A Good Man, A Good Woman

“Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly.” Proverbs 13:222 (NLT)

My Grandaddy, Buster Payne, was a very wise, good man. He loved to tell a story, sing church hymns, spend time with people eating at the Boligee Cafe, give advice (mostly about saving your money), spend his time living on the river, and so many other things. Every time I spent time with my grandaddy, he invested in me and in my children. There are so many things that I have learned from knowing him that I use today. I never saw the things he taught me useful until I had a family and really needed them to survive, push me through a tough time, and to choose right over wrong.

“She works with her hands in delight.” Proverbs 31:13 
“She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family.” Proverbs 31:15

My grandmother, Lizzie Watkins, was a busy woman. Every time I went to her house, there was a spread. She had these long deep freezers inside the house. These were used to put all the food on that she cooked because a lot of room was needed when grandma cooked. My grandma worked happily at feeding us all. When I was young, I loved to witness her love of cooking which is the reason that I love cooking for my family today. Grandma would also follow us all, everyone in the entire family, out to the car and stand there, waving until we could no longer see her. I have always done that when my children leave.

My parents, Brenda and Richard taught me so many things also. I have shared with you all in previous devotionals many of these things. The love of cooking was huge with both of my parents. The love of gardening, fishing, a good crawfish boil, a huge fish fry, hunting were all passed down. The love of hunting skipped through me, but has been passed down to my boys.

These special, important, loving, old school people left a legacy that will definitely be passed down by so many people that they invested their time with. They invested so many valuable things in all of us because they weren’t on their cell phones, always in front of a TV, or running at such a fast pace as all of us are now. I pray that I can invest more time in my children’s lives. I pray that I will leave a legacy to my grandchildren like I was left.

I pray that when I am gone, my children and grandchildren will remember valuable things that I have taught them or shown them and use them in their lives.

So I challenge you, as I challenge myself, to put down the cell phones, turn off the TV., eat dinner together, and invest in the ones that you love. Stop running yourself crazy and spreading yourselves so thin. Enjoy the ones that you love. Leave the legacy that you want to leave. I know that I am so thankful and feel so blessed that my grandparents and parents invested in me.

Counting My Blessings,

Susan Browder