Welcome back to the second of our series of devotionals titled “A Legacy of Faith.” We are looking at people who have impacted our life by teaching us to walk by faith. One group of people who can have a profound impact on us, for good or not, is grandparents.
Both my grandfathers were pastors, but my grandmothers were also women of faith. Nai Nai, my father’s mother, was always old from my point of view as a child. In my remembrance, she never played tennis or swam or even cooked, but all my cousins and I remember her being a cardshark. She was ever ready to drop what she was doing and play a game of canasta, cribbage or casino with her grandchildren. She encouraged us to play cards even before we learned to read. Nai Nai felt these games taught us valuable lessons like how to win and lose graciously. Nai Nai felt she was always a winner: When she won, she would be pleased with her luck. If her opponent won, she congratulated herself on having such smart grandchildren.
Yes, she felt games were character building.
My other deep impression of my grandmother was of her habit of reading her Bible for hours every day. As it says in Psalm 1, “Blessed is the man…whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.”
That habit too was character building.
Who taught you to appreciate God’s Word? Before you head out to face your day, thank God for that person. (And if you are a grandparent, how will you influence the lives of your grandchildren?)
