Timeless Country Wisdom from My Wise and Wonderful Grandmother That Will Light Up Your Day
These wise sayings from my Grandmother who used her hard life to become a mighty prayer warrior can help you find your way through hard times and light up your life.
Photo credit: Chinmayan
My Grandmother learned the secrets of turning adversity to advantage; of using hard times, trials and tribulations to become an inspiring mighty woman of God who prayed her way through every challenge.
I am grateful that, from baby hood through my boyhood years, I got to spend many happy hours visiting my Grandmother in her little house, where she still worked the farm til her last day, raising her own food in sustainable self reliance.
When I knew her, she was a older lady with sparkling eyes and a sweet smile who always made me feel like I was her favorite grandson.
I am sure my brothers and all of her other grandchildren felt the same way.
Though her long life had been filled with all kinds of losses and challenges, she had used those experiences to become a vessel of unconditional love.
Even as a child I always knew she was a very special person— wise, always cheerful and very loving.
Though she had had an unusually difficult life, she learned the secret of maintaining a powerfully positive attitude based in her deep faith in God, and her confidence in her ability to do whatever had to be done.
Even when times were very hard during the Depression years, she relied upon prayer and the Lord’s provision while also believing that “the Lord helps those who help themselves and pray for help.”
After her husband felt the call to leave his family and spend the rest of his life as an wandering lay preacher, she continued raising their twelve children as a single mother on their small farm.
That was unheard of in those and that part of the country.
Even when folks told her it was going to be too damn hard for her to do it all, she’d reply “You just watch me! With God’s help I can do anything the Lord calls me to do!”
She taught all her children to be self reliant, determined individuals who overcame every difficulty, who knew that quitting or failure was simply not an option.
My Dad told us stories of being given a rifle with a single bullet in it and sent out to hunt for game to feed the family, knowing he had to make the one shot count or they would all go hungry, because they could not afford to buy any more ammunition.
Every child learned the value of hard work, as they toiled on the farm everyday “from can to can’t,” from “sun rise to sun set”… always working together as a team.
My grandmother saw to it that their life, though hard, brought out the goodness and molded each child’s character, rather than broke them.
She never complained or spoke of them as being poor, but reminded them of how very rich they were because they had each other’s love.
In time, each of her children, who she raised alone after her husband departed, became great men and women who were the “salt of the earth” and pillars of the communities they lived in.
Every one of them went on to do great things in the world, and raised their own families, guided by the same values my Grandmother had instilled in them as children.
I share some of her sayings, which are still passed down through the generations, to help you in lighting up your own life….
Photo Credit: Chinmayan
My Grandmother’s Timeless Country Wisdom
If God brings you to it,
God will see you through it.
God always helps those who help themselves
And who pray to be shown for the way through.
You never know how strong you really are until
Something happens that makes you stand up and find your strength.
When life gets hard, don’t let it make you hard.
No matter what happens or what anyone may do to you,
Always remember to learn from the experience and let it
Make you better, rather than bitter.
Anything or anyone that annoys you
Is giving you the chance to learn patience.
Anyone who abandons or betrays you is teaching
You to stand on your own two feet.
When someone gets angry with you and
Says or does mean and terrible things to you,
Always remember that
They are giving you a chance to
Learn forgiveness and compassion.
Anything or anyone who tries to take power over you,
Is teaching you how to take your power back.
Anyone who hurts you so bad that you want to hate them
Is teaching you the value of unconditional love.
Anything that is making you afraid
Is teaching you how to gain courage and
Overcome your fears.
Life is too short to wake up
In the morning with regrets.
Love the people who treat you right
And forgive those who don’t.
Its always best to have faith and believe
That everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance at a good opportunity,
Take it even if it scares you.
If it brings big changes to your life,
Be ready to change for the better with it.
No body ever promised that life was going to be easy,
But I promise you that if you live by faith,
And always do your best to know and follow
God’s sweet will, that it will
Always be worth it!
Photo Credit: Chinmayan
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I love your grandmother's words of wisdom. Thanks for sharing. 💟