Compliments

I got the best compliment of my life today.  It went like this:  "Grandma, your sermon was awesome!  It really made me think!"

Let's just savor those words for a minute . . . "Grandma".  Never thought I'd be a grandma.  Went a long time hoping for family, then a lot of years assuming my chances were done.  God knew differently.

"Grandma, your sermon was awesome!"
Of course, it wasn't really a "sermon".  It was a "talk" at a Ladies Retreat.  I can see why she might have called it a sermon.  It was at the same time as the normal worship service.  There was a song service, and a prayer time, and I "talked" during the time we would normally have preaching.

I've always felt called to preach.  I love to teach about the Word.  I enjoy standing in front of people and directing their thoughts toward God.  I'm actually more comfortable in front of a crowd than I am carrying on an intimate one-to-one conversation with an individual.  But in "our" church women don't preach.  They talk.  So I talk.  A lot.  Any time someone asks.  Sometimes even when they'd rather I'd stay quiet.

I don't feel like I'm anything special or that I even have any new or real deep insights into scripture or the Christian life.  But I have the ability to learn and absorb the teachings of others - to really understand their thoughts - and to communicate them to others.  I would love to preach - all the time.  But for now God has called me to talk.  And I will do what He wants.

"It really made me think."
Coming from a fourteen year old, this is really good stuff.  My oldest granddaughter was three when I married her grandpa.  Petite, with long golden hair, she bounced on her tiptoes everywhere she went.  She was precocious and a little spoiled and I wanted to smother her with love the minute I saw her.

But I was cautious, wanting to feel my way into this new family without upsetting everybody's apple-cart.  We became close.  She liked to sit by me or ride in the car with me.  She talked and I listened and acted interested.  And as she grew she developed an intelligent mind and a sweetness of spirit that had me wanting to listen when she talked . . . kept me interested and wanting to have an impact on her heart and mind for God.

Two months ago, she turned fourteen and she is beautiful.  Sweet and smart and looking so much more like a woman than a child that it makes my heart skip a beat when I look at her.

So when she says to me "Grandma, your sermon was awesome.  It made me think", I know that I've achieved the highest award given to any woman.  To impart something of His spirit to the spirit of my Granddaughter . . . to leave a legacy of eternal consequence, is all I can ask for and more than I deserve.  I can die happy now.  But I hope that I don't.  There are seven more coming behind her, four girls and three boys.  If I keep seeking Him, maybe God will use my talk (whether in front of a crowd or just around the kitchen table) to cause them to think.  That would be awesome!

So, thanks for the compliment, Micha.  You made your Grandma's day.