Grandma's Gleanings
Words and Thoughts from Grandma
When I was a young girl struggling with growing pains, I often found myself with a terribly stiff neck. The treatment was always the same, a trip to the chiropractor, application of smelly medication, and a tacky pin-fastened towel around my neck. Now that I am in my senior years, it seems as though …
Water is one of the most essential components of a healthy diet for our bodies. Those bodies are approximately 60% water. Water aids digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportations of nutrients, and maintenance of a normal body temperature. It helps energize muscles, makes our skin look great, and keeps our kidneys healthy, ridding the …
I admit it, I’m a landscaping junkie. All rehab and recovery attempts have failed, it’s hopeless, I’m addicted to fussing with the appearance of our yard. When we moved into our home nearly forty years ago, the property was void of any decent landscaping, and that would never do! I set my heart on the …
This was one of my favorite desserts as a kid. My sister, who is eight years my elder, made one of the meanest angel food cakes on the planet. By meanest, I mean YUM! Awesome! The best! Mouth-watering! She prepared it from scratch, adding canned fruit cocktail before baking, and the result was a light, …
Parting with someone you love is never easy. Grief is a powerful emotion, capable of swallowing us if we are not rooted in the grace of God. When the loss was sudden and unexpected, the impact can be even more severe. I’ve traveled to the depths of grief and I know the terrain well. …
The Great Depression was one of the darkest periods in American history. I still recall stories from my mom, stories of how tough life was during that desperate era, stories of how folks were barely surviving, working whatever jobs they could find to provide for their family. This world-wide economic disaster took place in …
Sometimes, if we are not cautious, we can try do the right thing the wrong way, independent of God’s direction. Today in my personal Bible reading, I read such a story, an intriguing, yet tragic, story of good intentions gone awry. Sit back and learn a timely life’s lesson from this sad story recorded for us …
What is going on in that car in front of us? First he hugs the center line, crosses over into the oncoming lane, then he corrects himself and skirts over to the edge of the road. Whoa, there he goes again! This weaving is giving me motion sickness. The speed is also spastic, slowing …
I love celebrating Father’s Day, especially due to the fact that I am privileged to be married to one of the world’s best daddies. God has certainly blessed our home by giving us this faithful man. He has fathered five biological children: one precious little one taken to Heaven before birth, one beautiful daughter resting in the arms of Jesus after succumbing to a serious illness …
Discipline can be difficult to enforce on a consistent basis.. I dreaded when my children had purposely transgressed our instruction and had to bear the punishment for their wrongdoing. Standing outside the bedroom door listening to their father administer correction was difficult and heart-breaking for me, but needful. The fruits their daddy’s discipline, as …
I do not have much memory of my earthly dad, sadly only bits and pieces of shared moments remain. He lost a long and nasty battle with cancer early in his life, so our relationship was unfortunately cut short while I was still a young child. As a result, my memories of him are, at best, sparse. I am …
When my children were younger, birthdays were crazy days in our home when the children were toddlers. The gifts, the sugar rush from way too many sweets, disrupted nap schedules, and the grandparent/family visits always resulted in hyperactive, overtired, somewhat cranky kiddos. The day generally featured at least one total meltdown, either by an overstimulated birthday child, …
When I was a young child, laundry day was quite a different experience than it is today. My mother did not own an electric dryer for much of my childhood. Clothes were hung out on the line to dry, or in the basement if the weather was not conducive to outside drying. Mom would …
As I sit on our deck today spending some time with God, I can’t help but be distracted by the noise around me. It is the year of the cicada; it sounds more like the year of the alien invasion! This amazing creature has a seventeen-year life cycle. While underground, the nymphs grow and develop, …
At times it’s easy for those of us advanced in age to become overconfident in our acquired wisdom. We have lived long, seen much, experienced life, and made the hard decisions, therefore we have a larger library of experience at hand as we face the daily struggles of life. When I often find myself privately shaking …