Cinnamon Singing Inside

Today, I received a card from my childhood neighbors who have been like grandparents to me since the day I was born. I haven’t lived beside them since I was a child but over the years I have remained in contact with them and appreciate so much the time I am able to spend with them. When I was a child, I would travel the short distance down the sidewalk to their home almost daily. I would walk in the front door straight to the refrigerator and get 2 slices of cheese (for some reason their cheese tasted better than our cheese) before joining them in their living room. As I happily ate their cheese; Dot and Hubbers (Eileen and Harry weren’t acceptable to me as a child and still aren’t as an adult) would captivate me with war stories, entertain me with boxes of blocks, and spark my imagination with boxes of dress up clothes. They also taught me how to pick vegetables from a garden, sing in rounds, and how to make the perfect Coco Wheats. Most of my favorite childhood memories involve two people who were proud to take on the responsibility of my grandparents (and cheese providers) and who were proud to claim me even when I left mud footprints on their front porch and scared the life out of them by falling asleep under my dining room table. (My entire neighborhood was looking for me for hours because they thought I had been kidnapped. I was just napping and playing with my imaginary friends for an entire afternoon underneath my dining room table…it was more fun under there.)

Today as I read the words of their card; I was humbled by the kind words inside. I was thankful that after 20 years; I am still blessed by two individuals who will always be grandparents to me. (And Dot and Hubbers) I was drawn to a specific sentence inside the card: we are proud of the young woman you have become.  The words touched my heart and I realized that of all my memories containing them; my most valuable are the memories of them taking me to church with them. Not only are they responsible for taking me to church but they completed my Sunday school projects with me, they taught me Children Songs (Apple Red Happiness will always be my favorite), they bought me my first bible, and they  practiced the Lord’s prayer with me until I knew every word. Because of their investments in my life both as a child and as an adult (and because of their card today) I am able to ask myself daily: Is God proud of you? Is God proud of the young woman I have become? Do my actions, motives, decisions, words, desires, and purposes make God proud? I wish I was capable of making God proud every moment of every day but I can’t. I make mistakes, I am guilty of sin, and I don’t make myself proud at times. But God is everything that I live for and I want to follow all of His ways. I want to trust Him always. I want to love like Jesus. I want to give and serve with the heart of Jesus. I want the world to see Jesus like I see Him. And as long as I keep God first in my heart and allow Him the freedom to mold me into the girl He can be proud of; I can answer my question with a yes. When God looks at your life is He proud? Is He the driving force behind your every action, thought, and desire? Are you proud to give up your life for Him?  I know that I will never be perfect friends and I know that as much as I want God to be proud of me every second of every day; He won’t. He won’t because I wasn’t created to be perfect and neither were you. But you were created for eternity and in order to have eternity with Christ, you must make Him proud. You must put Him first so He can mold your heart. You must put Him first so one day you will hear Him say, “My child, I am proud of the woman (or man) you have become.”

One of my favorite snacks is still cheese and I still read from the bible given to me from the greatest people to ever live on Furbee Avenue. I may not share the innocence or imagination I possessed as a child but I still share my love for Jesus. I’m still proud of my responsibility in Christ and I am still proud of the young woman who began to develop the very moment God placed two individuals I am proud to love into my life.

Verse to remember: Jeremiah 7:3 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.