Amazing Grace

Last week I gave the controls of A Different Drummer to my son, Bobby.  This week, I’ll follow-up by surrendering the reigns to another son, Travis.  Bobby’s twin brother wrote the following in tribute to my mom.

One year ago tomorrow, August 24, my mother passed away.  Travis wrote and presented this a few days later, at Mom’s funeral.

That’s enough introduction needed for my son who Mom called, her “straw-boss.”

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Here’s Travis:

“I’m going to say this since we are all thinking it, we hate funerals.  No one wants to go to them and you really don’t like it when you have to go.  I remember Granny telling me at Grandpas funeral that she did not want all that crying at her funeral.  So, I’m going to try to help do exactly that. I will start by saying this is a celebration of her life!  Her soul has left this earth and is in Gods loving embrace. We will celebrate all the great times we had with her and then, lord willing, look forward to when we will see her again.

“She has made ours so much better so let’s make this what she wants.

“Wanda ‘Granny,’ ‘Pug’ Matthews was one of a kind.  She loved her extra-large family more than just about anything.  She has enriched the lives of the people she has been around.  She could have conquered the world if she had not put her family first.  This amazing, sweet, loving women did have a trick up her sleeve, though.  There was something about her that only her favorites know.  Since I am her favorite, favorite I guess I have the privilege of filling you in.  After all I am the straw boss, so now I am in charge!  Granny never wanted to get remarried after grandpa passed away, but if she did there was only one man that she fancied!  He is kind of popular, too.  His name was Alan Jackson, the award-winning country music singer!  In honor of that best-kept-secret I want to pay tribute to Granny with a few of his most popular songs.

“Don’t worry though, I won’t sing.  I forgot my musical talent at home.

“Speaking of home, here we go;

“Alan Jackson’s “Home’

“This song reminds me of Granny getting married at a young age but making life work.  Granny and Grandpa always lived in small houses or apartments but that never slowed them down.  Even after adding three kids to the family, the houses were still home.  What made those little houses home was their love.  Even when they moved and the family grew, so did that love.  

“I’m sure it was not perfect in that home.  In fact, I know it was not perfect.  I did happen to live with one of their children for a while.  He told me many times that he was the best sibling so I can only imagine what the rest were like!  

“If you did happen to walk into their home, you knew it was your home, too! Watch out staying to long though, ‘cause she might put you to work.  You have to earn your keep after all! 

“Working hard brings me to the next song.

“Alan Jackson’s ‘Little Man’

“This song reminds me of Granny living in a small town.  She grew up and tried moving to the big city, but soon came back to the Bootheel.  This was where she belonged.  Something about working hard with people you cared about pulled her back.  Over time is seemed like she would grow to know everyone from miles around.  Which changed into feeling like she couldn’t go anywhere without finding someone that didn’t already know her.  One time in Washington DC at the top of the Washington monument it was thought that Granny finally found a place that she would not bump into someone she did not know.  About that time a voice could be heard saying ‘Wanda Matthews, is that you?’

“Her influence stretched far beyond the city limits of Malden and she never let her small size control her God given path.  Make sure you didn’t let her small stature fool you either; her dad was right when he said ‘she might be small but she covers all the ground she stands on!’

“That statement was perfect for her!

“This next song really put her influence in perspective. 

“Alan Jackson’s ‘Remember When’

“This song reminds me of Granny and her love for her grandsons!

I’m sorry Chicky, Pam, and Scott, once Kyle and Shawn kicked off the show and then Patrick batted clean-up, her grandsons stole her heart.  She would not tell you she had a favorite out of us either but since I’m up here I can answer that one too.  There are eight of them, all favorites in their own special way!  She practically raised us during the summers.  We all have scars from ‘that one time at Granny’s house.’  There was not much she would not do for her boys and here are just a few of the highlights: Pepsi on the porch ‘cause Coke was not the same – peanut butter and crackers, only after the ‘Price is Right’ was over – patched blue jeans, cause they still have some life left – tons and I mean TONS of quilts cause when those blue jeans finally give out they were still good for something – long walks while she watched those boys hit every drop of water they found on the road – late night ice cream, which explains why her Grandsons are rounder than they once were – the basement light being on ‘cause she was always doing some kind of sewing to help someone else – going to Church cause she knew only God could help these boys.

“That brings me to the last song.

“Alan Jackson’s rendition of Amazing Grace.

“This song reminds me of Granny’s understanding of God’s Grace!  Granny loved to hear preaching…as long as it came from Brother Aulden or myself.  She really wanted he and I to preach at her funeral and as we all learned very well, you better do as she asked!  As much as we all think she was perfect, she wasn’t.  If you don’t believe me you should have asked her.  She would have lied to you and said ‘I am perfect.’  I have heard that you stop growing when you reach perfection so some people get there quicker than others!

“That explains her almost 5 ft height; she was perfect before the rest of us.  All kidding aside she learned a long time ago that nothing she could do would get her into heaven.  She knew that by God’s grace her sins were forgiven, no matter how big or how small! 

“Right now, she gets to see God’s grace and love, up-close and personal.  I know for a fact that she has one wish for all of us here and that is that each one of us accept that gift of grace that we can have at no cost to us!  It’s astonishing to me that when Granny left this earth you could instantly tell that she was not here.  Her earthly body could not be kept working only because her soul was gone.  She had told me previously she was ready to go be with God and one thing I’m sure she looked forward to was God’s promise of a new body. Paul discusses this fact in his 1st letter to Corinth.  This is what that reads.

“1 Corinthians 15:40-45. 

“There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.  The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.  So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.  The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.  So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.

“When we told our two oldest kids about Granny going to heaven, we waited to see their response.  We were ready for the questions that were sure to follow.  Those questions never came.  Instead we heard what God wants us to understand.  They were genuinely happy that her pain was gone.  They were excited that Granny could see again, walk again, breath without tubes again!  They were excited because Great Granny was with all her great grand babies that are not with us now.  Our oldest kids taught us that it’s ok to miss Granny but don’t dwell on it.  Granny is spiritually happy now with no physical pain! 

“To help Granny with her last wish I will finish with this.  God is real!  He created all things and sustains all things.  He is the answer to all the scientific questions of ‘why’. He gave us free will so we could choose Him. We don’t have to earn his love or work for his love. God did the hard work. He sent himself as the ultimate sacrifice to cover our sins.  All we have to do is except that amazing grace and be set free!  Once you realize that only God can satisfy that giant ‘God sized’ hole in your heart, you will be set free from Satan’s hold. 

“The best way for me to end is to let God do it.

“God’s word says it best; John 3:16,17: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

“Thank you and God bless!

“Sincerely,

“Travis Matthews”

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            As I just reread my son’s words to Mom, I was fighting back tears.  Nobody could have described Mom any better than Travis did. 

I miss Mom so much.  Even today, a year after her passing, it’s a rare day when I don’t think of something I’d love to talk to her about.  God willing, maybe one day I can talk to her again.

I love you, Mom.

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