Eternal Iron

My maternal grandfather was a blacksmith. When his last child (my Aunt Lois) was growing up, he built a sturdy iron swingset for her. Aunt Lois was ten when I was born so I have always considered her my big sister and her swingset.... my swingset. I spent many hours playing on "our" iron swingset. In the summer, my grandmother would hang her freshly washed laundry on the clothesline while I played on the swingset. Other times Grandma would make a little picnic for us and she would let me take my sandwich to the top of the swingset and eat my lunch. (I had such a neat grandma!)

Grandma and Grandpa are in Heaven now and Aunt Lois lives next door to us. Last summer she decided to resurrect the beloved swingset and set it up in her backyard. We all cheered when it was finally up. Waves of nostalgia swept over me, but yesterday I experienced an emotion much deeper than a sentimental journey.

My husband and I were babysitting our nine-month-old grandson Tristan. I took him to swing on the swingset. I wasn't prepared for the emotion I felt as we plopped down in the swing. In my mind's eye, I saw my grandmother swinging with me on the sturdy swingset and in the circle of life I was now swinging on the same swingset with my grandchild. A lump formed in my throat when I realized I was singing the same songs to my grandson that my grandmother sang to me.

I thought about my grandfather the blacksmith and how when he built something - he built it to last..... And at that moment, I realized my grandmother and grandfather were instrumental in putting iron in my soul - eternal iron. They gave me a sample - a living example of God's love.

I'm no blacksmith, but when I gaze into the eyes of our two little grandsons - Tristan and Easton - I pray that they would see the "SON" in my eyes and the JESUS in me would help form "eternal iron" in their little souls.