April 5th, Granky Day: A Celebration of Life, Love, and Laughter
If everyone knew what a few of us do, April 5 would be a national holiday. We would call it “Granky Day.”
Granky Day would be a celebration of all the precious women who have lived holy lives, but refused to be “holier-than-thou.” It would be a day to celebrate a woman who exuded radiant beauty and modesty in equal parts. It would be a day to celebrate a woman whose femininity was only matched by her untiring work ethic. It would be a day to celebrate a woman whose laugh could make you laugh, even when the joke made no sense at all.
April 5th is my maternal Grandmother’s birthday. Her name is Nova Dean Henager. She would have been 84 this year had she not died a few years back. She celebrated in a place where they don’t mark birthdays because no one grows old. I celebrated in a quiet place in my soul, where I remembered how blessed I was to have such a guileless, beautiful person influence my life.
When she passed, one of my aunts asked me to write a piece for the commemorative brochure that would be given to all those attending her funeral. It was a great honor to me to be asked to do that.
Here is what I wrote…
And (Jesus) said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. ~Matthew 18:3
She was a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great grandmother. She was a pastor’s wife, counselor, teacher, and friend— especially to those who most needed a friend. Not many called her Nova or Nova Dean. A few called her Mrs. Henager. But everyone who knew her, who really knew her, called her Granky.
The world is full of wonderful grandmothers, grannies, and grandmas. But, as far as we know, there has only ever been one Granky.
What is a Granky? A Granky is a grandmother who never let the child inside her die. A Granky is a woman with an indomitable spirit, an insatiable thirst for godliness, and an untiring devotion to God, His church, and her family. A Granky tells her famous “monkey stories” to kids, while adults gather in the shadows to listen, laugh, and remember how good it feels to be a kid. A Granky makes the world’s greatest rolls (and cinnamon rolls).
A Granky loves Christmas and summer youth camps as much as any child. A Granky is a woman of timeless beauty and simple, childlike faith. A Granky may grow old, but she doesn’t have to “grow up.” She may grow tired…and fall asleep…
But when she finally does, she wakes, refreshed, forever youthful…in the arms of her Jesus.
Happy birthday to my Granky…and to every godly woman whose life and love is a legacy your children will always revere, thank you.
Happy Granky Day.
Don’t Fly Away
(Part Four of a four-part series.)
Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment…
If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post; for
conciliation pacifies great offenses.
Ecclesiastes 10:1a,4
Contempt for authority! Just another fly in the ointment. Stand by the water cooler this week and I am sure you will hear plenty of grumbling and complaining about the person in charge. He is too harsh, too narrow-minded, too unrealistic in his expectations, too out of touch with reality…ad nauseum. Grumbling about authority – whether it is our national leaders, coaches, teachers, or bosses – is a favorite American pastime.
But there is the person who allows himself (herself) to become so bent by his (her) boss that he (she) just ups and quits. They throw up their hands and walk away.
Solomon urges you to take a deep breath. Maybe count to ten, if you must. Get alone and pray for the strength and grace to deal with your unreasonable superior. But don’t make a hasty decision in a heated moment. Don’t do in a fit of rage what you may regret when the smoke clears.
Again, I like the way the New Century Version puts it: “Don’t leave your job just because your boss is angry with you. Remaining calm solves great problems.”
That is sound advice. Sure, it may mean swallowing a little pride. But it may salvage a relationship, or save your job, and thereby secure your future.
There may arise a situation from which you must separate yourself. But make your decision prayerfully and deliberately, not hastily or in anger.
God bless your week…and beware of the water cooler gang!
A Prayer for Today: “Father, it is not easy to remain calm in a situation that makes me so tense and angry. But I pray for the strength to do and be right regardless of what those around me – or even those above me – are doing. May the way I handle adversity bring honor to You and peace and security to me. Amen.”
Fly Right — A Devotional
Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment…
Even when a fool walks along the way, He lacks wisdom, and he shows everyone
that he is a fool.
Ecclesiastes 10:1a,3
Getting his strut on
Here’s another fly Solomon found in the ointment: the hypocrisy of a fool. The foolish person wants to seem self-sufficient, like he’s got it all figured out. He won’t ask for directions. He doesn’t need any one’s advice. He won’t seek input, even in the big decisions of life. In his mind, he convinces himself that he looks pretty smooth. He doesn’t know how transparent he is. He doesn’t know how foolish he appears.
I like the way the New Living Translation records verse 3: “You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street!”
You can almost see the fool strutting in those words, can’t you? Putting on airs. Pretending to be what he isn’t. And maybe the only one he really fools is himself. How wretched the aroma of the hypocritical life! Just read how Jesus addressed such people in the gospels. He pulled no punches, calling the Pharisees “whited sepulchers,” pretty on the outside, but full of dead men’s bones.
God demands and deserves honesty. Let’s avoid the hypocrisy of fools.
A Prayer for Today: “Father,I am not everything I ought to be. I am probably not everything many people believe me to be. But I pray that the one thing I might be is honest. I commit to living honestly and openly before You. Amen.”
NOTE: This is part three of a four-part series:
Part One: Flies in the Ointment
Part Two: Shoo Fly, Shoo!
Shoo Fly, Shoo! – A Devotional
Dead flies can make even perfume stink.
In the same way, a little foolishness can spoil wisdom.
The heart of the wise leads to right,
but the heart of a fool leads to wrong.
Ecclesiastes 10:1,2
In a recent post, I talked about how a little bit of foolishness can unravel a lifetime of wisdom. This current post is part two in a four-part series on that subject.
Like dead flies in perfume, a little folly may alter and putrefy an otherwise honorable testimony. This is Solomon’s thesis, But he does not stop there. He goes on to identify a number of “flies” that if allowed to remain in our lives may bring ruin. I think it prudent to camp here a few days and examine them one by one, as they will provide instruction, warning and enlightenment.
In verse two, Solomon contrasts the heart of the wise and the heart of a fool. The heart, we know, is the seat of our emotions, passions, and desires. It is also representative of the will of a person.
The NKJV records the verse this way: “A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart is at his left.”
Now, that is not a shot at left-handed people—at least, I hope it isn’t, since I am one. The right hand was always used to speak of power and control. In the New Testament, we read that the glorified Christ is seated at the “right hand of the Father.” That is a place of honor, prestige, and power.
The wise person controls his passions, rather than being controlled by them, but the fool is often led by every fleshly whim. Uncontrolled passions are flies that will spoil the fragrance of any life. If left unchecked, sin will become habit, and habit will become obsession. The foolish person will ultimately find himself the slave of his fleshly cravings.
Paul urges us in the New Testament, “Do not be drunk with wine…but be filled by the Holy Spirit” [Eph.5:18]—the implication being that each of us will be controlled and driven by something or someone. Our decisions and direction will be influenced by the force(s) at work in our lives. To walk in the Spirit, we must be constantly yielding ourselves to Him. Otherwise, we may become drunk with whatever wine our flesh is most susceptible to craving.
A Prayer for Today: “Father, I yield myself to You. I pray that You will
fill me with Your power and presence. Give me victory over the sinful
tendencies of my flesh today. Help me, Lord, to keep my passions under
control. Amen.”
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The JourneyMan by D. Gene Strother is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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