Who Are You?

Today I found myself in a very nostalgic mood.  I decided to put a couple photos on social media, and I got to thinking about the people in the pictures.  The pictures I posted held images of people either gone from this world forever, now aged from the snapshots of the past, or all grown up now.

Great Grandma & Grandpa Snyder 1969

I come from an extraordinary family! This month we will celebrate the 106th birthday of my Great-Grandma Snyder. This is a woman that has never let anything slow her down. I could probably spend days if not weeks looking through pictures and slides of all the places she has visited in her lifetime. I have so many fond memories of visiting her, but I will share just this one today.

Let me just set the groundwork....My grandma loves ice cream. I don't mean that she likes it, I mean she LOVES it! She always kept multiple containers of ice cream in her freezer. (And it contained not much else!) She would serve us ice cream every time we were there. Sometimes the visit also included a trip to the store to purchase more ice cream because she believed that she didn't have enough. Her home was a virtual smorgasbord of her favorite frozen food!

Now that the groundwork is laid, let me share my most memorable visit to grandma's house.  On this particular visit grandma was in the mood for a root beer float. YUM! In fact I find that my mouth is watering even as I type about it! Every time I went back to her and thanked her for the tasty treat she would ask if I wanted another one.  Even before I could get an answer out of my mouth, she was busy at work building another creation of yummy goodness! That day I had four root beer floats!  FOUR!  If that isn't good enough, the story gets even better. Years later (as an adult) I was visiting grandma, and this story came to my mind, so I thought I would share it with her. What does she do?  You guessed it!  She says, "Oh, would you like a root beer float!" Before I could even say a word, she was busy at work building a creation of yummy goodness!  I smiled and thanked her, then we sat at her table in the kitchen and shared memories as we both enjoyed her favorite treat, ice cream.

I too, like my grandma, am a feeder.  I am one of those people that believe I need to feed you because I love you. If you come to my house, I will feed you.  If I think about you while I am driving, I will get something and bring it to you to feed you. Stories like this one about my grandma make me smile because it really solidifies the fact that we are a compilation of the qualities that impacted us the most in our lives. Whether good or bad. Whether we were learning what to do, or what not to do. We become what has made the biggest impact on us.

As I am flipping through the old pictures that hold snapshots of faces that have left this earth. Pictures of people that have left imprints on my life forever I find myself thankful. Thankful to have been placed in this amazing family by my heavenly Father. Thankful to have spent time in their homes talking and laughing. Thankful for the impact of their love that has helped to make me who I am.

I dare say that we as Christians we are to be like my Grandma Snyder. We are to be so in love with the Savior of our souls that we share him every chance we get. We should never let our stockpile run low. We should always be invested and involved in our church which is the place that keeps our "freezer" full.  There will be those that come to us (like I did with my grandma) that have hungry faces and eager eyes. Those are the ones that have been placed in our lives for us to help disciple. You see, we are not just here to be imprinted upon, we are here to leave a mark!  When my last day has come and gone and people are standing at my funeral, I don't want it said about me that I sure knew how to take! "Yes, that girl sure knew how to take it all in!".....NO! I want it said that I gave all I had!  I want it said that whatever it was that God blessed me with, whether knowledge or money, talents or wisdom, faith or anything else, that I poured it out. I want it said that I used all I had to make an impact for the Kingdom of God!

My Gorgeous Grandma Snyder