This is my third post on this topic. After lamenting the impersonal nature of many posts I decided to tell my readers some of my stories. The stories that filled my childhood and the stories of experiences that shaped my life. I'm hoping you will also relate some of your stories!
The first couple of stories are about my grandmother. Here are the earlier posts.
My grandmother, born in 1903, was widowed with seven young children to raise. In my previous post, I told the story of her conversion and the utter devotion to Jesus that developed from there. Her prayer life was the stuff of legend, even to this day in our family.
She was a strict mother who nevertheless created a home where all her children's friends were welcome. Her home was a home for many, especially Sundays after church.
One day she heard that her new neighbour had been gossiping about her social life implying that she was entertaining male visitors in an improper way. This upset my grandmother tremendously. As a widow, she felt defenceless and vulnerable to rumours like this.
Upon hearing this, she threw her hands in the air and called out to God with great emotion. Her words were something like, 'Lord, silence this woman's wicked tongue! Let her not speak another vile word about me!'
Later that day her neighbour's daughter ran into my grandmother's house, eyes wide with fear and begging her to come over to help her mother. My grandmother rushed to her neighbour's house to find her with a swollen tongue, unable to speak a word.
Shocked, my grandmother prayed for her and the swelling subsided.
Later they discovered that this lady had been busy repeating her gossip when her tongue started swelling. Her daughter, for some reason, instinctively ran to the person her mother was busy slandering.
My grandmother and her neighbour became good friends and this lady often told the story of how they became friends. My grandmother never told the story but when asked about it she would passionately use the opportunity to warn you against any kind of gossip. And often silenced people who wanted to tell her something about another person, asking, 'Do you think this is true or do you know this is true?
I think she would have loved this acronym:
I want to thank @Socialmediaseo, @Nexit, @Victoralf, @Maanabdullah, @Joanstewart and @cicisaja whose response to my previous post encouraged me to continue. I will do a couple more in this series before alternating it with other topics. My stories about my grandmother will always be about God as she had an immense influence on my own relationship with God. Later stories will be less spiritual. My two years in the army was decidedly not spiritual...
My hope is that you will also tell us some of the stories with which you normally regale your friends around a campfire. The stories that shaped you into who you are today.