Grandma’s Hands
Good day to each of you reading this article and I hope all is well with you and your family in these very unsettled times. Family is so very important in these difficult times and the time spent is to be cherished until the day one dies.
Each creation of God is so very important so I thought it would be wonderful to spotlight Grandma’s and how they touch our lives. I came across the following article for you to review which is entitled Grandma’s hands. Please take a few moments to thank God for your hands for as you read in Psalms 63:4 (NIV) David says, “I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name, I will lift up my hands”.
Let me set the stage for you as Grandma, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench. She didn’t move, just sat with her head down staring at her hands.
When I sat down beside her, she didn’t acknowledge my presence and the longer that I sat I wondered if she was OK. Finally, not really wanting to disturb her but wanting to check on her at the same time, I asked her if she was OK. She raised her head and looked at me and smiled, ‘Yes, I’m fine, thank you for asking,’ she said in a strong clear voice.
‘I didn’t mean to disturb you grandma, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK,’ I explained to her.
‘Have you ever looked at your hands,’ she asked. ‘I mean really looked at your hands?’
I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure out the point she was making.
Grandma smiled and began her story:
‘Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. These hands, through wrinkled, shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life.
‘They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor.
They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child, my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. They held my husband and wiped my tears when he went off to war.
They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son. Decorated with my wedding band, they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special.
They wrote my letters to him and trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse.
They have held my children and grandchildren, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn’t understand.
They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw. And to this day when not much of anything else of me works really well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer.
These hands are the mark of where I’ve been and the ruggedness of life.
But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when he leads me home. And with my hands He will lift me to His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of God.’
I will never look at my hands the same again. But I remember God reached out and took my grandma’s hands and led her home. When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my children and loved ones, I think of my grandma. I know she has been stroked and caressed and held by the hands of God.
I, too, want to touch the face of God and feel His hands upon my face.
After reading the above article on Grandma’s hands, the following passage came to me in Proverbs. Please turn to Proverbs 31:10-31 and read about the wife of Noble Character. My wife, who is of noble character, and affectionately called Maw-Maw to our grandchildren is so special for she lights up the room with her hands outstretched to our grandchildren and a great big hug and kiss as they enter our home. She and I have shared many special stories of our grandparents, activities enjoyed, smiles shared, boo-boos kissed, time spent, fresh cookies always in the cookie jar, bedtime stories, and being spoiled with lots of love and attention.
Recently, I heard a song that help prepare me for this topic as it is aptly titled—Grandma’s Hands by the late Bill Withers—Here are the lyrics:
Grandma’s hands clapped in church on Sunday morning
Grandma’s hands played a tambourine so well
Grandma’s hands used to issue out a warning
She’d say, “Billy don’t you run so fast
Might fall on a piece of glass
Might be snakes there in that grass,”
Grandma’s hands
Grandma’s hands sooth the local unwed mother
Grandma’s hands used to ache sometimes and swell
Grandma’s hands used to lift her face and tell her
She’d say, “Baby Grandma understands
That you really loved that man
Put yourself in Jesus’ hands.”
Grandma’s Hands
Grandma’s hands used to hand me piece of candy
Grandma’s hands picked me up each time I fell
Grandma’s hands, boy they really came in handy
She’d say, ” Mattie don’t you whip that boy
What you want to spank him for?
He didn’t drop no apple core,”
But I don’t have Grandma anymore
If I get to heaven I’ll look for
Grandma’s hands
Put yourselves in Jesus hands for I, too, want to touch the face of God and feel His hands upon my face.
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 24,25).
