She Always Made Room

Last year, on December 7, Thomas' mother and Aiden's Nana passed away after fighting with the dreaded disease we call cancer. We missed her terribly at Thomas' graduation this Spring and the family reunion back home in Canada just was not the same without her.

And as the anniversary of her death approached this year we talked as a family of the things we could do to remember her and celebrate her goodness and her wonderful life. This is important to me, because I'm not sure how much Aiden will remember about her as he grows older, and future children that join our family will only know their Nana through our memories and the things we teach them about her. So I feel it's important that we do all we can to preserve those memories and do all we can to make sure our children know their Nana.

One thing I quickly came to learn about Nana was her love for Nativities. She was a collector; having hundreds of nativities on display, her most favorite out year-round. Everyone in town knew that Jolayne collected Nativities. She was even featured in a local newspaper a few years ago with a nice story about her collection.

But the important thing to note, and what our children should always remember about Nana, was that she not only collected Nativities, but she was the perfect example of someone who always made room for the Savior in her life...always.

The busy inn keepers didn't make room for the Savior. But somewhere in Jerusalem was a cold and probably smelly stable that turned into a makeshift delivery room to welcome the King of the world. Nana wasn't like the busy inns and inn keepers. No matter how full her life was, she always had room for one more good deed, one more person to serve, one more grandchild to make smile.

Two stories to prove my point.

I remember her telling a story of a time when she and Grampy were living in Edmonton. They had a little VW bug, a few kids and not a lot of money. Her visiting teaching route took her across the entire city and nearly a full day to complete all of the visits. But she faithfully completed her assignments and visits each month, making sure the sisters she visited felt uplifted and knew that she loved them. It wasn't easy financially. It certainly wasn't convenient hauling the kids around. But she made room for visiting teaching. Always room to serve others.

And of course I'll never forget the first time I met Thomas' family. I was young and stupid and in love, of course. Thomas' sister was leaving on her mission and so Thomas was going to be at home for the farewell. Perfect opportunity I thought, to go visit him and meet the family. So I show up at 2 in the morning dragging my friend Jeni along with me. Every room in the house was taken, but being Nana, she found room for us. Now that I think about it, the last thing she needed was two extra bodies at the house that weekend. Her plate was already full with other family visiting and trying to pull off a successful celebration for her daughter. But she made us feel welcome amid the chaos that was all around. She always made room, always.

The picture at the top of this post is with Aiden holding a stocking. It's a special stocking because this once belonged to Nana, and she gave this to Aiden. This stocking will always hang at the hearth with our stockings and is a reminder of our Nana and the real reason we celebrate the Christmas season.

If there's one thing our children learn about their Nana, I hope they know of her enduring love for Jesus Christ, and her daily desire to serve Him. Her love for others permeated everything she did whether it was in her garden, in the sewing room or in the kitchen.

She always made room for the most important things in life. How blessed we are to have her example to follow.