Gratitude

As a little girl, I spent a lot of time with my grandma, Ossie Bell Williams. I was fascinated with her long silver hair. When I asked her if I could do her hair, her response was always, "Yea, baby! You can comb grandma's hair. Sure can." I would get the comb and part it in several sections. Her hair was really long, silver and she loved to wear two pretty braids. It was beautiful. Grandma had "good hair." She was half Indian and half black. "That's why grandma's hair looks like this. Baby, you have beautiful hair, too, you know!" I remember smiling when she said that. She was my friend, and I adored her. Everything about her was cute to me. She was a short, but sassy. Such a fun-size lady! There was one mystery about her, though. I went to tell her about my dream from the night before and found her on her knees. I was scared she was hurt or something. "Grandma! Grandma! Are you ok???" I ask really loud. "Chile, hush all that fuss now, grandma is fine. I'm praying, ok." "Grandma, I want to tell you what I dreamed about last night!" I exclaimed. She responded, "Didn't I say I'm praying, baby. I'll talk with you about your dream when I get finished, ok, suga?" Later that morning, I asked her to tell me what praying meant. She said, "Oh, that's when I talk to the Lord, baby! Grandma loves the Lord. He is a good, good God! You see this big book right here? That's the Bible. She touched the large ivory book with gold-lined paper. This is his Word!" The book was huge. I asked her, "Can you teach me how to pray, grandma?" "Yes! Come in here tomorrow morning when you wake up. I pray every morning, ok." I responded, "Yes, ma'am."   That next morning Grandma had two pillows on the floor. "Ok, let's kneel on the pillows. This is so your knees won't hurt. We can't rush God, ok. Let's be comfortable just in case we are praying for a long time. Ok, grandma." She was the authority on prayer to me. Whatever she said, I was down for. I wanted to learn! Her prayer sounded something like this, "Father in Heaven and all of the angels, I love you, and I come to you as humbly as I know-how. Yes, Lord!" I opened my eyes just a little to see her face because she was so excited about her Lord. She sounded like she was talking to a good friend on the phone. I was amazed. Where was the Lord at? Because I didn't see him when I opened my eyes. After a while, grandma asked me to pray. I was nervous. What if I prayed wrong? "There is no such thing, baby. Just pray. Talk to the Lord. He ain't gon' hurt you, child." My first prayer was thanking God for my grandma. Although it was brief, it was the truth. I often reflect on prayer meetings with Grandma. I am so grateful for those early mornings. Gratitude looks different for everyone.  Ok, your turn! What does gratitude look like for you? What are you grateful for? Here's to healing, Felicia