e-mail 10/24/6

Recently, I read something that Debbie wrote on her church blog that made me think that, I really did not mess up so badly when she was younger. She has really turned out to be one remarkable young lady and she loves me.

When I was a young mother, I pretty much hoped that I was doing the right thing and many times I was guessing at how I handled our daily situations. I told myself over and over that it was how she turned out in the end that would determine what kind of mother I was and not the day by day moments. If it had not been for my own motherly advice to myself, I would have been in some type of mental institution specifically for mothers who were out of their mind because I never felt that I was Debbie's friend or that she liked me very much. I know now that I was not put on this earth to be her buddy or her best friend but to be the one God expected to guide her into Godly living.

One Special passage of Scripture kept me company a lot of the time. I meditated on this one verse many days and found it especially useful in "Bringing up Debbie, the joy of my life". "Trust in the Lord with all your heart,And lean not on your own understandingIn all your ways acknowledge Him,And He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5

Debbie was only challenging to me because she was creative and very smart. She was smarter than me. She was well behaved and went everywhere I went and she sat through all the WMU and ladies meetings that I attended without me having to take her out or having to call her down publicly for making a disturbance. And no, I was not the perfect mother but I think maybe she was the perfect child because she had me for her mother.

In the article Debbie wrote for their church, she wrote about our home and what it was like on the Sabbath and how different the average home of today is from then. She told of the things we did on Saturday to get ready for Sunday so we could spend more of Sunday letting it be the Sabbath dedicated to the Lord. She told how we would cook Sunday's meal on Saturday and take care of final touches for the Sunday School lessons, folding bulletins or her writing music parts for the choir (she was a church pianist since 12 years old) Then, on Sunday after Church, we came home prepared lunch, Bob would go over his notes for his sermon on Sunday night and Debbie and I would watch an old movie on TV or play a game of Rummy or Monopoly. Then we would go back to church training and Evening Worship.

It really caught me off guard that Debbie would remember these as sweet memories. I told her, that I had thought that she had found them boring. She told me, "Mama, at 13, it was boring, at 21, it was not very exciting but at 40, it is inspirational." With teary eyes, I asked her "Are you teaching this to our grandchildren? Her reply, "Yes I am."

I was always afraid that Debbie would not grow up to have that desire to want to love God in that special way that my grandmother did. Now, when I see Debbie at her creative best, I can almost see my grandmother sitting beside her. My grandmother had the most awesome love relationship with Jesus and I always wanted that for myself and I see it in Debbie when she writes a poem or sings a song or plays the piano. Several years ago, when she was a senior in high school she was the pianist for Westside Baptist Church. During the offertory she played "What a Day that Will be". She plays by notes and by heart, usually sings, and often it is with her eyes closed because she is playing to Jesus and not to the crowds. She started off wth the first verse and chorus slow and the second verse must have opened a door into the throne room because the sounds literally rose up as each note was played and the second stanza slowly picked up speed. By the time she is at the second chorus, in her heart she is standing in the throne room and is "looking into the face of the "One Who saved me by His grace" and as she has elevated into another level with the Master with another ending, she finds herself with not enough keys on the keyboard and Deb completes her solo for Her Master. The church stood to applaud as she stepped from the piano with her head bowed because all the praise belonged to the Master that she had just been with. She never noticed them.

Parents, as long as you have life on this earth, you have an opportunity to be a loving parent to your child and an example to your grandchildren. We must never stop loving them. We have to remember that they become adults and we lose our rights to give advice unless they ask for it.

Our children are a gift to us for a very short time in this life and a brief lesson in discipline I can share with you is that screaming does not work, it will only produce a screamer. Your children will imitate you, even the things that you think are your rights as an adult, you have to decide if it is something godly or something that you would want Jesus to see you teaching your children to do. Debbie was taken to the church on the day she was 10 days old. Debbie was surrendered to God on the day we found out that we were going to have a baby. We promised God that she would belong to Him all the days of her life and everything we did to teach her while she lived at home with us was for that cause and direction. When Debbie was away from us and in colege, there were many battles when I stomped over the head of satan and reclaimed the head and soul of the child God had trusted with me and I am prepared for more warfare if necessary over my grandchildren.

I love what God has done in our lives and I love being in God's family. Together we can all

Share God's Love,
Peggy