When I was in Bible college I was told that when God called you to ministry he would provide. Specifically one of the things he would provide was the family we might have to leave behind. There would be someone that would be that Mom or Grandma that we needed wherever God called us to serve. Family has always been the hardest for me to be away from in our years of ministry. The funny part is God didn't call us too far away, but he did take my parents to China for several years. God helped fill the gap with the most beautiful and special lady, LaVada Smoot.
We moved to Fredonia in 1997. LaVada was the first to show up on our doorstep with her famous potato soup whenever one of us was a bit under the weather. I soon found she was a good source of advice for anything from potty training to cooking. She taught me how to make bread in the bread machine and how to make sand plum jelly. I found excuses to call or go visit her, and I kinda think she found excuses to have the kiddos over to her house or just drop in too. The kids loved it when she showed up with a big bag filled with popcorn. Before we knew it, Kayt started calling her Grandma Vada, and she unofficially became part of our family.
Our family grew, but that never stopped Grandma Vada. She remembered their birthdays...every single one. She would show up at the house with cookies for them and "a little something" special. She also gave them each a special gift when they were baptized.
Grandma Vada started the tradition of having the Miller's over for Christmas. She always bought the kids a "little" something. For dinner we had lasagna and the works with as much chocolate milk as the kids wanted to drink. They thought they were in heaven! When it got harder for her to do the big fancy dinner Grandma Vada went to ordering pizza for Christmas dinner. This was a rare treat for our family which had grown to 7 and then 9 children.
What made all this so special? It was the love and excitement LaVada always showed. She exclaimed over the kids giving them big hugs. She would answer the door and clasp her hands together and say, "Oh Look, the troops are here!" and her eyes were just sparkling. The kids would do "performances" for her and make her things, and everything was wonderful and perfect in LaVada's eyes. When we left she would stand at the door and wave to the kids until she couldn't see our big van any longer.
As I reflect back I realize the most beautiful thing LaVada did for us was she loved our children. I look at our children today, and they are rich because of her. They have a wealth of memories they will never forget. It is why as teenagers they still remembered her and would pay to have singing Valentines delivered to her house. It is why as young adults they took time to stop by her care home to visit, to play piano and sing, to play the saxophone, to play the ukulele, and to laugh and get another hug. She gave them so much. She loved big!
The last visit I had with LaVada she asked me about all our children and what they were doing. She was so proud of them. She told me about her boys, her Danny and Tim. How she loved them! Family was everything to LaVada. She told me how Tim was such a good boy and came to see her and would hug her and hold her even when she was grumpy. She told me how Danny called her every night and read the Bible to her. She told me about Dena and each of the grandkids. Then she talked about heaven and seeing Jamey and Carl again. Most of all she imagined what it would be like to see Jesus. Then we read some Bible verses together about heaven from Revelation 21:1-5.
Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying. "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and He himself will be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
LaVada sat there with a gentle smile and a soft dreamy look on her face as I finished reading. She said, "Won't that be wonderful!"
Somehow I can just picture her now.... LaVada in her new resurrected body with her hands clasped together and her eyes sparkling and that big beautiful smile on her face, "Oh, Look! Jesus is Here!!!"
No more imagining. Face to face. A day long awaited for.
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