March 22
Scripture: Matt 5:46
Source author: Jean Ann Williams
March 22
Great-Grandma, God, and Me For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? —Matthew 5:46 kjv
Before Great-grandma and I locked horns, I had never met anyone I disliked. The eldest of six children, I cooked, cleaned, and bossed my siblings. When Grandma, as we called her, came to live with us, she took charge of our new baby brother, referring to him as “my baby boy.” She ordered me around. The situation became unbearable, and I went to Mom with my complaints. She listened, smiling and nodding, but I gasped at her solution. “Grandma has always been this way, so you’ll have to change.” Night after night, I prayed for God to straighten out Grandma’s hard-boiled heart. In the meanwhile, I attempted to keep some distance between us. One day, Grandma told me about the time she saw the stagecoach robber, Jesse James, ride into town. When she finished, I said, “Tell me another story, Grandma.” After several Wild West tales, Grandma allowed me to hold my baby brother. We exchanged smiles. God had His hands in things when I grew to love Great-grandma and all her flaws.
When we turn our situations over to God, He sometimes answers in subtle ways. — Jean Ann Williams —