Today is my dear Granny Pearce's first birthday in heaven. She would have been 75 years old today. She left this world in January and I miss her so much. I wish I could tell her how much I loved her and how appreciative of everything she taught me. I told her I loved her the last time I spoke to her on the phone and now I wish I had stayed and lingered on that phone call a little longer. Yesterday I was thinking about her and trying to remember what her voice sounded like. I scrolled though my voice mails and found the one from her.
"Angie, this is granny. Give me a call please." Oh, how I wish I could!!!
I take great comfort knowing that she is with her Savior in heaven rejoicing in her perfect body. Going through all of her medications, insulin injection kits, and blood test kits made me fully aware of how much pain she was in before she died. She no longer has pain, only joy. That makes me smile.
Yesterday I went through some items that I have that were hers. She didn't leave me rubies and diamonds but the treasure she did leave is far more precious. She left me her wisdom, her dreams, and her desires for my life. Honestly, I though my granny invented the frugal lifestyle! Turns out that she learned it from her mother, who learned from hers how to make the most of every single thing, from a piece of scrap fabric to a bit of leftovers for a casserole.
She never wasted one thing. She never spent money on junk. The items in her kitchen are of top quality. She didn't buy cheap, she bought items that would last. The clothes that were in her closet didn't number in the hundreds. But what she had was thoughtful outfits and well made pieces that she could mix and match. She didn't have tons of shoes. She had church shoes- tan and black, and she had 3 other pair that she rotated. When she bought a new pair for wearing to town the next oldest became the around the house shoes, the oldest pair became the outside gardening shoes and the oldest pair were thrown away after the shoe strings had been saved. She did have a variety of purses and I'm sure each one had a specific purpose or outfit to match for church. Each purse still had a matching wallet for granny was frugal but she was not cheap!
I have so many precious hand-worked pieces that she made. She made quilts and wall coverings, table runners and place mats, she embroidered pillow cases and cloth napkins, and she made doll clothes for the kids. When I touch those beautiful pieces, I feel like I'm touching her hands. Time was never spent foolishly for granny, for even when she would sit and watch a movie she was working on something with her hands.
Another thing I realized yesterday is just how much thought she put into the gifts she gave or purchased for us along the years. Granny didn't give you anything that you asked for, instead she observed your life and determined what blessing you needed. She didn't just give on birthdays and Christmas either. You could never expect that she was going to give you somethings but the times she did it was exactly what you needed at the time.
Education was important to my granny. She told me stories of how she would study her schoolwork after long hours in the garden and finishing her chores when she was still a child and living with her parents. She never took the easy way out. She just simply got the job done. She was an avid reader. Until diabetes claimed her eyes you could always find granny with a book. She introduced me to "Gone with the Wind" and we read it together when I was in 9th grade.
She gave books as gifts, she sent educational workbooks in the mail for my kids, and they always had a subscription to Highlight and Baby Bug sent from granny each year. My daughter Camryn recently began reading the "Biscuit" dog books. Inside one of them is an inscription from granny that says, "Happy 5th Birthday Camryn. I hope you enjoy learning to read this year. It will be one of the best things that you ever do." Every child in my house has a book that says the exact same thing written to them when they turned 5.
But the one thing that I have that I cherish the most from my granny is a legacy of prayer and humbleness before God. Granny was a prayer warrior and I'm sure she battled Satan himself many times in prayer for me, my family, and her loved ones. Two things stick out in my mind about granny's prayer life. She prayed for the salvation of every family member including her brothers and sisters, her children, and her grandchildren. And she prayed for those who asked her to pray for them.
She had prayed for her bother Jimmy for years. He and his family began driving 30 or more minutes to our home church back around 1997. One morning during the invitation, Uncle Jimmy stood up and walked the aisle, fully trusting in God for his salvation. At that moment I took my eyes off the alter where he was and looked at my granny. Tears streamed down her face and she quietly repeated "Thank You Jesus for your faithfulness. Thank You Jesus for answered prayer". I don't know how long she had prayed for Uncle Jimmy but I knew that she trusted that God would save those for whom she prayed no matter the circumstances of that person's life, no matter the sins that clouded their sight, no matter what the rest of the world thought. She knew the giver of life and she knew he would save her loved ones.
On the day of her memorial service in January, my family got up and went to her church for Sunday services. Granny's memorial was on Sunday and I know she would have loved knowing that she was being remembered on the day of the week set aside to remember and praise our God. I went into the nursery of the church to drop off Annika. I was signing her in when the lady in charge introduced herself. Then she said, "You look familiar. Have you been here before?" As I choked back tears I simply responded, "Yes, ma'am. I'm Voncile and Jack's granddaughter."
Her eyes softened and she hugged my neck. And then she said, "I am so sorry for your loss but let me tell you that you had a grandmother that prayed for you. She was one of the greatest prayer warriors I have ever known. She was in my Sunday School class and we all knew that if we went to Voncile and asked her to pray for a situation that she would pray and not stop praying until we told her that the prayer had been answered. So many good and wonderful things have happened in each of our lives because of your grandmother's faithfulness."
Yesterday while I was having a crying session over the loss of my granny, the Holy Spirit gave me this song. It was like granny was singing the words to me over and over straight from her mansion in glory. My prayer is that I become half the person my granny was to so many people, to the church family, and to the spreading of the gospel. Nothing else truly matters. Only the legacy we leave behind and the souls we take with us to heaven.
All I once held dear, built my life upon
All this world reveres, and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now, compared to this
Knowing you, Jesus
Knowing you, there is no greater thing
You're my all, you're the best
You're my joy, my righteousness
And I love you, Lord
Now my heart's desire is to know you more
To be found in you and known as yours
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All-surpassing gift of righteousness
Oh, to know the power of your risen life
And to know You in Your sufferings
To become like you in your death, my Lord
So with you to live and never die
Just a beautiful tribute.
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