Hey Grandma!

I was driving our car along Cathy and two of our grandchildren. We were heading to our house for an overnight.

The weather reports showed that there was a blizzard heading our direction sometime in the next two hours. Little did I know that a something would hit sooner than anticipated.

From the moment that we left their parents’ driveway, the two of them started EVERY statement, question, and comment with the phrase; “HEY GRANDMA…”

At first, I didn’t pay much attention to it until this became the rhythm of EVERY conversation. And then it bugged me.

For clarification, these conversations were NOT directed necessarily at Cathy. In fact, almost all of them were for anyone who was listening.

They were statements, questions, and comments on items like what day it was, do you know what we did or where we went, or did the car have a spare tire…

In a short time, a root of rejection, jealousy, and isolation started cropping up. I reacted by asking the children to please quit starting EVERY conversation with “HEY GRANDMA…” and added that I was also in the car; not just grandma.

Silence was the response…for about two minutes and then one of them said; “HEY GRANDMA…” the hairs on the back of my neck arose as the possibility of offense loomed before me.

I gripped the steering wheel and realized that although I couldn’t stop the impending blizzard, I did have a choice as to how I would choose to respond to this potential storm.

Would I choose to take offense just because I felt as though they weren’t acknowledging me, who was there with grandma, or choose to let it go… I continued the drive home.

When we arrived, the two of them continued EVERY statement, question, and comment with the phrase; “HEY GRANDMA…” Sometimes one of them would walk into the room and look up and see that it was just me and look puzzled as to where Cathy was.

 

EVERYTIME I asked them what they needed; they would say something that I could answer. NONE of the statements, questions, and comments were specifically for Cathy.

Once again, I felt my emotions rising up and I asked them to please stop always starting everything with “Hey grandma…”

Once again, I again recognized that I had a choice as to how I would respond to this potential storm.  I took care of something else as I prayed for help to let it go.

Cathy came into the room where I was sitting and put her arm around me. I chose to let it go.

It’s hard to be in a spot where it FEELS as though no one recognizes that you are even there, or that you are even alive…

As I sat there, I realized that oftentimes that is how we treat God. We pray to Him and yet, often, never even acknowledge that He is even there.

For some, they will call out to His mom or someone who has been dead for centuries rather than acknowledging that He is there.

For others, they compartmentalize Him; restricting Him to a (church) building; forgetting that He is ever present in EVERY place that we go.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? (Psalm 139:7)

Many times, we don’t even call out to Him; that is until we are desperate.

I told Him that I was sorry for the times that I did that to Him. I asked for His forgiveness and asked for a deeper knowledge of His presence throughout ALL of my day…

The four of us took time to play some games together as the snow storm began. Cathy suggested that after we finish our games, we get dressed in our snow gear, grab some sleds, and head to the park; which we did.

We laughed together as we took turns until the cold turned our ears red and we could no longer feel our fingers, and then headed home for movies, games, food, and books.

The rest of the time that the grandchildren were over was filled with more conversations that began with “HEY GRANDMA…” as they told BOTH of us something.

This was interrupted only when I took the two of them to Hobby Lobby to look for some clay for them to use for a project. During the car ride, to my surprise, EVERY statement, question, and comment started with the phrase; “HEY GRANDPA…” which made me smile.

A few hours later, after they left, I pondered my thoughts from the day before about acknowledging the presence of God. I thought of Misty Edwards’s song “Dove’s Eyes”:

I don't want to talk about You like You're not in the room
I want to look right at You, I want to sing right to You
I don't want to talk about You like You're not in the room
I want to look right at You, I want to sing right to You

I think way too often we forget that He wants to be a part of EVERY part of lives. And I think that probably it “hurts” Him as we talk about Him but don’t talk to Him.

Jesus spoke of this when He said:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37)

I got away and responded to His invitation to be with Him.

The cool thing is that this encounter is something that God wants EVERY DAY!

Every day we can awaken with the hope that as we turn to God each day, we will find His mercy fresh and new waiting for us to use. Great is His faithfulness; in that we can place our hope!

How about you? How much have you acknowledged Him so far this day? He’s not upset with you; He just wants to be with you and have you acknowledge that He is there.

Are you ready to start over? Have you tried to change your life with no success? Are you tired of trying to do it your way? Call 1-888-NEED –HIM; someone is waiting to talk with you.