I was seven, and my older twin brothers had just left for college, both headed for medical school. My father was a surgeon, and my mother was an ER doctor. I’ve always figured that when it came to me, all the genius cells had been used up.
For most of my growing up years, the bus dropped me off after school at the house of my Grandma Pearl, my mom’s mother.
Today had been a rough day. I’d spelled every word on the spelling test wrong, and the teacher made me come to the chalkboard and write every word ten times. When I tried to count by tens to 100, I kept forgetting and threw in 35, 65…
“Grandma, I’m dumb.”
Throwing myself into her arms, I sobbed like my dog just died.
“All right, sweetie, that’s enough.” Grandma sat me up on her lap and handed me a clean handkerchief. “Wipe your face.”
“Do I have to be a doctor?” Hiccupping, I blew my nose.
“No, ma’am. God’s got some other special plans for you.”
My family didn’t go to church much, but Grandma did. If I was at her house on Sunday, she took me to church with her. I loved when we had snacks at Sunday school.
Grandma often read me stories from the Bible too. Now, she picked up the Bible story book with lots of pictures and flipped through the pages.
“Remember David?” She pointed to the shepherd boy. “He wasn’t as big or impressive as his older brothers, but God chose him to be king.” She moved on and came to the picture of baby Jesus in a feed box.
“Mary was just a plain village girl, but God chose her to be Jesus’ mother. And Joseph was just a simple carpenter, but he became Jesus’ adopted father.”
She tipped my chin so I could look up at her. “Two things, my Tammy. You are not dumb.”
I opened my mouth, and she laid her fingers over my lips.
“And, if you don’t want to be a doctor, that’s all right. God has some other really special job in mind for you.”
I knew my parents loved me, but they were busy with their careers. Much of my time was spent with Grandma. She helped me become more confident with my homework. She taught me to drive. She stayed up all night with me, preparing for college entrance exams.
When Karl and I decided it would work for our family, for me to be a stay-at-home mom, Grandma was the role model I wanted to be like.
After we were Christians, I knew I had the most important job in the world—teaching my children to love Jesus.
But now what? The kids are grown. They don’t want to hear my advice about decisions in their lives.
And right now, looking at my heart, I don’t want them to follow after me anyway.
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My Story Title: Gifts of Grace
My Story Genre: Women's Fiction
My Story Genre: Women's Fiction
Collection of Novellas
My Story Releases: February 23, 2021 (Just 12 more days!)
My Story Releases: February 23, 2021 (Just 12 more days!)
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Author Kathy McKinsey is offering ONE SIGNED COPY TO A U.S. RESIDENT
COMMENT BELOW TO BE ENTERED IN THE DRAWING
WED FEBRUARY 17, 2021
WED FEBRUARY 17, 2021
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Kathy McKinsey grew up on a pig
farm in Missouri, and although she’s lived in cities for more than 40 years,
she still considers herself a farm girl.
She’s been married to Murray for 33 years, and they have five adult children.
She’s had two careers before writing—stay-at-home-Mom and rehabilitation teacher for the blind.
She lives in Lakewood, Ohio with her husband and two of her children. Besides writing, she enjoys activities with her church, editing for other writers, braille transcribing, crocheting, knitting, and playing with the cat and dog.
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Get Connected:
- Website: https://www.kathymckinsey.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathy.brinkmann.mckinsey
- Email: Kathy.mckinsey@gmail.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kathymckinsey
