Surprised by Grace

On the fourteenth of this month we noted the second anniversary of my mother's death. Although overwhelmed by life, my mother until her stroke approached dying most of the time with a calm logical attitude.. Months before her time came she started writing notes that gave the history of different things. I now have the desk that a relative  took out of her attic to give to my grandparents on their wedding day. I have a casserole dish that was the only item my grandmother had that belonged to her mother Matilda. My great grand died when my grand was 13.

 I found a small glass container which contained a note. It said that my grandmother had kept spoons in it. I'm uncertain how many notes she. wrote or how many more would she have liked to do. The notes plus a few autobiographical entries in a notebook showed the mind of a loving, logical woman who treasured her heritage and loved  her family.

Last weekend all 5 of us plus some spouses and some grandchildren gathered at my mother's house to carry home the items we each had chosen. This was the time Mother had dreaded. Too many people had told her horror stories of families falling apart as they fought over paintings, jewelry or other inherited items. Mother said repeatedly that she didn't want that to be our story. We certainly haven't done the process perfectly but there have been no arguments or sharp words. Most of the time what one person desired others just wanted the item to be treasured within the family.

What caused this unusual convergence of this chunk of the clan? Another family had chosen our family's home to be theirs and the closing date was coming soon. I wondered what this family was like, the age of their children, the closeness of the family, the occupation of the father. I knew the dad was coming to talk to my brother about things he wanted but I was eager for more.

When the time came the mother, father and 2 teenage daughters were chatting in the driveway with our family. Later I was able to walk through the bedrooms with the mom and her 2 daughters. I told them what family member slept in what room and they told me who in their family would sleep in each room When we approached my old room I discovered my space would be the school room for their youngest daughter.

I was amazed. The best I had hoped for was a face and name of the father. Instead God allowed me to connect with the mom and 2 daughters as well. I also discovered that I graduated from high school with a sister of the dad. They told us about their church a few miles away,

At first when I thought about furniture being removed from the house it seemed like an amputation of parts from an organic whole. Meeting the new owners changed my perspective. Now each piece seemed like a seedling that will prosper as it is planted in another part of the family tree. The house instead of being an abrupt conclusion to all that my parents built seemed more like a smooth transition as it moves to another family with parents loving their children, welcoming grandchildren, Mom teaching, and Dad working on projects in the garage. With my parents and the new owners each have and are exercising their gifts while caring for each generation.

God granted grace in abundance.