4 Generations - and a Legacy

In April 2008, I was blessed to be able to visit my grandmother in Philadelphia. I don't get to see her very often, and although we were only able to stay with her for a couple of days, the time we spent together was well worth the 24 hours it took to drive there & back!

My grandmother turned 80 this year, and as you can see, she is 80 years young! Whew! I hope I have as much energy and look as young as she does when I'm 80! The 4 Generations go from left to right: Mary Waltz (grandmother), Janice Schaffhauser (mother), Renee Hippensteel (me), and Susan Wilson (daugther).

I learned a lot about my grandmother while I was there - most importantly, I learned just how closely she walks with the Lord, and how much of a Godly legacy she has left for her family. My grandmother lives in the home she was born in - a home that my great-grandparents built in 1922. She lived a hard life: growing up on a farm (yes, South Philadelphia was all farm fields and dirt roads back then); putting herself through community college; marrying young & having 4 children; being married to an abusive, alcoholic womanizer; divorcing him back in the day when you just didn't do that; raising her youngest children on her own; caring for her own mother the last years of her life; and now caring for the man she divorced all those years ago. What's interesting is that up until a couple of years ago, my grandmother drove a bus for "senior citizens"...hmmm :) Now, she drives a bus for inner-city, troubled children who are enrolled in an "alternative" (or second-chance) school.

We talked a little about her life, and I asked her how she "made it through" her early divorce years, and what it was like to visit & care for my grandfather. She told me that although some people "looked down on her" for her divorce, she knew that to stay married and raise her children in that atmosphere was not what God wanted. She also told me that while my grandfather was still a demanding, mean, old man - she knew that God loved him and that it was good for her to visit him and show him that love. WOW!

She admitted to me that sometimes she struggles with feelings of hurt, anger, and bitterness towards people who have wronged her or those she loves. And yet, she prays for them daily.

My prayer is that I will pass along that Godly legacy to my own daughter.

"A capable, intelligent, and virtuous woman--who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls." Proverbs 31:10

Stories...

I'm fairly new to blogging, but I love to write. I hope you find my stories to be encouraging & uplifting to you on your spiritual journey.

I will warn you - some stories may be tear-jerkers...but all my stories will be ones that have helped shape who I am and more importantly, who God is making me.

God bless!