Grandma's House

Every time I visit my grandma I wish that all my friends could see her house. Not just see it but really understand what it means to me. You see to most people my grandma’s house looks old, beat up, always needing cleaned or repaired. It is a house that doesn’t have central air in Texas! Oh and we can’t forget about the Texas sized bugs. The house definitely has a history. It was built for my grandparents and their nine children. And was located right next to their previous house, a small wooden home, that was about half the size of the new one or smaller. It was well suited for their family. But when my grandfather unexpectedly died the house was not finished 100%. My grandmother had nine kids to raise and she was very proud to live in that house. And she never stopped being proud of her house.

You see for me this was the house that I stayed in every summer when I was little. The house that had a farm in the backyard where we got to help grandma feed the chickens, collect eggs, awe at the peacock, and feed tortillas to the longhorns. It was the house that we climbed trees outside of, and got bitten by fire ants in the front yard. This was the house that smelled like bacon, eggs, potatoes, chorizo, and tortillas every single morning, without fail. That had no stranger because random people would just come talk to grandma and get some food. It was the place where we had cousin sleepovers and fought over who got the corner spot of the awesome L-shaped pull out couch. This was the house that we had family birthday parties in, where we got to see all our cousins and bask in the craziness of the people we call family.

This house was full of love. Love, that’s what sets it apart. It was in this house that I had my last conversation with a cousin; it was in this house that I heard stories from my mother’s childhood and it was in this house that I heard stories of a man I never knew, but who had an enormous impact on my life. You see it was in this house that I learned of a love story that amazes me to this day. I’ve often wondered about my grandfather, I never knew him, and my mother only knew him for a few years. I asked my grandma about him on various occasions and those are moments with my grandma that I will never forget. I asked her how they met. Her eyes lit up with love before she even said a word, so much so that I could feel it and can still feel it to this day. Love. She told me about how he made fun of her thick, black hair when they first met. And with a laugh she told me how she tore up the only picture she had of herself at that time because of his mocking. Love. I asked her why she never remarried, “One husband was enough.” Love. My grandma loved my grandfather. My grandma loved her family. My grandma loved strangers. In everything she did my grandma showed love.

Can you see where I’m going with this? Love. The whole concept of this story wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the one I call Love. God. 1 John 4:7-8 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for LOVE COMES FROM GOD. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because GOD IS LOVE.” All the love that came from this house, the love of my grandparents, the love for my grandma by many, the love my grandma had for her family, all of that would not exist if it was not for God. While this house reminds me of the love that is my grandma, it also reminds me of the love that is my Savior. While the house itself reminds me of this love, that’s all it is a REMINDER of the memories and the love I was shown in and around this house. Whether the house stands till I have grandchildren or not, will not take away from what it means to me. God is the beginning of love. So whenever I remember the things and people that I love; I remember WHO has given me those things. I remember that God has shown his love for me through the things that I love and hold dear to my heart. And I remember that God is bigger and more important than any earthly possession, like a house, because possessions are temporary but God is forever.

While my grandma might have loved her house, it could not go with her to heaven. Instead she is surrounded by the love of her husband, son, grandson, mother, father, and siblings. But most importantly she is surrounded by the love of God and will be for the rest of eternity because while she was on earth she knew her Savior and his love for her.

2 Corinthians 4:18

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.