Well, let's just say I'm doing research for an upcoming class...

Hopefully, this year for our home-school co-op, my class will make the cut. My daughter came up with a brilliant idea, and I'm so glad she did.

She suggested that I do a class, where we watch clips from certain classic movies, such as "Emma", "Pride and Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility", and then we learn lessons from the different characters in these stories. Applying scripture from Proverbs, as we learn what is the right way or wrong way to behave in different situations.

A fellow home-school friend, posted this on her blog, and I thought I'd do the test for fun. Watching Jane Austen movies just happens to be one of my favorite pastimes.

Take the Quiz here!

Missing Grandma

It's been just a little over a year since my Grandma went home to be with her precious Lord. And I have really been missing her.

Just this past weekend, I had a dream. A storm had passed through right after going to bed, disturbing my sleep, but once I fell asleep, I started dreaming this extremely vivid dream.

Curtis, the girls and I were led to this beautiful home, and told it was ours. It was amazing! Everything about this house was more beautiful than words can describe. It was fully furnished and decorated to the hilt. The colors were perfect, the light fixtures, the furniture, B-eau-ti-ful! We went from room to room, oo-ing and ahh-ing, it was unbelievable! It seemed like perfection. We felt just like the families who get to see their home for the first time on Extreme Makeover, Home Edition.

But as we rounded one corner, all of a sudden we noticed my Grandma, sitting in a simple wooden chair, with her back to the wall. On her lap lay a big Bible. She sat there, gazing at her Bible, she wouldn't look at us, or speak to us at all. She wouldn't look up or look at anything in this beautiful house. She just sat there reading the Bible very intently. At this point, we stopped looking any further. We just stopped and looked at Grandma. All of sudden, the house didn't seem important to us anymore, we realized at that moment how foolish we were being, and stopped touring the new house. And then the dream was over.

I honestly believe God was reminding me of the important lessons my Grandma's simple life taught me.

My dear Grandma was the mother of 11 children. Her youngest son died when he was only a few months old, but all of the remaining ten are still living. Grandpa was a share-cropper, and let me tell you, trying to take care of such a big family on such small wages was no easy task. But they made it, and God provided for them, just what they needed. Life was hard, during those times in this part of the country. The depression lasted longer here than it did in most other places at that time. But this family managed, and their life-style produced some of the most hard-working people I've ever known.

Grandma was not what society would call an educated person. Even though her outlook on life would surpass the knowledge of some of the most renowned persons this world has known. Things were pretty basic in her thinking, and common sense was the rule of the day.

Thankfully, God captured her heart, and He taught her of His saving grace, and His love. Her hearts desire, was to know more about Him, and any time she wasn't busy, she was listening to a trusted Bible teacher on her little radio, and also listening to the Bible on cassette tape.

Her faith was tested many times, I'm sure. But this little woman took all of her concerns to the Lord, she knew He was the only One who could help in the time of need. She trusted Him with everything.

I had the blessed opportunity to spend the night with her, in her home a few years before she passed away. Going to Grandma's always meant, there would be lots of people there, and that also meant that when it came time to sleep, once all the beds and the hide-a-bed were all filled up, sometimes the only place left to sleep was the couch.

Several members of the family were there that particular weekend, and we just wanted to all be together. Grandma loved it when big crowds congregated at her house, because that was what she was used to. She was used to lots of activity, and noise. So there we were, all of us piling in, just the way she liked it.

The couch I slept on, was right beside her bedroom. All of a sudden as I lay there, I could here Grandma starting her bedtime prayer. She talked to her Lord, just like He was sitting there with her, face to face, thanking Him for His many blessings, and for all the love He had blessed her family with. Then she proceeded to name each child, grandchild, and great-grandchild by name. That is no small feat, let me reassure you. Think about it, 10 children and their spouses, that's 20, plus her 32 grandchildren, and then I'm not sure how many great-grand kids, but she named them all, and prayed for each one of us. I learned the next day from one of my aunts that this was a nightly habit for her. She didn't do it for show, she had no idea I could hear her. It was just what she did every single night before drifting off to sleep. What a precious memory that is to me, to have heard her communing with her precious Savior.

He was so dear to her, and she shared with me, after she had heart surgery (6 by-passes that is), that He gave her a peace that she could not explain. She didn't understand a lot of what she was having to go through, during that whole ordeal, but one thing she did know, her Savior was with her through it all. In her unique southern drawl, she expressed to me, "He was just so precious, I didn't know He could be so precious." I love it that the Lord revealed Himself to her like this, during such a dangerous operation at her age.

God has taught me so much through her example. She was so content. She never sat around and felt sorry for herself. Her joy came from her relationship with Christ, and she never, ever fell into the trap, that so many of us fall into. So often we think our possessions, our income, our clothing, our cars, all these material possessions that we can accumulate, we falsely believe the lie, that they will satisfy our hearts. If we live by the world's standards we will believe the lie, that these "things" are more important than anything else. Not so. Only Christ can satisfy the longings in our hearts, that no material object will ever be able to do.

Grandma never traveled far from home, except to go and visit family or friends. She never wore expensive jewelry, and never collected fine art. She kept herself busy at home, taking care of her children, helping her husband, and loving her Lord. And she was so happy. Her heart was so content.

When we were small children, visiting in the summer, we could hear her every morning, standing at the stove, frying sausage, baking biscuits, making gravy (sausage and chocolate), and singing hymns as she cooked. She went to bed praying and woke up singing praises. And I must add, there were 8 of us visiting, my parents with 6 children, she and Grandpa still had 4 children at home. So there were 14 people crowded into their 2 bedroom home. This would throw most of us into such a tizz, we wouldn't be able to handle that many people crowding into our much roomier homes. But she loved it, the more the merrier. And she cooked for us all, and sang while she did it.

So much to learn from that little woman's example. She would never want me to put her on a pedestal. I know that the Lord is the one who deserves all the glory, because He taught her to be content in Him, and He satisfied her heart. She knew He would take care of the needs they encountered through life's journey. And He did. It's just as simple as that.

I pray that her legacy, her trust in the Lord is never forgotten by her family members. I pray that we all learn these truths, about letting Christ satisfy our hearts and not things. I pray I do not forget, and that I pass these important lessons on to the next generation, just as my own mother taught me. She learned this from her mother's example, and I hope I am found faithful in teaching this to my daughters as well.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (Amplified Bible)
"But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you. . . "

-may we learn this and never forget it.