Grandma Nancy and Wisdom

By natural roots and as long as I can remember I have always been very sentimental. I saved special things and kept them forever just because they reminded me of a time or person.

Ya, I just finally got rid of my Bookit! pin with all the little silver stickers that I had when I was 6ish? (mom?) to be rewarded by pizza hut for my reading (mostly just to get free pizza though).

I also have this weakness when it comes to hand written notes and when I get one I pretty much hang on to it forever. I keep a manila envelope full of little notes with “I love you” “this verse blessed me and I thought I would share it with you”, “I am sorry”, “I am so proud of you”, ect… written on everything from post-its and daddy’s famous yellow note pads , to pretty stationary and embossed cards.

Sometimes I like to go back and read through all of them and it always…always makes me cry and miss people.

For some reason, this evening I decided to take them all out and read them again since it had been several months since I read them last and I also had some to add to the collection.

I expected to cry, but I did not expect God to use words that were written years ago to encourage me as much as He did!

For those of you who don’t know them, Bob and Nancy Buchanan were two of the most influential people in my life from the ages of around 7 or 8 up until the time of their death when I was 14. “Grandma Nancy” and I used to exchange handwritten letters that started out as mailing each other stickers and talking about animals and flowers. However, some of the final letters before her passing, were chock full of biblical truths and deep spiritual

conversations that really helped to lay the groundwork for me and deepened my walk with the Lord. Little did either of us know that several years down the road, I would be wishing so badly to sit down with her and talk like we used to and ask her all my hard questions like I used to, and I would pull out those letters.

For the benefit of all of us I typed up some excerpts from those letters that I wanted to share with y’all.

In a note card dated exactly 5 years ago last Thursday,

“I am Glad God lifted you out of a spiritual low. I pray that you’re finding God to be everything you need and want and that He alone can satisfy the deepest longings in your heart. No one can ever satisfy like Jesus. I can attest to the fact that after 50+ years of walking with Him that He is more precious to me each day. Just remember that time alone with Him will bring you true joy.”

Written before that one on January 23^rd, 2006

“I love to claim a verse that meant so much to our son who is now with Jesus. It is 1 Timothy 1:7 and says: “God has not given us a spirit of timidity or fear but, of love, power and self discipline.” Keep putting on the armor every morning and yield, all that you have and all that you are, to Him. I thank God for His great faithfulness to each of us. He is always there to be whatever we need A rock, a refuge, a shelter, a strong tower, a friend, a Father, our joy, our peace, our burden bearer, our strength, our deliverer and so much more. He wants to be our everything. I’m sure the experiences you have had, God has used in your growth of faith!! May He keep you covered with His blood.”

And later on in the same letter

“We feel like God may bring us back to NE someday, and how much we would like to be with all of you. It doesn’t appear that it will be right away. We think He is saying stay put for now and just wait on Me. If we had our way we would probably have left yesterday! God seems to want Bob to keep plugging away at his insurance job right now. He would so much rather be in full time ministry again. We don’t know out future, we just take one day at a time, knowing our future is in His hands and that is where we want it to be. He has never failed us, and has been very good to us in 45yrs of marriage! Hallelujah what a Savior!”

I love the way God works, I love how she wrote all those words intending them to encourage me and 5 years later I would be sitting at my computer typing this up and bawling because those truths and encouragements meet me at a place where I need to hear and hearing them from her is just that much more special!!