The Road Less Traveled

"... Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!"

Numbers 23:10

Think of someone in your life who is strong. Someone who just keeps going and smiling and living despite their circumstances. Can you think of someone? I can. Diane Davies is one of the strongest women with whom I have ever met. She grew up in NYC and later moved to the Catskill mountains. She has a strong NY accent and she tells it like it is. She is honest and genuine; you don’t have to be afraid of being yourself with her. She was a nursing supervisor (aka: a boss lady) before she had her first son. That was when she gave it all up for the family. She has 4 children, 24 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. Of course, there were things that she didn’t expect to happen in life, but she never lost hope in her Savior. She wrote a letter to me a while back and she said, “These days have a lot of rain. But, when I look outside, I can see the flowers about to bloom. I know that when it rains the flowers will grow and they will look so pretty as the Spring comes. I know God is good.” So, here is the story about my grandmother Diane.

Diane was born in 1946 to two Christian, Italian parents (which was rare because most Italians were Catholic). She remembers her early years from ages 5-10 when she labeled herself as a pathological liar. She said that she lied because she wanted attention. She even stole things from her school classrooms sometimes. However, one day, an evangelist visited her family church and talked to the kids about the gospel. The preacher spoke about Matthew 7 which was the story about the broad road and the narrow road. He said, “Which road will you walk down?” There were more people on the wide road, but it dropped to hell. The people that walked the narrow road went to heaven. The narrow road was hard and it was the road less traveled by. Diane knew she was on the wide road. So, that day, she cried out, “Save me!” in her little mind. The preacher drew a bridge connecting one road to the other. Diane was led to cross that bridge to the road less traveled. She described it as an instant change: conviction. From that point on, she no longer lied but she told the truth. She received a conscience. She was baptized with her father who was 50 years old. He also had not realized that he was walking on the wrong road; and so, they crossed over together.

After some years had gone by my grandmother was going to become a mother! “Will he always look this ugly?” my grandmother asked the doctors after she held her firstborn son, Adam, at the hospital. My grandmother told me (without any shame) that she was almost horrified by the ruddy red complexion, black and blue bruising, and the unspeakable amount of back hair on her firstborn baby’s body. When Diane and her husband George took Adam home she became very depressed. He screamed and cried every day. She had given up an advanced hospital position to be a stay at home mom? For this? She said that motherhood was not what she had dreamed of, at least, not until about 3 months after Adam was born. There was a moment one day when Diane fell asleep with Adam on her lap. Adam’s little head jerked up and she looked right into his eyes. He smiled the biggest smile, she said, “It was the highlight of my life. I instantly loved him. He taught me how to be a mother.” From then on, her joy and love towards her family was exuberant.

These days my grandmother describes her life as being filled with family and Jesus. My grandfather George has had a lot of health conditions as well as Diane herself. I asked her how she gets through all of that hardship. She said, “Well, if we always look at the glass half empty then it is difficult to move forward. Lately, I have been a glass half full kinda girl. When I look back on my life I see a pattern of God’s mercy and unfailing love. When your mom got divorced I was devastated but now I see God’s hand in it. I do not always know why bad things happen but I know God is sovereign and that has to be enough.” She holds on to Numbers 23:10, “... Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his!” This verse is referring to brave men who fought for the Lord and died valiant deaths for Him. She said that Jesus has promised to walk with her as she lives out the rest of her years. Even though she is 75 she knows that being absent from the body is being present with God in the Spirit. So, as she lives, she will love and serve and live valiantly for the King of her life.

**Diane is on the far right with the blue stripes on her shirt. And I am the adorable baby (you're welcome).