Today is my Great Grandma Ruth's 99th birthday! There are no words to tell how truly spectacular this lady is, but if you take one look at that beaut-e-ful smile, you will catch a glimpse.
As kids, my absolute favorite place was up in Fairview, MI at Grandpa Earl and Grandma Ruth's farm. Over 200 acres of wooded trails to blaze on 4-wheelers, giant sand hills to race down, and the gravel pit to cool off in. Picking green beans from the garden and snapping them on the front porch made me feel like I was in Little House on the Prairie. I can still smell Grandpa Earl's wood shop, where he patiently taught us the wonders of woodworking, helping us with 4-H projects or whatever creative ideas Uncle Jed had. He made so many beautifully hand-crafted toys and games for us to play with, some of which had been around since my dad was a kid.
I loved gathering around the big long table with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and parents with a spread of homemade goodness. Grandpa Earl's meat. I still don't know what it was, and have never had anything else like it, but it is one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. Oh, and how can I forget...Grandma Ruth's applesauce! The runniest applesauce there is, and I could truly drink it by the gallon.
When we weren't stuffing our bellies, we were off having all kinds of adventures. I loved when Grandma Ruth would take us on walks. We'd bring birdseed and she showed us the perfect spot to stand with our outstretched palm full of seed. Wait, just wait..."chickadee-dee-dee-dee", she'd call. Before we knew it, chickadees came fluttering through the trees, landing right on our fingertips to take their seed. The joy on her face was unforgettable. Her love for nature, and even more so for the One who created it, beamed from her. You could not help but just breathe it in. At bedtime, after we had all the sand washed off of us, we'd snuggle down in our beds and Grandma Ruth would read to us. There is nothing like the sound of her sweet voice reading from her big old Bible. She could have been reading the obituaries, and it would still have been the most soothing sound my ears have ever heard.
Grandma Ruth has always been so young at heart. Even as a kid, I remember thinking, I can barely keep up with her! As if all the work around the farm wasn't enough to keep her busy, she also spent a lot of time serving and ministering at the assisted living home just down the road from their house. She was very involved in their church, and probably a whole lot of other things I don't even know about. What I do know is, Grandma Ruth is the most hospitable, giving, loving, gracious, serving, joyful person I have ever seen. Where did this energy come from? How did she do it all? I honestly cannot remember a time that she did not have a smile on her face! It wasn't some secret fountain of youth. No, it is no secret at all, really. She's drinking from the fountain of Life and is overflowing with the Love of Jesus and the Power of the Holy Spirit.
Grandma Ruth, I pray I can be like you. Faithful, steadfast, and true in my walk with the Lord. Thank you for showing me what that looks like. Happy Birthday to one of the most truly amazing people on this earth!
As I was looking through a box of notes and cards I've kept, I found this. I had posted something on Facebook about being a mom, and probably something about choosing to snuggle with my napping babies instead of doing housework. My dear Great Aunt Nita (Grandma Ruth's daughter) sent me this poem with a note telling me that she had found this at Grandma Ruth's house, written out on an envelope Grandma Ruth had opened up to use as a sheet of paper. Aunt Nita said when she read it, she thought about my post and thought I'd like this. She could not have been more right! Thank you, Aunt Nita!
Grandma Ruth’s Poem
The things I like to dream about my mother
Were when she took me gently on her knee
She spoke stories from the Blessed Bible
And sang us songs so tenderly
Another thing she did was take us walking
Out through the woodlands we loved so well
We gathered lilies white, and also violets
And honeysuckle growing in the dell
Along the creek we all would stroll together
The buttercups did grow profusely there
Listen to the water wash the pebbles
Sometimes see small brook trout hidden lair
*(The buttercups abundant were so fair
The sweet perfume of trailing arbutus
Cannot be matched with any perfume grand
And knowing that God
Places each of these trees)*
Take time dear mothers to enjoy your children
Do listen to their tales they want to bring
To you the dearest person in their small world
Take time to walk and talk with them and sing
And then when they have grown up to adulthood
They’ll always cherish these moments with you
And then you’ll reap the rich reward of knowing
That to God’s charge of loving you’ve been true
*incomplete verse(s)
