I have a very clear memory of the first time I met my best friend's beloved Granny. I was appalled, to say the least. There was a vacuum cleaner in front of a chair she invited me to sit in and she told me to move that "pecker" out of the way and have a seat. She told Tammy about some hoodlums that had thrown a rock through one of her windows---she had ran outside with an unloaded shotgun and threatened to "blow their balls off". She vowed to "crap in a bucket for a week" so she could mix it with lye and spread it on top of the wall behind her house... that oughtta make them think twice about climbing over it onto her property! Tammy spent many nights at her house and always insisted on sleeping in the same bed with her. As Tammy got older the extra weight coupled with the slightest movement would cause the slats to fall out and the mattress to come crashing down. Numerous times a night, they would be jarred awake with a sudden drop to the floor whereby they'd have to get up, pick up the mattress, put the slats back in and remake the entire bed. After several bouts of this Granny commented that she'd hate to be a married couple trying to "get a piece" in that bed. Listening to her, it occurred to me that my mom might not even want me hanging out at Granny's. What would she think if she heard how she talked? The sad part is, at the time, Granny's crass language blinded me from seeing how much she loved Jesus and how very much her life must have pleased Him.

To understand the depth of my dismay at Granny's coarse words you need to know a little bit about the excessively prudish upbringing I had. The f-word was strictly forbidden in our household. The f-word was f- a-r-t. Notice I spelled it out, I have yet to ever utter it...why start now?. Too bad I can't say the same about the other f-word. It was ingrained into me that f-a-r-t was one of the foulest words in the English language. It was never to be uttered and certainly never to be indulged in. Unmentionable body parts were simply referred to as your "privates", anything more descriptive than that was not allowed (even butt was a bad word). Acting and talking in a lady-like fashion was of supreme importance.


How sad it is to judge on outward appearances! "Man looks at the outward appearances but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7) Granny probably knew her Bible better than most preachers. She was totally in love and dependent upon her precious Jesus. She was always serving others: cooking meals for sick people, tending to children that needed tending to and giving generously to anyone that asked (even though she had practically nothing of her own). Most touching and revealing of all was how eagerly she embraced death. "Yea, though I walk through valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..." Granny never experienced fear; only an eager anticipation to finally be with her Savior. She was the embodiment of Paul's words: "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.... for me to live is Christ but to die is gain." (Phil. 1) The day she was told she had cancer and most likely didn't have much longer to live she flitted around her tiny house gleefully exclaiming how "glorious" it was going to be! Thankfully, she kept a journal. It is one of Tammy's most treasured possessions. By the world's standards she had nothing (education, wealth or status), yet she wrote over and over how content and thankful she was. Tammy was recently re-reading some of her journal entries and was touched anew by her complete reliance on the Lord. After escaping an abusive, alcoholic husband she spent the rest of her life working hard in a factory to support her three children. Undoubtedly she picked up her salty language from those long hours in the factory. Though she had much to complain about, she never did. Tammy thinks she probably lived with her cancer for a long time, as she mentioned her pain often in her journal. She died just three weeks after the day she finally admitted that she would like something for the pain. Those last days she loved for Tammy to sit by her bedside and sing hymns to her. Her favorite was the Old Rugged Cross:

"On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

O that old rugged cross,
so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God
left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.

In that old rugged cross,
stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,

To pardon and sanctify me.
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share."

There was no doubt who Granny considered the "dearest and best", no doubt how much she longed for the day He would call her to her "home far away, where His glory forever" she'd share.

Misjudging Granny reminds me of Jesus' words to the religious windbags of His time: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and the Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence." (Mt. 23:25) There are so many of us that look clean on the outside yet sadly, "self-indulgence" describes us to a tee. We are chiefly concerned with our own outward appearance, our own comfort and all the "stuff" it takes to make us comfortable while the inner self gets largely ignored. How many of us could embrace death so gleefully or love and trust our Lord as completely as Granny did?