My whole life I have been surrounded by incredibly strong women!

In fact, the Lord blessed me with the honor of having 5 grandmothers during my lifetime!!! 3 greats and 2 grands – to be exact!

Over the past 4 years, three of them have passed away and my heart will never be the same. I am forever grateful for all they taught me and miss them dearly. Thankfully I will see them on the other side – in eternity with our maker.

We All Are Passing Through

My Great Grandma Pearl is the last Great I have left on this Earth and she just celebrated a birthday on love day. ❤ To be 94 years old and still living in your own home – in your right mind – giving the Lord all the glory – #goals on #goals on #goals!!! 🤗

To celebrate this blessing of continued life I road-tripped to her house with my kiddies and siblings! We took her out to dinner and commenced to have a sleepover! She had us cracking up with all of her stories and life lessons! Listen –  it was midnight and she showed no signs of wanting to sleep! At 94, she was trying to have a stay up all night over!!!!!  Welp, her great grands couldn’t stay up and hang! 😂😂😂 We tapped out at midnight – don’t judge us.

In between giggling and cackling I  managed to jot down a few of my Grandma Pearl’s knowledge drops. Check out these:

Pearls of Wisdom

• Be Thankful & Grateful

  •  Everything about her spirit exudes this. She is thankful that the Lord has provided for her and that she has lived to see generations of her family.

• Live Spirit Led

  • She described a time where she wanted to fuss about something and the Lord told her no good would come from it – so she obeyed. She raised her kids to know the Lord and got them in Sunday School. To this day she looks forward to going to Sunday School at her church.

• Prioritize Family

  • She raised 6 kids and was a working mother.  Being with her children was her top priority and she was not one to go out partying.  It her belief that leaving them alone and not being present – can cause kids to go astray. There was a time where her and my Great Granddad worked the same shift – she talked to her boss and asked him to switch her – so one of them could be home with the kids and not a sitter.

• Choose Balance

  • In her younger years – an older woman and her doctor told her to “not do it all”! They told her if she continued working all day, come home cleaning & scrubbing, then cooking, getting the kids down, and polishing shoes – with no real rest – that her kids would have no mama. She definitely did not like the idea of  leaving young kids behind – so she let some things go and introduced balance. She chose to let her husband pick up some things – like cook dinner from time to time.

• Nothing is “Free”

  • There is always a catch or some fine print – sooner or later. Ask up front and don’t fall for the tricks!

• Get an Education

  • Just having a high school degree means the world to her! Getting a college degree is HUGE! Attending our graduations was always at the top of her list and made her so very proud. On this last visit, she made it a point to speak over my 5 year old and tell him he is smart!

• Men: Treat your Ladies Right

  • I overheard her telling my brothers this. That as a man you may think you are getting away with mistreating your lady – but it will catch up to you. This goes for us all and is bible. “Love your neighbor as yourself” – read the verse here. Loving God and others – are the greatest commandments

I picked up on these nuggets and more during our conversations. Plus we got to make  more memories and just love on each other! That is what family is all about.

Spend Time with your Elderly Loved Ones

They have sooo much wisdom and you might just get a six-pack from non stop laughter! Okay maybe a 2 pack, but you get my point. 😂 In all seriousness, they have been there done that! Get those pearls of wisdom and family history  – written down.

Pass it to the Next Generation

On this last trip I did just that and snapped lots of photos – my favorite being a 4 generation family picture. Tripods sure do come in handy – so no one gets left out! 🙂

 

 

Peace & Blessings,

Lonisa