Legacy

"Isaac just ate, and he's in a good mood if you want to Facetime," my son Jamie said on the phone. Of course! I love to see my little grandson! Face to face is better, but when he's 500 miles away, Facetime is a blessing! Almost-11-month-old Isaac smiled beautifully at me, showing his dimples. He tends to be rather sober, so I was glad to see him happy.

"Can you put him down so I can see him in action?" I asked, so they went into the den where I watched my heart speed-crawl across the room, select a ball from his pile of toys, discard it and survey the coffee table for more possibilities. He held on and walked around it, then went to his father and pulled up. Suddenly he let go and was standing alone! Jamie was as shocked as I was! He'd never done that before!

Baby years go so fast, I was happy to be privy to this milestone! I visited my sister, who is ten years my senior, on Sunday. I wanted to ask her about some family history I was a little fuzzy on, and she started talking about when I was born. Being 85, she likes to reminisce and told me about walking down the lane from school, kicking the dust with her shoe and singing about the beautiful trees, sky and clouds.

"Come in and see your baby sister," she heard as she entered the front door, to which she said in surprise, "What baby sister?" My mother held the small, pink bundle of me and put me in her arms. She hadn't had a clue! As she described the baby sweetness, soft blonde hair, and soft skin of my newborn self, I got a mental picture that seemed to fill a memory gap for me. There were no pictures of me as a baby, but I felt I had just received one.

My sister remembered the hard times of long ago, and the house Daddy built of slender logs where I was born. Somehow my folks raised eleven children, and like the Duggars, I suppose we all worked together. A few days ago I watched a Walton segment where the family had undertaken getting a neighbor's apple harvest in for much-needed money. The exhausting task took the cooperation of everyone picking apples, but they we so gratified to have managed it!

It made me think of a time when some of our children were teenagers still at home and our neighbor's shed burned down. Much of the debris had been cleared, but there was still some residue and cement blocks on the slab, for which our friend was offering $500 to anyone who would clean it up. $500 would come in handy, so we decided to do it. Who knew it would be so hard? We fell into bed at night only to tackle it again the next day, but we finally got it done! I don't remember what we did with the money, but I'm sure it was put to good use!

Thank God for families, our dearest possession on earth. He is so faithful to provide, protect and care for us, in good times or bad. The children (and grandchildren!) are His reward!