September 4, 2000

DOWN HOME:
When you can't say why, just thank God for Who
___Grammar and I spent the weekend talking about God's will.
___Grammar is my mother's mother. Her name's Helena, but my oldest cousin, Dana, called her Grammar.
___Grammar turned 89 years old last spring, and she's an absolute marvel.
___For most of her nine decades, she's been astoundingly healthy. Those hard years in

MARV KNOX Editor

Dust Bowl Oklahoma molded strong people.
___And for years, Grammar's mission has been to minister to the "old ladies" at the nursing home near her house in Fort Sumner, N.M. Of course, most of those "old ladies" are younger than Grammar.
___Nothing seemed to slow her down. Oh, arthritis pulled her to her easy chair more and more the past two years. But she still called on the "old ladies" and occupied the church house practically every time the door opened. I think Woman's Missionary Union has retired her jersey.
___Earlier this year, she climbed in her Buick and drove out from New Mexico, back to the Texas Panhandle, to Higgins, where she and Popo raised Mother and Uncle Norman, and then to Waynoka, Okla., where they lived and worked for the Santa Fe railroad for more than 30 years.
___No, nothing seemed to slow Grammar down.
___Except for a water hose. She was out trying to save her plants from the drought when she tripped over the hose, fell on the concrete porch and shattered her right thigh.
___So, she wasn't hard to find when I arrived at the New Mexico Rehabilitation Center in Roswell. She caught me up on the progress of her rehab, her utter lack of appetite and options for her future.
___Our conversation continually turned back to that age-old question: Why? And, as you might guess, we couldn't come up with a great answer.
___As I understand it, Grammar thinks God had at least one more lesson for her to learn, which required horrifying travail. But I just think really bad things happen when 89-year-old women with porcelain bones fall down.
___Regardless, we both turned for comfort to one of our favorite Bible verses: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
___If I heard her right, Grammar believes God causes every event, even a shattered thigh, for a purpose. And I believe God feels the pain of that break and the helplessness of loved ones, even if God did not cause a woman to fall. We both believe God abides with us, helping us make the very best of an awful situation that may alter all our lives.
___Thank God for ancient promises. And for Grammar's faith.
__

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