When I was a little child, we did take the “Over the River and Through the Woods” trip to my grandmother’s house. No, it wasn’t in a horse drawn sleigh, unfortunately. It was in an old Chevy, always a Chevy, crammed with kids sitting in the back seat and Mom’s lap. Just the tops our heads peeped over into the car door windows adding an element of mystery to the trip. We never could see where we were going, but knew that if it was a Sunday afternoon, it was probably to my grandparents’ home.

Memere and Pepere lived on a farm at the top of a hill with a sweeping view of the countryside in the little village of Alton, Rhode Island. It was a working farm in the sense that it provided the necessities of life for the family: milk, eggs, an occasional pig and the summer garden vegetables. My grandfather worked in the lace mill down in the village to provide for the other provisions for his large family.

Both grandparents were immigrants from Canada – down to the States for a better life for their families. Their lives in Canada weren’t oppressive but there were too many family members and not enough opportunities. The USA provided those opportunities. Neither one had any education to speak of. Both spoke only Canadian French when they arrived in the States. Funny thing about my grandfather was that when he did learn to speak English, he learned from the other mill workers, who were from England, so his English had an English accent!

However, both Memere and Pepere valued education to the extent that they assisted and supported their children in that pursuit. My mother told me about my grandfather eagerly reading the text books that his children would bring home from school to improve his own education.

Their devotion to and belief in God was the overarching influence in their lives. They began and ended their days in prayer and thanksgiving to God who had provided for them in all times. My grandmother would gather her brood around her every morning before school for family prayer. Then again in the evening, the ritual was repeated. Imagine doing this every day with 9 kids!

Every Sunday, Pepere would harness the horse to the wagon or the sleigh (in the early days of their settlement) and make the journey to the little church in another village about 10 miles away. Rain or shine! Snow or sun! They instilled this devotion in their children, in my mother, who in turned passed it on to me.

I am so thankful for the presence of the Lord God in their lives because I reaped the benefits of that devotion. I am not sure that they always believed that they were praying to a loving God or an angry God. But they feared the Lord, which means that they respected His power and believed in His omnipotence and were willing to be obedient to His will. They had a simple yet strong faith in God and Jesus Christ as our Redeemer.

So, at this special time of the year, when I think about what I am thankful for, I list God and His freely given gift of grace at the top of the list, followed closely by family and friends, living in the United States of America and lots of other things. Then I end the list with God again because I know my life begins and ends with a loving, caring God.
Yes, God does love us, and that means you, unconditionally!

Terri

Deuteronomy 4:9-10 ESV  “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children– how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’”