The day is May 13th, 2017. The clock is about to strike midnight and for one more night I still can't seem to sleep. I pray and ask God to help me get rest. It's then that my eyes feel very heavy. I can hardly keep my eyes open and the last thing I can remember thinking is....
Sometimes I wish I had a time machine...
The morning sun is shining brightly, and I'm standing in front of a white farm house. It's a house that I've seen many times in pictures, it's the home of my mother and her family. I slowly walk up the side walk and knock on the kitchen screen door. In the background, I hear, "Yes, may I help you?" Just then, I see the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on, but one whom I've never had the chance to meet. It's my grandmother, Irene Peaster. I'm unable to speak out of sheer shock and amazement. "Inside, I keep thinking to myself, this can't be real. I can't honestly be meeting my grandmother. She passed away before I was even born. I must be dreaming" Just then, my grandmother speaks up and says, "I know who you are daughter, come on in."
I slowly walk into her kitchen, and she offers me a seat at her table. I turn to look at the calendar on the wall next to me. The day is Sunday, May 9th, 1948, it's Mother's Day. My grandmother sits down next to me and offers me a cup of steaming hot coffee, and tells me that, "she's been expecting me."
"Expecting me? But how?" I said.
Her and I sit and talk for what seems like hours. She told me what it was like to live on a farm in Kansas during the great depression, and she also describes what my mother is like. It's then that my mother walks into the kitchen, and I almost fell off my kitchen stool. My grandmother and mother laugh in unison. My grandmother looks at my mother and smiles, and says, "she looks just like you." Smiles cross all of our faces as we visit some more and then eat a wonderful breakfast that was made by my grandmother. I look at both of them, and tell them, "Happy Mother's Day! I love you both so much."
It's then that my mother speaks up and says, "We love you too. That's why the Lord has brought us together."
It's then that were shifted through time and land in a place that's very familiar to most. I know the year is no longer 1948, but we're back in 2017.
I look as their eyes fill with wonderment and fear as they step into a world they've never known.
Straight into the middle of Times Square we walk.....
In the middle of one of the loudest places you could possibly be the looks on my mother and grandmothers faces cut the noise into a deafening silence.
With tears in my grandmother's eyes she speaks slow and deliberately, "What is this place? What has become of our great nation? What are these gigantic billboards that light up with pictures of half naked people on them? There is so much I can barely take it in, and you know what grand daughter, I don't want to."
As my grandmother Irene, turns my face toward her, I was looking directly into her eyes, "Granddaughter, refuse to let the world make you something you're not."
"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me with never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." ~ John 8:12 (NIV)
"Your mother and I have prayed for you before you were even born. We've prayed that you would walk with the Lord and not be influenced by outside forces from this world. Never in a million years, could we have ever dreamed that our nation could stray so far from the Lord."
It was then that my mother spoke up, "Daughter, the good Lord is allowing us to speak to you to show you that there is a different way. The way of the world is not it. It is deceiving, it's manipulative, it's trying to get other's to follow after things that human nature think is right while denying what's right in God's eyes."
"We want you to remember that if you're going to follow after the Lord, you will need to deny yourself and follow after Him alone."
"Then Jesus told his disciples, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24 (ESV)
I hugged both my grandmother and mother and told them I understood. My mother looked me straight in the eye and said, "Now it's your turn to make sure that your children, my grandchildren understand as well."
"I promise they will mom, I won't let you down", I said.
The sunlight dancing through the curtains woke me up to a new day.
I sat straight up in bed startled by the dream I just had."It all seemed so real, but here I am. What a wonderful dream that was!" I thought.
I looked down at the nightstand and grabbed my phone to check the date and time. It was Sunday, May 14th, 2017. When I put my phone down, both of my children burst through the door with breakfast on a tray. "Happy Mother's Day!" they both said in unison.
I pat the bed next to me, and tell them to, "Sit down. I have a story I want to share with you."
It is time for the Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesday Link Up. We desire to connect women of God with one another and encourage each other in Christ. So grab a cup of coffee or glass of sweet tea, sit back and visit a few blogs. Be encouraged and share your own stories in their comments.
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Love this! Thank you for writing this. So often we can forget our mission on this world. It isn't to be like others but to stand apart from them. As moms, our mission field is our kids but also those we meet. Like on the playground what other season will other moms come up and start talking to you then on the playground. Let us remember Christ words to go out and make disciples and to spread the news of the gospel~
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Shari, and Happy Mother's Day!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. We can't let the world make us something we're not.
ReplyDeleteLove this!
ReplyDelete