I wrote this back in 2008 (my word, have I really been blogging that long?!?), and I felt that this Memorial Day would be the perfect time to bring it back.
The lesson of my grandpa…
{it’s a tad long, but worth it, i promise!}
Eve-itis
~~~~~~~
When my grandpa was sick last year I went home to spend some time with him.
It was one of the hardest times of my life, but certainly the most treasured thing I’ve ever done.
I was able to sit and feed him, help with his blood level testings, and every night, I helped put him to bed.
It was incredibly special to be there and help make his experience better in whatever way I could.
And yet, I was the one whose life was changed…as I watched him in his final days…
Every day, he would ask someone to sit with him to read him something from the bible.
And as my niece was reading to him one day, I even heard him reciting along from memory.
And every night when we put him into his bed, we all gathered around him and took turns praying, himself included.
A week after I got home, he passed away.
But that last week I spent with him changed my life.
I was amazed that every single day he lived was for the Lord.
He never missed a day of reading his Bible, even when he was days away from his last breath.
I was inspired.
And though dying of bone cancer, the most painful kind of all, I never once heard him complain.
Not one time.
When the Lord finally took him home, he was surrounded by his four daughters and wife, all six of them listening to his favorite hymn.
The day I flew home from the funeral, I got a daily bible and I made a promise to myself and to God.
That I would follow in his footsteps by reading the Bible every single day no matter what.
And of course, one of the first things I read was the story of Adam and Eve.
What hit me as I was reading the story, is that Eve had everything she could possibly want.
She had the man, the perfect body, no worries about what to wear…
no worries about anything really.
She lived in perfection.
She was perfection.
And on top of that, she got to hang out with God and hear His voice whenever she wanted to.
And yet, there was this tree.
This one and only tree that was specifically off limits.
One simple little tree in a garden of perfection.
It would seem to me that if I were in her place, I could easily brush it off and obey God’s command.
But, would I really?
The thing is, we all have this nature to not be content in our circumstances no matter what they may be. We tend to look around and find the one thing, the one thing, that we don’t have and then we decide if only we had it, we could be content.
From the beginning of time, God gave free will.
He gives a choice.
He gave Eve everything she could want or need but without that tree, where would her free will, her choice, really be?
Even in perfection, Eve looked around and saw what she didn’t have.
She felt God was withholding something that would complete her, and so she took things into her own hands.
She went to the tree, talked to the (satan) Snake, and made that fateful decision.
She took a bite, convinced Adam to take a bite, and then their eyes were opened.
Contentment went out the window, sin came in.
Of course, we all know, she didn’t know better than God.
Her way did not end up being better than His.
My life is certainly far from perfect, but I have been incredibly blessed.
Yet, so often, too often, I get consumed with what I’m missing out on.
I become discontent and I start to complain.
I develop what I’ve started to call, “Eve-itis.”
I forget what I have, what I have been given, and I focus on what I think God is withholding from me.
I play God in my life, and when I do, it never ends up being better than if I had just waited on Him.
And this all brings me back to my grandpa.
What did he have?
He didn’t have his health, his freedom, his youth, and he certainly didn’t have any control over his body. Every pleasure seemed to have been taken from him.
He was definitely far from living in perfection.
But, you never heard him talk about that.
He never vented or asked, “Why me?”
He sat in peaceful silence and was grateful for every moment he had with the people he loved.
He held my hand and thanked me for the meal he could barely eat.
He prayed to the Lord every day and told Him he loved Him.
He was content.
He never showed any signs or symptoms of Eve-itis.
He was a man of honor.
My prayer is that I can follow his example.
To remember him, and find a way to climb my way out of Eve-itis each time it hits.
No matter what my circumstances may be.
Till death.
***In honor of Harold Owen Lindley on Memorial Day****
Not only did my grandpa serve his country with incredible loyalty and integrity, but he served his family with so much more than I’m sure he ever really knew.
The lessons of my grandpa stay in the hearts of everyone who knew him.
© 2011 “Le Musings of Moi”
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Love this! Makes me miss my own grandpa even more tonight. 🙂
This is beautiful – thank you for sharing. Eve-itis; I love it.
wow, this is amazing. Something I need to hear every day. Your grandfather sounds wonderful. What a blessing to have him in your life!