Some time ago I told you, either on my Facebook page or on my blog, that our son-in-law, Matt said, “The biggest spiritual influence in my life, hands down, was my godly grandparents.”

Although it’s probably been at least a year or more since Matt told me this, for some reason it’s been on my mind a lot lately. Maybe because our six-year-old granddaughter, Sarah, has been asking questions that have given me an opportunity to be a spiritual influence by telling her my stories. It’s made me aware of how important it is to be alert for the opportunities God gives us to share stories of our faith walk with our grandchildren. It has also caused me to remember the opportunities God gave us in the past.

We spent a lot of time with our grandson, Connor, before he moved to Hubbard. His father carried him, asleep, into our house at 5:00 a.m. and came to pick him up after work. Connor probably spent more time with us during those years than with anyone else.

He remembers that we had devotions with him every morning (“whether I wanted to or not”) and many opportunities to share stories of our faith with him. A few years ago, he told our daughter, Angi, “Whenever I’m tempted to do something wrong, I hear Grandma’s voice right here on my shoulder.” (When Angi relayed this incident to me, she added, “I’d rather he heard Jesus’ voice but I’ll settle for Grandma’s for now!”)

While we were missionaries in Japan, Connor asked us one day while we were talking to him on Skype, “Grandma, why did you and Papa go to Japan?”

I answered, “To tell people about Jesus.”

Connor sighed. “How many more people do you have to tell?” It was obvious he was hoping we could get this job finished so we could come home!

We read Connor Bible stories, Danny Orlis books (Christian chapter books) and Adventures with the Buttonwoods books written by my Aunt Edna Beiler, as well as sharing many important truths as they related to situations that arose. So many seeds we had an opportunity to plant.

Now six-year-old Sarah is the one we have here often, the one who’s been asking me questions. A few weeks ago, she picked up my small wooden “Trust” emblem on my vanity and said, “What’s this, Grandma?”

“That says Trust. I bought it at a Cracker Barrel store and put it on my vanity to remind me of the choice I made when I first suspected I had cancer. I knew I could either trust God or be afraid.

“There had been other times when I’d suspected I had cancer, and I was a basket case because I was so afraid. This time I decided to trust God, and He’s helped me not to be a basket case!”

Sarah looked thoughtful and put the emblem back on my vanity. I pray that God planted seeds of faith deep in her heart for days when she might be tempted to be afraid.

Another time, Sarah asked the same question Connor had asked, “Grandma, why did you and Papa go to Japan?”

I replied, “We went to tell the people of Japan about Jesus, and we went because that’s what God told us to do. Do you remember the story we read about God calling to Samuel in the night and he thought it was Eli?”

Sarah nodded. “Well, at that time in our lives, I couldn’t sleep at night, and one night I went downstairs to find out if God had something to say to me. I said, ‘What do you want God? You have my undivided attention.’”

Sarah’s eyes were wide as I told her that I looked for something to read because God often speaks to me that way. “On the end table there was a pile of books that my Aunt Lydia had given me. She said, ‘These are my favorite books, and I want you to have them. We’re going to move to a retirement village soon, so I’m downsizing.’

“Those books looked old and boring, but I felt bad to put them away without reading them, so they’d been on the end table for a year!”

“A whole year?!” Sarah was amazed.

“Yes, a whole year. I recognized the name of one author, Lettie Cowman, so I picked up that book and started to read. It was the story of how God called that author and her husband to be missionaries to Japan a hundred years ago, and God spoke to me through that book about the Japanese people who needed Jesus.”

“Do you still have that book, Grandma?”

“Yes, I do—somewhere! I’ll have to look for it.”

Going to Japan as missionaries was probably the biggest opportunity God gave us to be a spiritual influence on our grandchildren. Our oldest granddaughter, Joy, who was five when we went to Japan, has always had the heart of a missionary which she believes came from our example.

Joy’s mother, Angi, said Joy used to ask to walk their dog because people would come out to talk to her and she could talk to them about Jesus.

When we came home to “the barnhouse” each August during our time in Japan, our grandchildren spent a lot of precious time with us. Sometimes as we talked, a particular Bible story would come to mind, and I’d tell it to whichever grandchildren were with me. One evening after I’d told Joy and Madison an impromptu Bible story, Joy said, “Grandma, I love it when you tell us Bible stories!”

This brought back memories of my dad telling Bible stories to my sisters and me at bedtime when we were little. He was a great storyteller. Later, when he became a pastor, he used flannel graph to tell stories to the children in the congregation. What a great heritage he gave us.

As we recognize the power of telling our stories, we’ll find it’s not only our grandchildren with whom we can share our stories, but others whom God brings across our path.

Father, help us be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit when you provide opportunities for us to share our stories, not only with our grandchildren but to others whose hearts you have prepared. Amen.

Health Update

I’ve been on my new medicine for a little over two weeks now, and as I looked at the information the Hillman Cancer Center sent me about the drug, I had a lot of reasons to praise the Lord. Nausea is the first side effect listed. Under the section “When to Call the Doctor” these symptoms are listed:

• Nausea that stops you from eating or drinking and/or is not relieved by prescribed medicines
• Throwing up more than 3 times a day
• Tiredness that interferes with daily activities
• Trouble falling or staying asleep
• Pain that does not go away, or is not relieved by prescribed medicines
• Headache that does not go away.

So grateful that I haven’t had even a tinge of upset stomach or any of the other symptoms to the degree that I needed to call the doctor.

Some of my other symptoms have improved but I’m not sure if it’s the change in medicines or because of other things I’m doing.

• Going to Arthritis Exercise at Greenville Senior Center 2X a week
• Increasing my Glucosamine Sulfate tablets
• Using our hot tub almost every night
• Having Donn do trigger point therapy on painful areas

Thank you so much for your prayers!