It was my first morning on a summer cruise to Alaska with my family—a gift to me in celebration of my 2002 college graduation. When Grandma Lindsay, my 88-year-old mentor and friend, invited me to be her roommate, I innocently accepted. But I had no idea of the “generational clash” that would follow!
The night before, Grandma had gone to bed early, while I stayed out late to enjoy exploring the cruise ship with my siblings. Now, at 6:00 a.m., I was jolted awake when the curtains opened and the 24-hour sunlight came blazing into our little room. I said to myself, “Surely Grandma is not trying to wake me up this early on my vacation … this must be a mistake.” So I yanked the covers over my head and turned my face to the wall. Suddenly, Grandma began shouting and praising God, as if we were having our own private worship service. I thought to myself, “Grandma knows I am asleep—how could she be so absent-minded?” Feeling a little put out, I pulled the pillow over my ears, determined to drown out the noise and go back to sleep.
Just when it seemed to be getting quiet, Grandma opened her Bible and began reading aloud: “… I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:13), or some such Scripture. As far as I was concerned, we had never discussed the possibility of having devotions at 6:00 in the morning on this vacation cruise. Furthermore, judging from the passage she was reading, I wondered whether she thought I was in the sinner category, and she was trying to convert me!
But Grandma just kept reading in her strong voice until she had completed her quota of three chapters that day. Then, closing her Bible and picking up another book, she said, “Now I’m going to read you a chapter from a missionary story called Before We Kill and Eat You, by H. B. Garlock.”
“Are you kidding me?” I fumed silently. “What kind of story is that at this hour of the morning? If she’s trying to convince me to become a missionary to Africa, reading a story about working among cannibals is not the method I would choose to motivate one of my grandchildren!”
As if depriving me of sleep were not enough, Grandma would stop every few minutes and ask me questions about the story, just to ensure that I was listening. By this time, I knew I couldn’t win, so I’d respond with, “Uh-huh … yeah … OK …” to every question.
Finishing the chapter, she moved right into prayer and intercession, beginning by thanking God for His continued faithfulness to our family. Then she settled on praying for every nation in the world, mentioning each country by name (no exaggeration). I thought, “This woman is like an Energizer Bunny that just keeps going and going!”
After a half-hour of prayer to conclude her devotions, she declared it was time for me to get out of bed and call for our room-service breakfast, and I dutifully obeyed. The staff delivered our tray. As we ate, Grandma informed me that she was going to take a walk into the Alaskan town where we had just docked, and requested that I join her for a mile of exercise in the freezing weather. Still tired and not fully awake, I declined without even thinking that it wasn’t such a good idea for Grandma to go off on a walk by herself to a place she’d never visited before.
After my shower, I glanced out the window and saw her walking all bundled up, braving the cold Arctic wind, but thought nothing of it. Just then my Mom called. “Have you seen Grandma?” she asked anxiously.“Yes, I just saw her through my window walking into town,” I replied. Not believing me, Mom quickly hung up and went looking among the other relatives on board. “Are you sure you saw her?” she asked, calling me back. “Yes,” I insisted, adding that Grandma had asked me to join her for a walk into town for some exercise, but I declined because I needed to shower. “Missy! That’s too far to walk!” Mom exclaimed. “There’s a bus that takes passengers into town. You let an 88-year-old woman walk into town in this frigid weather for exercise?
Fully awake now, the seriousness of the matter at hand dawned on me. Panicking, Mom hung up, and she and Dad rushed into town, only to find Grandma peacefully browsing through the tourist shops, unaware of the commotion she had just caused. She had walked close to a mile in freezing weather to get her daily exercise, and still had energy to shop!
That night she again retired early, while I stayed out and enjoyed a late evening with my family, thinking the 6:00 a.m. devotions would be a once-a-week thing. Wrong assumption! The next morning, at exactly the same time, the curtains opened, and Grandma launched into another worship service with loud shouts of praise. “Doesn’t she know this is my vacation?” I thought, as I was startled awake. “What are the odds of this happening to me on my graduation cruise?”
That evening at dinner, I shared my dilemma with my family and asked for a volunteer to switch rooms with me. After all, this trip was a gift from them to me—couldn’t someone help me out? They responded by erupting in laughter, and no one took the offer. It was a graduation gift all right—I was graduating to a life of discipline!
Grandma’s morning routine continued, but after a few days, I had an idea that I thought would help me get a little more sleep. Returning to the room late one night, I set her alarm clock for 3:00 a.m., but then turned the batteries backwards. Since the sun in Alaska shines almost 24 hours a day in the summertime, I figured when Grandma awakened, she would see that it was only 3:00 a.m., and go back to sleep.
However, when she awakened at 6:00 the next morning, and saw that the clock read 3:00, she compared the time with her wrist watch and figured something was wrong with her clock. Immediately, the curtains opened, and devotions began.
That night at dinner, Grandma told my Dad about her clock crisis, explaining that she had just inserted new batteries before the trip. “I don’t understand why it suddenly stopped working,” she said. “I’ve had this clock for years, and it has never given me a problem until now—I need you to take a look at it.” Knowing I was the culprit, I confessed to her what I had done, which prompted her to give me one of those crazy faces she makes. Everyone laughed, and the joke was on me again!
By the end of the trip, I was wishing for another vacation to catch up on all the sleep I had missed. At the same time, I came to realize that the Lord had strategically placed me in “boot camp,” with Grandma to impart to me the hidden secret of her success as a leader: praise, prayer, reading the Word, and physical activity—a routine to keep your life organized.
Observing up close the daily habits she still practiced at her advanced age, I discovered the importance of both physical and spiritual discipline in the life of a leader. I also realized how self-centered I had been. It wasn’t that I “put up” with Grandma, but that she “put up” with me. I came to admire her organized life, as she started off each day with what is most important.
Throughout her years of leadership, until she turned 90, Grandma has walked a mile, six days a week, every week for her physical well-being, and she has practiced the discipline of spending time in God’s Presence each morning for her spiritual well-being. She often told the students at CFNI, “Reading three chapters of Scripture every day, and five on Sunday, will put you through the Bible in one year.” Over her lifetime, she has read the Bible from cover-to-cover, well over 70 times.
Grandma has taught leaders and students all over the world the principles of her success. But through her life’s example, she has imparted to me in a very personal way the ingredients crucial to her legacy of great leadership: prayer, worship, the Word, and physical activity.
I thank God for the rich spiritual heritage that is mine, and pray that He will help me to live my life in a way that will make Grandma proud.
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