I bet you didn't know that today is Grandparent's Day. Looks like somebody needs to buy a better calendar.
That's my Grandfather right there. He passed away 21 years ago. I was recently reminded of him when a woman from our childhood church mentioned him in a Facebook post.
He was a good man. My grandfather, not the woman. But seriously, he was soft-spoken, hard working, and ran a saw mill into his seventies. He was a man who knew things, like how to build a house! He built a house for his wife, remarried at 72, and built another. But the most amazing thing about my Grandpa was that he consecutively drove out of his way each week, picked up more children than could comfortably fit in his truck, and took them to church.
There were five of us, and we grew up going to church because Grandpa was coming whether we wanted him to or not. We went back and forth in his old rattling truck, the one that stalled out at stoplights, the one with the tiny holes in the floorboards where you could see the road.
We had no idea what a blessing it was.
Once I asked my Grandpa if he had one wish what would it be? He said to be young again. I promptly informed him that he was young and he laughed. I guess being young myself, I could not comprehend the thought that grandparents get old and die. But he did. As King David put it, he "went the way of all the world;" because it is appointed once that all shall die.
Whether he knew it or not, my grandfather taught me the power of consecutive faithful service. In addition to living a quiet, hardworking life, he managed to leave quite a legacy.
I know that I'm not the only one with such a blessing in my past, so to all who has had, or have, a legacy-leaving grandfather like mine, I wish you a thoughtful Grandparent's Day.
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