.  I observed it in my mother, who saw it in her mother.

This week I will begin a series of sermons on “Becoming a Courageous Family.”  I want to begin this series by helping us to see the importance of “Experience as a Guide” by sharing the importance of the wisdom of the aged to help us succeed in our families today.

Hope to see you there,
Pastor Jeff