I was fortunate as a child growing up in that I lived close to both sets of my grandparents. They were both within easy walking distance of my home. These two sets of grandparents were very different. I guess that could be said about any 2 families. I appreciated them both and they both gave me a rich heritage of memories.
I remember my maternal grandparents, the Wakefields; mawmaw and pawpaw to me. Their yard had no grass in it. My grandmother would take a hoe and cut the sprigs of grass as they came up and then sweep the yard clean. There were big oak trees in the yard so I doubt very much grass would have grown there anyway. As a boy, it gave me lots of good places to play and I spent many hours at their house.
One of my earliest memories of my maternal grandfather, William Wakefield, is of a sign he had nailed to a big oak tree in their yard. The sign was blue with white letters. It was a metal sign measuring about 2 feet by 3 feet. It was nailed about 6 feet up on the tree. It simply read “Prepare to meet thy GOD Amos 4:12.” I can vividly see this sign today. As a child I wasn’t really sure what that meant. But now as an adult it carries a lot of meaning to me.
First, the prominent location of that sign reminds me that my grandparents were GOD fearing people. In all my years of life I have never encountered one single person who had anything bad to say about my grandfather. Not a single one!
Secondly, as I am now a grandfather also, it is important to me that my grandchildren have good positive memories of me. I want them to associate me with my religion and my GOD. I would hope that when they are in their mid 50s they will remember something about Pop and G that will remind them that we were GOD fearing people.
But of course the most important lesson I take away from this memory is the great truth of the statement. We must ever live our lives with this mindset, preparing to meet our GOD. The Hebrew writer tells us that it is appointed to man to die once and after this face GOD in judgment. (Hebrews 9:27) This is one appointment we will not miss.
I have many happy memories of my childhood and times spent at my grandparent’s house. It is funny how one remembers certain things. That old blue sign is a special memory.