When my daughter was born, we were living in northeast Texas, about five and a half to six hours from each set of parents. Up to that point, it hadn't been terribly inconvenient. Honestly, it was how I was raised to believe it should be. We didn't live near my Grandparents most of my growing up years, either. But when you add children to the equation, things change.
We were worshiping with a sweet little congregation, and well-loved already. When we introduced our daughter, she was instantly the church darling and soon adopted more church Grandmas than we could count. What's a church Grandma, you ask? It's a lady who worships with you and loves on your child(ren) like he/she/they are her own grandchildren. We were more than blessed with ours. Every time I turned around, I was being handed something with the comment, "I saw this and just thought, 'Oh, wouldn't she love that?' or 'Wouldn't she look so cute in that?'" Not only did they spoil us with material things, though. Oh no. They gave us free babysitting. Some of them would sit with me on evenings when my husband had to stay home with a migraine and I had the kids at worship services by myself, or help during services when my husband was leading singing. They made sure to get a hug from my children each time they saw them. They showered us all with praises and encouragement. If you live near your parents/family, maybe you don't need that as much as I did, but for a first-time mother, those church Grandmas made all the difference. Needless to say, when we moved from Texas to Tennessee over the summer, some of the first people I started missing were those older ladies. It's not that there aren't sweet ladies here, too. We just haven't been "adopted" by them yet. However, our Texas church Grandmas have still kept up the spoiling and love from afar. We've received packages and notes and occasionally a call. And this past weekend, we received a visit. After six months, my children still remembered this lady and ran to her with hugs. They snuggled her during worship and played with her at our new house while I unpacked more boxes. She treated us to several meals and brought surprises for the kids. She even babysat Monday evening so my husband and I could have a rare night to go eat without having to worry about spills or cutting up bites or answering a hundred "whys." It was lovely. It's just another little bonus of being a Christian. Even though our physical family isn't close by, God takes care of us by giving a church family. I've said it a million times and will a million more. I don't know how people survive without a church family. And I am especially grateful for church Grandmas.
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This is a place for me to share thoughts and ideas not just related to writing. Thoughts about what's going on in my life, about an idea I got that I thought shareworthy, or just a funny anecdote.
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