Open Letter to Granddaughters

Open Letter to my granddaughters…
Hi. It’s your grandma, Cynthia.
I am soooo very proud of you. I feel such pride that God would grant me such talented, beautiful, granddaughters—and grandsons. But, this letter is to you, my beautiful granddaughters, whom I love unconditionally. Your lives are so different from my life. Although my father loved us, he was a batterer, so my childhood was full of violence and trauma for both my mother and my siblings. My job—as the oldest child—was to protect and guide. You can still see that in me, even though that situation has not existed for years! So I send you this letter to you to share what I have learned, coming through that to a now 60+ year old grandmother. Save this letter to compare when you are 60+…
Six Scriptures and Six Lessons Learned that I would like you to know, because I believe “to know is to be fore-warned and fore-armed” This is my desire for you. God Bless!
Scripture 1: Acts 17:25b-28. (Paul is speaking)
“…this is what I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and the perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of our own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”
My lesson from this Scripture: I was shocked that this Scripture was in the Bible. A woman showed it to me on a Woman’s Retreat during one of my complaints about my childhood, about my work at church, etc., etc., etc. I got out of this Scripture that that my childhood—and all the good, violence, love, and pain, was given to me by God, by design! Because of that crazy life, I know God and love him as my Savior. Also, that God does not need me, or what I do for him, but I need him! My prayer for you is that you will also get to know him, and depend on him for your success.
Scripture 2: Psalm 1 (in total)
Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take or
sit in the company of mockers,
but who delight in the law of the Lord
and meditate on his laws day and night.
They are like a tree planted by streams of water
which yields to its fruit in season and
whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers!
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will be destroyed.

My Lessons from this Scripture:
Watch the company I keep. This may have been problem for me from my childhood. But I had to learn not to hang out with non-Christians! That included men! I also had to learn not to listen or watch what they say in the world—that included what I read, heard or watched. It was strange to me, but as I watch my self being influenced by and fighting over stupid stuff, and then noticing how dumb I acted and hurtful I was to my children, I knew something was very wrong. I better understood how to live life after I read the Bible through. I hope you learn what is real and what is Fake! God Bless your influences!
Scripture 3: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Therefore, in order to keep me from being conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
My Lesson from this Scripture:
With my all the great talents, gifts, and opportunities God gave me, He also gave me “thorn(s) in the flesh”— annoying disabilities, weaknesses, and irritant—IN ME—that always keep me off-balanced—and many times, in trouble. It was my anger, my controlling behavior, my drug/alcohol use (which runs in our family), my men and friend choices, or my adhd, ocd, ptsd, bitchiness, or just plain craziness. Instead of fighting and complaining about them, I had to learn to embrace them--because they represented the power of God working through me and in me to make me better. I pray you know God’s power in your weaknesses!
Scripture 4: Romans 8 (I love this total chapter, but I just choose this one verse for now)
v28 “All things work to work together for good…”
My Lesson from this Scripture:
Life happens! And I have made mistakes and done some things that I can never undo, but this Scripture gives me assurance that even my strange behaviors have work for good. I pray, daily, that I do not harm anyone by my carelessness or strange behaviors. But I thank God for this Scripture that covers my sins… I pray that you find solace is this also.
Scripture 5: 1 John 1:5-2:2
This is the message we have from him and declare to you. God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only our but also for the sins of the whole world!
My Lesson from this Scripture:
I do not have to repeat failures! When I sin against God and man, I can confess those sins, without condemnation, and God will not only forgive me—but will clean up my act so I won’t repeat those sins again! Thank you, Jesus. I pray you also feel the power of God’s forgiveness and cleansing power for your sins!
Last Scripture 6: Ecclesiastes (the whole book, but for now) 9:7 & 9:10.
Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do…
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
My Lesson from this Scripture
First, God is indeed a party animal! He repeats the “eat, drink, and be merry…” many times in this book of Ecclesiastes. That is one reason I love People’s Church. Pastor Cooper shows us how to party… for real! I am still learning this… You can also see that trait in my siblings. To me, your moms married party people. My prayer is that you learn how to embrace life, have fun and concentrate on fulfilling your dreams for YOU!
God Bless.

Roosevelt and Cynthia, PROUD GRANDPARENTS!!!

Well, here we are, Roosevelt Calloway and Cynthia Laws Calloway, proud grandparents. We are pictured here with daughter, Cheryl (background), and three of her four children. CJ, in dark suit, Aleah and Zion, baby in front. (her son Jace was born 2/27/2010) We are the grandparents of ten--Yes, I said, ten, grandchildren and one great, grandson. We are doing this as a married couple, very different from what we knew of our grandparents. When we knew them, they were all single women. We have had to learn a lot about how to work with each other to be a help to our three daughters and to help them care for their children and grandchild. We keep images of our parents and grandparents patterns of love, discipline and training present in our minds and hearts. We try to encourage each grandchild to love and be respectful. We pray daily for all of them and call them each by name and need. We thank God for answered prayers. We will post their pictures on this blog to let you know how proud we are of them. For we have learned above all that GRANDPARENTS ARE PROUD OF THEIR GRANDCHILDREN!!!

My Dad's mother, Alcenia Laws Jenkins, teaches BEAUTY!

In this picture is my dad's mother, Alcenia Laws Jenkins (in black robe). She sits here with my mother, Rutha Mae and a great,grandson, Nathan. As you can see, she was a lady of beauty and poise. She believed in elegance and genteel-ness. At her house, we had tea parties, with real English tea cups. We formally set the table for meals and practiced acting like "proper" ladies and gentlemen. She taught me respectability. GRANDMOTHERS TEACH GRANDCHILDREN HOW TO ACT! She reminded me, that as the oldest, I was responsible for being a role model for my brothers and sisters. As a grandmother, I strive to still be a role model for my children and grandchildren. I am not sure I have the beauty and genteel thing down, but I try never to be an embarrassment to them. I try always to encourage them to surround themselves with love. GRANDMOTHERS TEACH SELF LOVE AND SELF RESPECT! I LOVE MY GRANDCHILDREN!

My Grandmother, Druscilla Small, taught me to Pray without Ceasing!

This is Chelsey Williams oldest daughter, Druscilla Small, and my grandmother. Druscilla also taught me about being a grandmother. She stayed on her knees! Her bedroom was just next to the living room, and every morning and every night as I walked passed her bedroom to go to the bathroom, I saw her on her knees next to her bed, praying. Grandmothers pray for their children and grandchildren... a lot! When I knew my grandmothers, they were both, single women. I was born in Druscilla's house when, as a single woman, she still had seven of her children still living under her roof. She prayed a lot!!!! Her prayers saved them all, put them through high school, and college, and got them all in and through good careers! GRANDMOTHERS PRAY FOR THEIR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN! I pray for my children and grandchildren, daily.

Chelsey Williams, my Great, Grandmother

This is Chelsey Williams, my great, grandmother--the one with the hat on sitting in the chair. That is me, Cynthia, standing next to the chair, and my new baby sister, Alcenia, on her lap. Both my great, grandmother and Alcenia are gone to be with the Lord, now. Chelsey Williams is the person who taught me how to be a grandmother. Praise the Lord for grandmothers! How?
First, she, enjoyed my presence in her life. Even here you see her smiling holding a busy little baby and steadying me, a precocious little three year old. The little girl on her should is a neighbor girl who just liked to hang around her. Grandmothers enjoy the presence of their grandchildren--and other children... Next, she taught me not to wet the bed. Yep, if you are reading this, you will probably do a double take, but I said it... She stopped me from wetting the bed. How? I started to wet her one night as I slept with her and she pinched me! Ooh! I instantly stopped and went to the bathroom. Bedwetting solved! So, grandmothers help grandkids overcome negative habits. Praise the Lord for GRANDMOTHERS!

Granny Grandma Cynthia

Hi. This is me, Cynthia Calloway. I played a leading role in the Oklahoma Centennial Play. I lost the hat, though. If you can find it please send it to me, because we have not been able to replace it.

Oklahoma became a state in l907. The Black citizens had hoped that it would be a Black state or at least a free state. But the first law on the books was for segregation. My character, Mary Lou, worked to help Black citizens of the territory who had already had established over 60 towns, be encouraged and continue to buy up as much land as possible so that they would still be counted. It was a great play, by Sharon Fisher, and I learned a lot. If you ever get an opportunity, see it at the Oklahoma Historical Museum.

Here I am, Cynthia in the middle, with husband, Roosevelt, left, daughter Cheryl behind and grandchildren, C.J. to the right, Aleah and Zion, baby. Three of my nine grandchildren, and one great grand. I have learned a lot. I continue to learn everyday from them. This blog shares "lessons learned". I invite your comments and other lessons you want to share.