But I Had A Praying Grandmother

I am a self-proclaimed gospel music bop. I love gospel music in a way that a lot of people love hip-hop or old school r&b. My love for this genre of music began a long time ago. I have been in a church since I can remember. When I was a little girl, I had no idea what the preacher was talking about. Most of the time, I fell asleep during the sermon. One part I always stayed awake for was when the choir would sing. I didn’t understand the words but I understood the rhythm and the melody. As I grew up and life occurred, those same songs whose rhythms I would rock to and hum along with carried me through some of the toughest times in my life.

One song I used crack up laughing at is not actually a song but a recorded testimony.  This gospel artist, Helen Baylor has a profound, devil-don’t-play- with- me kind of voice. Her voice is heavy and husky and commands that you listen to what she is saying. In her recorded testimony, Helen speaks about the triumphs she had to endure and overcome while being in the music industry. One line she repeats is “but I had a praying grandmother.” She says it over and over and over after each challenge she encountered. Her grandmother had instilled in her the most powerful gift, prayer. She gets to one point in her testimony where she is losing it. She is battling drug addiction. She is high and she believes she is dying. At this point she says, “but I had a praying grandmother and I knew enough to call on the name of Jesus.” If you get a chance, please google this testimony. I promise you will laugh at first but what you will do in the end is reflect on your grandmother.

Many of us experienced or are experiencing praying grandmothers. We are getting blessed off of prayers that our grandmothers prayed when we were itty bitty. Of course when that song comes on the radio I think of my Grandma, Marie Dennis. My Grandma is something special. She instilled so many things in my sister and I that we are just now realizing we possess. Every time I raise my hand in church, I think of my grandma. When we would spend time with her in the summers my grandmother would have us in church nearly every day. I can remember when we were about 8 or 9 years old. We were sitting in church while the choir was singing. My grandmother whispered, get up and put your hands up. Worship! We were like, uuh. This lady is a nut. There we were, standing in church getting arrested by the holy spirit. Our hands were in the air. We felt awkward and uncomfortable. We didn’t understand or know that in the years to come, our hands would go up in church without anyone telling us to do so. Our hands would go up because we had been through so much and we were still here. Not only were we here, we were better. God deserved our gratefulness.

Another thing my grandma does is watch Christian television or listen to sermons in the car. She surrounds herself with the word of God. You call Marie Dennis on the phone, instead of your standard hello, you will hear her answer, “praise the Lord.” I chuckle because she stays in a constant state of praise. My sister and I find ourselves listening to sermons more and more in the car and all day at work.  We are turning into our Grandma. What a blessing!