I recently came across a photo of the four generations of women on my mother’s side.

In it are my mother, her mother, my daughters and me. It was taken years ago while on a visit to see my grandmother in New Brunswick. It was the only time that my girls saw their maternal great-grandmother. 

Seeing the photo was like stepping back in time. I recalled how my grandmother had lovingly affirmed me as a child.

After my grandfather passed away, my grandmother moved in with us for nine years. These were formative years in my childhood, as I was eight years old at the time.

Although this arrangement was believed to be best at the time, it resulted in fractures within our family. It was only in my adult years that I came to understand the situation from differing points of view. You see, as a child, all I understood was that my grandmother was a source of great comfort as I struggled to understand why my mother was so emotionally detached.

There is a very moving scene in the movie The Help, which reminded me of how my grandmother mentored me.

- photo from Susan PageThis movie was based on a novel that takes place during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The scene that touched me was centred around the interaction between one of the maids, or “The Help,” and her little “charge.” The maid in question worked for a very unpleasant woman. Not only that, but this woman had no close bond with her little girl, and so the love and acceptance that her child received came from “The Help.” To bring comfort to the broken-hearted child, the maid would place the little one on her lap, wrap her in a hug, wipe her tears and then have her repeat this phrase: “You is kind, you is smart, you is important.”

My grandmother gave me something even more valuable than those words. She gave me my first bible and encouraged me to read it. She told me Jesus loved me and that I was special to Him and to her. I still remember being wrapped in her arms while leaning against her apron-clad bosom, smelling the scent of rosewater that permeated from her skin. (Although to be honest, I never did like the smell of rosewater.) My grandmother was “The Help” in my life, and her care and concern for her “little charge” pointed me to Jesus.

Applying this story to being a grandmother of influence is not something I can personally do because I am not a grandmother. But who can I mentor? Who needs to know that they have deep value and worth? Who needs my kindness and compassion this day? Who needs me to look them in the eye and smile … because maybe their heart is breaking? Who is desperate to hear the message of the love of our Saviour? Who can I help?

The Apostle Paul tells us to “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5: 1,2) and “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12).

We are called to be children of Light, adding flavour and fragrance to this world. There is always someone, somewhere, who needs a little help to get through their day.

You may not give any thought to the number of people who cross your path in a single day. Perhaps take a moment to stop and consider it. Reflect on how you may have influenced their lives. How did you display the love of our Saviour to them? Our daily acts of kindness, compassion, and our willingness to step out of our own agenda to instill hope into the hearts of others can have a lasting effect. People need to know that they matter to someone and that they matter to God.

With the power and source that comes from our eternal Help, God’s Holy Spirit, may we be His help in reaching our world for Jesus.

Susan Page is the daughter of the King, His beloved child, wonderfully forgiven and blessed! Susan longs to age gracefully, becoming more like Jesus as she seeks the hidden treasures revealed to her through Scripture, literature, the arts, humankind, and nature.