Friendship...from my mailbox #1

...felt like sharing this one that I got from all those chain emails before chucking this in the bin...

ABC Wednesday ~ H is Hands

Somebody forwarded this to me and I thought of sharing this with you.

This is good; I'll never look at my hands the same!

Grandma, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench. She
didn't move, just sat with her head down staring at her hands. When I
sat down beside her she didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer
I sat I wondered if she was OK.

Finally, not really wanting to disturb her but wanting to check on her
at the same time, I asked her if she was OK. She raised her head and
looked at me and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking," she
said in a clear voice strong.

"I didn't mean to disturb you, grandma, but you were just sitting here
staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK," I
explained to her.

"Have you ever looked at your hands," she asked. "I mean really looked
at your hands?"

I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over,
palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at
my hands as I tried to figure out the point she was making.

Grandma smiled and related this story:
"Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have
served you well throughout your years. These hands, though wrinkled,
shriveled and weak have been the tools I have used all my life to
reach out and grab and embrace life.

"They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the
floor. They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child my
mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled
on my boots. They held my husband and wiped my tears when he went off
to war.

"They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They were
uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son. Decorated with
my wedding band they showed the world that I was married and loved
someone special. They wrote my letters to him and trembled and shook
when I buried my parents and spouse.

"They have held my children and grandchildren, consoled neighbors, and
shook in fists of anger when I didn't understand.

"They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed
the rest of my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken,
dried and raw. And to this day when not much of anything else of me
works real well these hands hold me up, lay me down, and again
continue to fold in prayer.

"These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of life.

But more importantly it will be these hands that God will reach out
and take when he leads me home. And with my hands He will lift me to
His side and there I will use these hands to touch the face of Christ."

I will never look at my hands the same again. But I remember God
reached out and took my grandma's hands and led her home.

When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my
children and husband I think of grandma. I know she has been stroked
and caressed and held by the hands of God.

I, too, want to touch the face of God and feel His hands upon my face.



-- Author Unknown