Saturday, December 5, 2009

LESS MEANS SO MUCH MORE!
















Today as I looked at myself in the mirror getting ready for a long


trip home, I thought so much of my grandmother who made so much of an impression on my life.

I am now beyond the years that she had here on the earth and it is so hard to believe the years that went by so fast.


During my grandmother’s short time on this earth, she made such an impact on my life, and I wish so much that my children could have known her. I am so glad that I carry part of her name (Isabelle). I lost her due to cancer when she was only 61 years old and I was 15 years old. I miss her so much still, and do realize that most of what I have become in life was due to her spending quality time with me and teaching me so many things about the Lord. Her dying words were even a blessing spoken over my life. She didn’t teach the Word as much as she lived it before my very eyes, and that is what my desire has been! I want my grandchildren to say that about me one day.


The sayings that I love to use on my website is “Take Time To Smell The Roses”, and “When Life Gives You Scraps, Just Make A Quilt” came really from her lifestyle. I remember as a child, seeing her stop her busy days to sit down and play with my brothers and I. My mother worked all the time or was too busy, so we spent more time with my grandmother. We looked so forward to summers to go stay at Grandma’s house.


It seems like mothers just don’t HAVE time as much as they should, but grandma’s just go ahead and TAKE the time! I am so glad she did because I still remember the things she said to me, like “Lillian remember you might be the only Bible someone will ever read, so study it well, and live it, so your life can be the book they read” or “When you are not sure what to do in life, just ask yourself WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? then you will get your answer”.


Living on the low income that we had, I did not get to go to stores to buy my clothes. I remember watching her take the beautiful floral sacks that flour came in and sewing and making me some beautiful skirts and blouses to wear to school. I thought I was a queen when I was in 4th grade with my beautiful clothes. I had no idea that was the poor mans way of life! I also saw her take my worn out dresses etc, and put them together to make a quilt or use the scraps from her sewing my clothes.


Today, I wish I had some of those quilts. They would be so valuable! I do have one she made me personally when I was 14 years old. I watched her carefully hand quilt it from a quilting frame hanging from the celing. I cherish that quilt so much.


The lessons she taught me in life help me thrive through years as a homemaker. I wanted to be able to stay home with my girls and give them some quality time and not have to work like my mom did. I made their clothes, made our bedspreads and curtains and anything else I could sew mainly out of scraps that people gave me. I also made every shower gift, or Christmas gift that I ever gave. I loved creating things so much with my hands and see the “scraps in life become something valuable”.


I also sat down and taught my girls all the Bible stories and tried so very hard to live the Word of God. When we are young we just don’t have all the time or wisdom as we have as we get older. I did try so hard to be the best mother that I could be, but of course we always wish we could relive some things in life.


Yes we do fail in life, but maybe that is why God gives us grandchildren to give us a second chance. Since I was such a young grandmother in my 30’s when my first grandsons were young, I don’t know if I got to lay enough groundwork down for them to remember me in years to come as I do my grandmother. But hopefully with my 2 granddaughters and now the 2 youngest grandsons, I can leave an impression on them so when they are my age they can say too “I remember what my Mammaw Lillian taught me”! I want that to be mainly the WORD OF GOD!


I find these days that people don’t really cherish the simple things and the scraps in life like they should. I even see from my website that people don’t even really value handmade items much at all. I guess it is because we have grown so spoiled in America from all the plenty that we have even to the point of excess. That excess brings even more stuff in our life that brings more stress. Then we cry “I need a break and I need more time.” That is a shame too because it is really the “Less that mean More” in our life!! I have to remind myself of these things often. We will never HAVE enough time ever! We have to TAKE THE TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES! and get rid of the weeds that try to choke out that time in the rose garden!


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