Lessons from the Bowling Alley
By Pamela Blattner
“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”
2 Timothy 1:5
By Pamela Blattner
“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”
2 Timothy 1:5
My dad’s family went to church faithfully. That’s what they had always done. But, once inside the brick walls of home, the story was different. There the masks came off, and my dad and his brother and sister lived with the painful reality of their father’s bad choices. When my grandfather passed away suddenly, my grandma was faced with providing for the family. Being unskilled, she went to work for a local bowling alley in South Milwaukee within walking distance of their home. She spent the next several years polishing the floors. She and her children also went on welfare.
What she did had a lasting impact on my dad. Quiet, consistent and exhausted, Grandma Gusty showed love to her family. Her never-wavering faith was an anchor. Her unconditional love toward many homeless children in her neighborhood was like water to a thirsty child. My grandmother gave hope that there was more to God and to this life than what she knew. Moreover, my dad, my sister and I, and my children, learned from our grandmother that Christianity was something you lived out every day, not just on Sundays.
Never underestimate the power of faith to make an impact over generations. Through the faith that both my grandmother and dad shared with me, I learned that God doesn’t need dynamic preaching to convey His love. Nor does He need people with classy cars, big houses or fancy vacation plans to make an impression. God can change a life, and a generation of lives, using the gentle, consistent, sincere lives of people who love and serve Him.
Thank you, God, for Grandma Gusty’s sparkling eyes and model of faith you’ve shown me through her life. I long to be a wife, mother and grandmother who leaves a legacy of faith to my family.
GOING DEEPER:
1. Who in your life has modeled Christ’s servant heart to you or your family?
2. What can you do for your own children, grandchildren or others in your life to leave a legacy of faith?
FURTHER READING:
Isaiah 55:11; Daniel 4:34b
Pam and her husband Richard have two adult children and two grandchildren. She serves Oakwood through its Family Care Ministries.
