WE KNOW NOT WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS, BUT WE KNOW WHO HOLDS THE FUTURE.
1 Peter 3:15, NIV:
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,”
January 2nd gets virtually no attention in this society. It’s not a holiday, a special sale day, or even a tax due day. It is, however, a special day in the Liples clan because it is my mother-in-law’s Birthday! This is Margaret Sarah Liples. She was the youngest in a large Italian family and made a great impact on her family with her servant heart and her Godly character. She had three sons, the middle one is my husband. Through him I got to know her. She was always caring and considerate. She was a woman of simple means and conservative values. Always a pleasant word and an interested ear when you needed one.
Though she was not a lover of pets, and she did not ever have one in her spotless home-she loved our dog Jackie! Jackie was a mixed terrier, black and white furry and lovable girl. Each morning when I let her out in the yard she would go to ‘grandma’s’ for her breakfast of cheerios and milk. Grandma lived at the other end of our yard in an apartment. My husband once said to her, ‘why are you getting the expensive Cheerio brand for her? Just get the store brand.’ She told him she tried them but Jackie did not like the store brand! She got the store brand for herself to save some money, but Jackie got the best!
Our boys would run over to her apartment any time they could. Grandma always had Tastycakes and candy for her two grandsons that lived near her. The other 4 grandchildren lived a couple hours away but they reacted the same way when ever they were in town…their grandma was the best.
Her neighbors were a great concern for her. She would often make a dish and take it to a sick or recently widowed neighbor. We really did not know the extent of this servant activity until her funeral. So many people came and expressed the same sentiment; my mom was sick, and your mom came to help and brought soup. Another, my dad lost his job, and your mom brought us some meals to stretch the food budget. Or “when my husband died, she sat and talked with me. That helped a lot because I knew she had been where I am now.”
She walked everywhere, never learned to drive. Nike and Champion brands were not her cup of tea. She walked with black and white saddle shoes. And, she walked fast! On her passing our youngest son requested those shoes as a memory of Grandma!
A woman of great Godly character she often taught Sunday School, participated in women’s groups and participated in community activities. She believed she should let her light shine for Jesus wherever she went. On one walking trip to the store she was given too much change for her purchases. She did not discover it until she walked home and checked the receipt. No problem, Peggy put the saddle shoes back on and returned the 11 cents she was overcharged to the shocked check-out person. So shocked in fact was he that he called the local newspaper and they did an article on ‘honesty is still alive in Scranton.’
Always praying for her family, always doing the right thing, always spending time with her children and grandchildren, always taking time for a visitor or stranger alike. That is the legacy Margaret Sarah Vitale Liples left for the rest of us to remember when we contemplate her birthday.
Just yesterday on New Year’s Eve we sang a song called “Auld Lang Syne” probably without even knowing what that expression means. Well, its a good on for December 31st, and for January 2nd. It is an old Scottish phrase that means, ‘times gone by’. When we look forward into the next year let’s not forget to look at the ‘times gone by’, and the people who have gone with it. Those times give us the foundation that we can stand on with solid footing as we move forward into an unknown future! I know some of my ‘foundation blocks’ have my mother-in-law’s name on them! HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN HEAVEN, PEGGY! This year Peggy is 104!
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