February 24, 2007 – mom sent me an email to answer some of my questions about our family. I wanted to know more about my grandmother (Grandma Margaret Winquist), as I don’t have many personal memories of her. She didn’t have much time for casual entertainment or hobbies, but she was a hard worker. Here is a portion of mom’s message to me:

“Grandma Winquist did a lots of cooking and baking. Never just one pie, I remember the first time that I went their home for Sunday dinner, she had pies for each one at the table. They didn’t eat their pie all at once, but piece by piece she would cut and serve them, and when eating was finished after a big chicken dinner, with all the trimmings, the pies were all gone.  We seldom had desert, so it was some new experience for me, and so I really remember that. She loved the Lord, and at the time I still wasn’t a Christian, and she would go on and on about how much the Lord loved me.  And how she was praying for me. She is a lovely Christian lady, and I’m sure we all owe her a debt of gratitude for all her prayers for us.  She never lived to see Grandpa saved, but the Lord was faithful to her prayers, and many years after she died, he came to the Lord.”

Mom was always praying for her family. She saw what her mother-in-law did even before she trusted Christ. Grandma Winquist told mom she was praying for her. I need to be thankful not only for a mom who prayed, but for a grandmother who prayed and loved her family. She had a weak physical heart, but it did not prevent her from loving in word and deed. Mom also had a weak physical heart, but her energies in prayer were not hindered by that. I need to pray for my children, their spouses and our grandchildren. Mom taught me that. She didn’t tell me to do it, she showed me by her life.

Just a few of the people impacted by Grandma Margaret’s prayers and Mom’s prayers.

One final thought to consider about the impact of mothers and grandmothers is from God’s Word. What did the Apostle Paul remember when he thought about Timothy’s mom and grandmother? He tells us in his letter to his young friend Timothy. “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” 2 Tim. 1:5 (ESV)