My grandmother, Addie Smith, was a wonderful person. If you mentioned her name in Russellville, Arkansas, you would probably find someone who had been in her Sunday School class, Childrens church, or Childrens Rallies. Her ministry was to children. For over fifty years she gave her best to the Master. There are many who attribute being in the ministry to her. To them she was Sister Smith, but to me she was MaMa (pronounced mammaw.) Every summer I would spend time with her and my grandfather, and then just her after his death. Being there was such a special time. Blackberry cobbler, made from berries she picked out in the country, was served with vanilla ice cream melting all around. This would be dessert following one of her delicious meals of fried chicken, homemade rolls, black eyed peas, fried okra, picked from her garden, corn on the cob, and ice tea with a peppermint stick. She loved serving her family. One thing you always knew, after a hot sweaty day of playing, there would be devotions. Sometimes she would tell a story from all the material from her childrens work. She wanted each grandchild to quote a memory verse and then we would pray. If our cousins were there, we would try to be the first to quote; Jesus wept. Afterward, I would feel badly because I never wanted to disappoint my grandmother. MaMa reinforced God in our lives. She would tell us many times how God healed her of paralysis, asthma, and comforted her when two of her children died. Jesus was her Savior, her Baptizer, her Healer, and an ever present help in time of need. A statement she would would make was a mystery to me. I feel I never do enough for my Lord she would say. To me her whole life was doing great things for The Lord. Now that I am older I have a greater understanding of how she felt. I loved going through her Bible that was always on her coffee table. There were family pictures, cut-out poems, but mainly many verses underlined, sometimes with a date written in the margin. These verses were the foundation of her life; her source of strength and comfort in lifes dark hours. One of her favorited verses was; But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus Philippians 4:19. She was not rich by the worlds standard, but she was rich in her relationship with Jesus. She laid up treasures in heaven and passed that heritage on to her family and to those who were blessed to know her here on earth.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 16:41:20 +0000
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