Thursday, June 22
Grandpa Oscar's Gift
My grandpa lived with my mom during the last ten years of his life. He spent much of those years in the sitting room at the back of the house. He ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in that room. He entertained visitors and pastors and great-great-great-grandkids from an easy chair in that room. Grandpa spent most of his time in that room in prayer.
Grandpa Oscar was a ‘prayer warrior’. As he got old, he couldn’t do much else, but pray. He prayed in silence; he prayed out loud. I think he even prayed in his sleep. He prayed for family, he prayed for friends, and he prayed for the President of the United States everyday. Grandpa Oscar suffered from macular degeneration, old age and dementia. He went deaf and blind, but not dumb; he just mumbled his prayers.
When grandpa wasn’t praying in the sitting room, he was staring up at two large pictures that hung on the sitting room wall. He couldn’t see the pictures clearly; he was technically blind. But he’d squint up at those pictures, close his eyes and nod his head while mumbling agreement. When Grandpa Oscar died, I made copies of those pictures.
Today, I take copies of those pictures with me out to the streets. When my homeless friends ask me to pray with them, I give them the pictures. I don’t tell everybody the story of Grandpa Oscar and how he gave to others through his prayers; I just give everybody the pictures.
I imagine that my friends make up their own stories when they look at those two pictures. Maybe they show the pictures to others. Maybe, they just give the pictures away. It doesn't matter … most of my friends end up sharing the pictures with others, along with prayers.
A prayer is a gift we give others … and nobody ever has to know.
Grandpa Oscar gave our family many precious gifts. Here’s two …
God bless us, all.
¶ 10:00 PM 
My grandpa lived with my mom during the last ten years of his life. He spent much of those years in the sitting room at the back of the house. He ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in that room. He entertained visitors and pastors and great-great-great-grandkids from an easy chair in that room. Grandpa spent most of his time in that room in prayer.
Grandpa Oscar was a ‘prayer warrior’. As he got old, he couldn’t do much else, but pray. He prayed in silence; he prayed out loud. I think he even prayed in his sleep. He prayed for family, he prayed for friends, and he prayed for the President of the United States everyday. Grandpa Oscar suffered from macular degeneration, old age and dementia. He went deaf and blind, but not dumb; he just mumbled his prayers.
When grandpa wasn’t praying in the sitting room, he was staring up at two large pictures that hung on the sitting room wall. He couldn’t see the pictures clearly; he was technically blind. But he’d squint up at those pictures, close his eyes and nod his head while mumbling agreement. When Grandpa Oscar died, I made copies of those pictures.
Today, I take copies of those pictures with me out to the streets. When my homeless friends ask me to pray with them, I give them the pictures. I don’t tell everybody the story of Grandpa Oscar and how he gave to others through his prayers; I just give everybody the pictures.
I imagine that my friends make up their own stories when they look at those two pictures. Maybe they show the pictures to others. Maybe, they just give the pictures away. It doesn't matter … most of my friends end up sharing the pictures with others, along with prayers.
A prayer is a gift we give others … and nobody ever has to know.
Grandpa Oscar gave our family many precious gifts. Here’s two …
God bless us, all.
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Enjoyed reading your blog. Excellent writer. A truly humane human being. Blessings.
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