Beautiful women. Sometimes God surrounds you with love you are unaware of and fail to appreciate. My life has been blessed with the presence of some beautiful women………..maternal and paternal aunts. These lovely ladies brought into my life grace, dignity, strength, and strong faith in adversity. Today, they are seated in heavenly places. (Ephesians 2:6) I am so thankful for the bouquet of colorful experiences they planted along the path I walk………
Pictures of Aunts Edie and Elsie
Aunts Elsie and Edie were my Dad’s sisters. They lived in Michigan and we saw them rarely. Doting sisters and adoring aunts. These ladies of stature,
laughed loud and loved large. They comforted grieving nieces and nephew after the death of their beloved youngest brother. They loved my mother and they became the sisters she never had. They were charismatic, affectionate, and adoring. They were kind and thoughtful. I learned from them the joy of faith, security of salvation despite adversity, and distance and time does not decrease the way one loves.
Aunt Madelyn seated, Aunt Lillian, and Aunt Grace front, Aunt Jane and Polly back
Aunts Polly, Madelyn, Jane, Grace, and Lillian: These my maternal great aunts picked up where my grandmother left off teaching me the art of Southern ladyship. Charm, grace, hospitality, nurturing, strength, and dignity. Pristine homes while working outside the home. Smiles despite broken hearts. Heads held high but not proud; backs straight as they carried heavy loads; homes open to others; church the center of their “social” circle. Some today would think of these as boring. This is the way they met needs of others, reached out to the poor, comforted the grieving, and “broke bread” together. This was community. This was survival. They had seen my great grandmother feed the farm workers and help care for their families who lived on the farm. In today’s shift out of the church and not knowing our neighbors, we are losing vital connections. To watch these women work at a family reunion was to observe worker ants on a hill after a picnic. (Proverbs 6:6-11) These strong Southern women were not debutantes. They were Rosie the Riveters. Only Aunt Jane remains on this terrestrial ball at the beautiful age of 85, the youngest of the nine siblings!
As you can see, I have some amazing Proverbs 31 women impacting my life: “A wife of noble character, works with eager hands, gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family, considers a field and buys it out of her earnings, she plants a vineyard, sets about her work vigorously, her arms are strong for her tasks; opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy, she has no fear for her household: for all of them are clothed. She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”
Their expectations of others high. Their standards for themselves were higher. Their gold standard was the Word of God. Faith guided these women’s lives through turbulent waters.
The women who married into the family and became my aunts were also some pretty amazing women: Aunts Ruth, Edna, and Olean and step grandmother LaVerne. Grafted in and bringing more experience and beauty to the family and the best fried okra, divinity, fruit cake cookies, and fudge EVER! These women could cook!
I recently reviewed a book soon to be released titled, I’m a 2 Rule Girl by Karon Phillips.. These aunts of mine were all 2 Rule Girl(s): They loved the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength and they loved others as themselves. That’s it! The Law and the Prophets and all Jesus said in a nice neat package of dynamite. These two rules can create an explosion of change in the world. (Matthew 22:40)
Are you recognizing you too have a cloud of witnesses? People God placed in your life for a time and now are seated in the “cloud” seats cheering you and others running beside you in this race of life. (Hebrews 12:1-3) Share their pictures and honor them here!
Let’s, “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:13)
Forever Grateful by Sandi Patty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIuZg4AfSLQ
