Granddaddy Doss' teaching on love

Granddaddy Doss’ teaching on Love

          The greatest sermons are the ones that we "see" lived out by someone important in our life. As a teenage boy, I was spending the summer at my mother's parents. The Grandfather clock chimed its news that it had for us as I turned down the hallway toward the bathroom.  I saw the bathroom door swing open and was about to turn my eyes away when I realized that both of them were in their pajamas. Bath time, I would soon realize, was an ordeal as my Grandmother Doss was stricken with osteoporosis and the disease had nearly immobilized her. I saw my Grandfather lean his seventy  plus year old body over and scoop the little lady up in his arms before I could offer to help. He had her night gown on her, and Frances, although small in stature, was delivering her bedtime orders as usual. She was chattering away, “now Bonnie, you make sure those apple fritters get covered up and set in the oven and wipe that table good and see to it that ……” He winked at me as they came through the doorway. He laughed his funny sideways laugh, “Yes, yes, yes, Frances, I will take care of it.” He had a way of picking at her and she would just shake her finger and out would come his sideways laugh again. That laugh of his would really ‘stir her soup’ and they would go back and forth talking until he got the covers pulled up just like she wanted. Then she would send him to tidy her kitchen. Then, regular as the sun setting, he would sit at the table in the middle of the little kitchen and have a glass of buttermilk and cornbread stirred to just the right consistency. Grandma would call him to come to bed and he would only stop to brush his teeth on the way. I could hear his prayers drifting through the house. I pictured him in my mind, on his knees, beside his bed as I had witnessed many times.  

          To this day, seeing my elderly grandfather carry his bride out of that bathroom was and is the greatest act of love I had ever witnessed. It spoke volumes of the commitment and unwavering dedication that he demonstrated daily. He labored with a smile because he was glad to serve as his Lord and his circumstances required. I never heard him complain about anything, save possibly the crooked politician or a weak preacher who wouldn’t stand up for God's Word. He studied his bible daily. Pastors and Sunday school teachers could be found occasionally in their living room testing the soundness of their doctrine with Brother Doss. He planted a bigger garden than we thought he should, every spring with a push plow. Grapevines, chickens, cows and horse apple trees made their homes there too. On the back porch there were mason jars and old cans full of all kinds of things from leather shoe laces to straightened nails. Nothing was wasted and everything had its place. Be careful, because there is not a rail around the back porch. If you make your way down to the root cellar you would find lots of sweet potatoes laid on the cool red clay steps that were hand cut out of the earth and mason jars filled with wonderfully tasty fruits and vegetables.

          As a teenager, I thought he was crazy for not selling his little 9 acre farm in the middle of bustling Lawrenceville, Georgia. The fancily attired real estate agents would dramatically set the grand figures in front of him and I would dream about all the boats and lake houses and toys that I could buy. Grandma would refill the tea glasses as he politely said “no thank you” for the umpteenth time. What I realize now, that I was blind to at the time, is that you can’t buy that kind of life with money. The kind of life they had has to be sweated out and prayed for and worked through to the finish, in love.

          It took many years to sink in, but in watching their life I have come to realize a few things about love. Love does not sell itself short to the world nor can it be exchanged for currency. Love does not allow you to put your own wants in front of another's needs. Love does not flatter with empty compliments that make you think too much of yourself. Love never accepts disobedience, but disciplines in kindness and truth to circumcise the uncircumcised heart. Love finishes the job no matter how hot it is. Love will carry you through to the end. Love of Jesus is the most important thing that there is. I saw my grandparents walk out all of these principles and many more. I did not appreciate the fullness of their faith and love at the time, but now I see what a privilege it was to have such Godly people guiding my heart through the way they lived.
      I surely do miss standing on Granddaddy’s back porch listening to the chickens fuss and the cow’s lowing. I can smell the fresh cut grass and see the red clay patches here and there in the drive that swung around the house. I’d give anything to draw a bucket of that cool clear water out of the old well. I look forward to seeing my grandparents again when the Lord calls me home. I now appreciate who they were and would love to sit down with them and just talk a while at that little kitchen table. Maybe Grandma would make us a batch of apple fritters to give our hands something to hold while we talked. I will call my cousins in from all around and just listen to the funny things they did to get through the "depression" or watch again as Grandaddy dares my poor cousin to take one bite as he himself chews on a home grown hot pepper. I can still hear my cousin squealing as he lunged for the sink faucet and Grandaddy smiling, "What's the matter with you?" Yes David, I still enjoy laughing at that precious memory still so real for all of us.

God bless us all. Kenton