Wow . . . A LOT has happened during the past couple of months . . . yes, we finally moved into our new house! . . . but that isn't what I want to talk about today. My heart is so full lately . . . I'm in a season of holy discontentment. I'm not exactly sure what it all means or how it will all end up . . . I just know God is up to something BIG! And I can't wait to find out what it is!
In the meantime . . . I'm up for the WORST AUNT of the year award . . . My brother is a daddy! Jones Pierce Connell was born April 2. I have met him only in pictures, and I am just dying to get my hands on the little guy. I mean . . . with these eyes . . . are you kidding me?!?
Once I finally get to cuddle this sweet baby . . . I've already decided I just might cry!
But, you see, there's more to the story.Jones is named after my Granddaddy, my Mama's daddy. Everyone knew him as Mr. Marvin, but his given name was Jones Marvin Cannafax. Let me tell you about this man. He is one of the godliest men I've ever known in my life! So humble and gentle and strong . . . he was a farmer. He loved the land. There were three things he loved more than the land - his God, his family and his church. I have lots of memories on that old farm . . . rows and rows of tomatoes and silver queen corn and snap beans . . . mud pies in the driveway . . . fishing on the dock (which really Granddaddy didn't care too much for, but MeMama sure did!) . . . popcorn (he'd always make us some popcorn the ole fashioned way, and it was the best!) . . . the musty grain bin . . . Thanksgiving night around the TV watching the lighting of the Macy's tree . . . Old Spice . . . the sound of the John Deere tractor and the smell of fresh cut hay . . .
I remember the last thing he told me, too. It was my last conversation with him before the cancer took its toll. We were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. It was summer 1996. I had just graduated high school and was getting ready to go off to college. He told me to do my best in school and to wait for the right man God had picked for me to marry. I'm pretty sure he'd be proud of both!
I can think of no greater honor for my Granddaddy than his great-grandson carry his name!
MeMama (my Granddaddy's wife) and Jones
Aunt Gail (Mama's sister) and Jones
Mimi (my Mama) holding her Daddy's name sake
Pop (my Daddy) and Jones
My brother and his son
It is so hard to put into words exactly who my Granddaddy was . . . and the legacy of faith he left for my family . . . and the life of character he lived . . . but I always think of these words in Deuteronomy as I remember him:
"Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth." ~Deuteronomy 11:18-21
When we moved, I stumbled upon my box of high school memories and spent some time reading my old year books and newspaper articles. I found lots of pictures, too. This is me and my Granddaddy at a piano concert my piano teacher and I performed on May 8, 1995. Yep, my Granddaddy came to all of my piano recitals. And notice he has his camera in hand. Oh! That reminds me of another story . . . when I was a senior in high school, we sang at the Lighting of the Tree at Underground Atlanta. It's televised every year. Granddaddy was glued to the TV screen looking for me. How do I know this? Because he took a picture of me on TV! So I have a picture of Granddaddy's old TV with me on the screen! Anyway, I can't remember exactly what Granddaddy was telling me, but I sure wish I could . . . 