There\u2019s a picture of my grandparents on my bedside table. It was taken in the 1940\u2019s and Mamo and Papo are sitting on the bumper of a car. Mamo\u2019s reaching around Papo. One hand is on his shoulder and with the other she\u2019s holding his chin. She\u2019s giving him a kiss.<\/p>\n
My grandmother was like that. Tactile. In every picture that I can find, she\u2019s touching someone.<\/p>\n
I remember being a young girl, sitting on the sofa next to Mamo. While we\u2019d talk, she\u2019d rub my back or run her fingers through my hair. Later, when I was grown up, Mamo would reach out and touch my face or hold my hand. Even as she approached heaven, my grandmother reached for those she\u2019d leave behind. Over the years I watched Mamo\u2019s touch bless those around her. It offered affection, provided care and made one feel loved, accepted, valued and secure.<\/p>\n
Her touch spoke.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/blog_grandmother_325.jpg\")
Today, when I wake and see that photograph, I think about my grandmother\u2019s way of reaching out and touching others. And as morning lights my bedroom and calls me to move toward my day, I consider the possibilities of reaching into the lives of others, not with a physical touch, but with the love, mercy and life-saving gospel of Jesus.<\/p>\n
It often comes to heart that Jesus said that the most important commandment was to love the Lord and the second was to love others. Loving others, I understand this morning, means reaching into the lives around us. But reaching out isn\u2019t always easy. It takes intention. It takes time. It can be messy. It can pull me out of my wild but safe routine and into the needs of someone else.<\/p>\n
It can feel like a sacrifice.<\/p>\n
It seems that today\u2019s culture presses us into a lifestyle that\u2019s increasingly self-centered. We\u2019re busy. Distracted. Working 24\/7 to take care of our own. Yet this isn\u2019t the way the Lord calls us to live\u2026<\/p>\n
Loving others means reaching into a life that is not ours.<\/p>\n
As I make coffee, jostle my husband from bed and shake three young sons from their slumber, these plans become consuming and thoughts of my grandmother\u2019s passion becomes a prayer: Lord, give me the heart to reach into the lives of those around me today. Bring someone who needs your love. Give me the eyes to see, a heart to give, and a desire to reach.<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m grateful for my grandmother for many reasons. I couldn\u2019t count them if I tried. I miss her daily but understand that she\u2019s a part of who I am. Of who I want to be.<\/p>\n Today I\u2019ll use her example to reach into the life of someone else\u2013with God\u2019s kind of love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s a picture of my grandparents on my bedside table. It was taken in the 1940\u2019s and Mamo and Papo are sitting on the bumper of a car. Mamo\u2019s reaching around Papo. One hand is on his shoulder and with the other she\u2019s holding his chin. She\u2019s giving him a kiss. My grandmother was like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":28375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[62,51,72],"ppma_author":[491],"class_list":["post-19404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grandchildren","tag-blessings","tag-inspirational-stories","tag-stories-of-faith"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n