Easter weekend I made my favorite icing, tinted it pink and worked with a wide butter knife to spread it across the gentle curves of lemon cupcakes. It was my Grandmother’s recipe, the only icing I’ve ever really liked. The recipe got me thinking again about my relationship with my Grandmother who died this past summer. Later in the week, as I thought about my relationship with her, I felt God lean in close and whisper, “It was a gift.” So, with gratitude, I return to the memories and feel them for what they are and were – pure grace.
I sat in my
grandmother’s lap
in a long,
wooden pew
in her old,
ornate Methodist
Church. The shiny pipe organ
breathed in
and out and a man stood
up front in
a long robe.
Sometimes we
children
made our way
also to the front
and sat gathered at the feet
of the man
in the long robe,
like ducks, heads tipped
up waiting for the hand that
scatters
bread.
Returning to
the pew, to my
Grandmother’s
lap, I felt the summer’s
heat rise in
the old building. Light
poured in
through stained glass windows
and my long
brown hair clung to the back
of my neck.
My
Grandmother’s small hands, always
cool, lifted my hair, gently gathering it
up and to
the side. Then she blew her own
breath onto my exposed neck and air,
cool like a
fresh spring, trickled across.
‘Man cannot
live on bread alone,’
Jesus said
and those hands, that breath,
were grace
to my love-parched skin,
the simple
act of comfort-given and received
while I sat
in the church, in the worn wooden pew,
balanced on
the shore of my Grandmother’s lap.
* * * *
Welcome to the #SmallWonder link-up.
What if we chose to deliberately look for the small moments of wonder, the small sparks of presence, of delight or sorrow, of true humanity in which we meet God?
That’s my proposal – that we gather here each week to share one moment of Wonder from each of our days.
You’re invited to link-up a brief post of about five hundred words or less about a small moment of wonder. Don’t worry if your post is too long, too short, or not just right – you’re welcome to come as you are.
While you’re here, please do take a look around and encourage at least one other blogger with a comment.
Oh. This imagery of the ducks waiting for scattered bread, and of the human heart, which cannot live on bread alone; of these love-laced hands as breath and grace to your parched skin; this is so moving, Kelly. You have brought me along to feel some of what you felt in your love hunger, in the comfort received through your beautiful grandmother. Thank you for this gift.
Thanks so much, Amber.
How precious is the legacy left by your grandmother. I, too, have memories of sitting alongside of my Gram in church. May these memories spur us to run our leg of the race so as to leave these memories for the next generations. Beautiful post & reminder!
I'm so glad you had a similar gift, Joanne.
Oh Kelly, how precious. I'm so sorry that you lost your grandma this past summer, but it sounds like you two will definitely be reunited someday in eternity! My mother's mother was such a lovely person, and I still miss her all these many years later. But, the legacy she left – her kindness, her faith – these things will live on until I see her again. I can tell that some part of your grandmother lives in you…
Beautiful poem.
GOD BLESS!
Thanks Sharon!
Kelly,
What a touching memory of your grandmother and the parallel to God's love….may you continue to feel His warm breath of love 🙂 P.S. I also loved your C.S. Lewis quote/poem below.
Thanks, Dolly 🙂
That's wonderful that you have such fond memories of your grandmother. I hope one day (in the distant future) I can be a grandmother and develop strong ties with my grandchildren like that.
If you do, Lisa, it will be a tremendous gift.
Thank you for hosting. My grandma is one of my most favorite people in all the world and I have many keepsakes that are important to me and remind me of her around my home.
For me, this new property we moved to, is filled with things that remind me of living next door to her. It is good the way memories can live on in family traditions.
Kelly, it sounds like your grandmother was a wonderful lady! My grandmother fell and suffered a closed head injury when I was around 7. She was in a coma for 3 months, and when she woke up, she was not able to walk or think like she used to. I wish I had more memories of her before her accident, because I can tell from pictures that we had a lot of fun together! Wishing you a blessed week!
Ah, that sounds like my husband's mother – I'm glad you have those pictures to testify to what you can't remember.
This is beautiful and such a tribute… this line was so powerful and true: waiting for the hand that
scatters bread.
Aren't we all? Love this, Kelly!
Thanks, Karrilee.