Not Again!

My grandkids have never seen what you see pictured on the left--an old fashioned rotary phone. It might be outdated, but in its heyday it was THE way to keep in touch!

And Grandma, for one, knew how to use it.!

Every day I wasn't in school and Grandma happened to be in town (sometimes she would be in Mexico ministering at "her" village--the place she felt God had called her to), the phone would be sure to ring about midmorning--and it would be Grandma.

I would groan when I heard her voice. Not again! I KNEW what she would say after the obligatory "how are you's" … "Janine, have you read your Bible today?" Invariably, the answer would be, with a sigh laced with the exasperation known only to the young, "No, Grandma, I haven't … "

The double whammy would come if it happened to be Sunday morning before church and I had (gasp!) dared to read the funnies (the riveting special color edition I had waited for all week long that came out on only that day) before I read my Bible! "Janine, do you think it pleases the Lord for us to read the funnies before we read His Word, especially on the day that is dedicated to Him?"

After my Grandma-call I would flop to my Bible and read it in a somewhat desultory fashion. When finished with the chapter de jour, I would gratefully close the cover and sigh, the great wad of Grandma-induced guilt lifted.

This happened year after year until finally, maybe around age eleven, it dawned on me, slow learner that I am, that if I read the Bible first thing on my own I wouldn't have to deal with any guilt from Grandma's calls. I think she probably fainted the first time she called and I answered (surprise!), "Yes, Grandma. I already read my Bible."

It's a sad fact that I resented Grandma "bugging" me to read the Bible in those early years. Why couldn't she leave me alone???? Ah, but later … ! As an adult I came to realize what a precious legacy Grandma had gifted me--she had helped instill in me a wonderful, invaluable life-long discipline that helped me with my walk with God. One I urge you to adopt!

Have to get up early? No problema--read it on the treadmill or on the counter while you dress (yes, I have done that!) Where there's a will there's a way! And, thanks to Grandma, I have a built-in BIble thermometer that gives me no peace until some of God's word has made it into my soul for the day.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" Psalm 119:105.