Proverbs 3:11-12: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; for whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights."
GRANDMAMA WHIPPED ME
With that tree limb over there.
She ripped every green leaf from it
And swept
my dusty-brown legs
everywhere.
Even
though
at ages
eight,
nine,
and
ten,
I
didn't think
Grandmama
whipping
me
was
right,
just,
or
fair,
Grandmama whipped me
In front of cousins,
Near and far,
Young and old,
And
she dared me to cry;
She'd get offended, too,
If I didn't repent,
show
some remorse,
shed
some tears,
So
I knew, then,
Like
all
gifted
and
talented
and
smart kids do,
I had
To
sniffle
And
whimper;
I had
to
shake
And
quake,
Either
Faking it,
Like
when
my cousins
and I
said we'd stay
in the front
or the back yard,
but we always
went on adventures,
to and from,
always
outside,
always
out of sight,
always
away
from home,
traipsing
around,
like travelers,
through
dusty,
back roads,
along
grassy trails,
all the way
through
the woods
to Ms. White's house,
for snacks,
refreshments,
like
home-made
cookies,
either
red
Kool-Aid,
or
pink
or
yellow
lemonade;
always
gathering
green
apples
from Ms. Viola's
apple tree;
always
picking,
then
eating
pecans
off
the ground;
always
picking,
then
shelling
black-eyed
and
purple-hull
peas,
sitting
on
the front
porch,
with
buckets
or
baskets
in
our laps;
always
picking,
then
shucking
corn,
straight
from
the cob;
always
picking,
then
pulling
and
washing
turnip,
mustard,
and
collard
greens,
while
watching
and
feeding
white
and
red
chickens
and
dirty,
smelly
pigs;
always
churning,
always
turning
that
handle
for
Grandmama,
so we could have
some home-made
chocolate,
strawberry,
or
vanilla
ice cream;
always
grabbing
peaches,
pears,
and
plums
from
PawPaw's
vegetable
garden,
from
Mr. Cooter's
forbidden
fruit
trees;
living on
strawberries,
blackberries,
blueberries,
along
dusty roads,
along
grassy fields,
beside
the
county
roads,
along
the
high-
ways;
spending
our
church
money
at
Cousin Alfred's
store,
stocking
up
on
chips,
candy,
honey buns,
barbecue
sandwiches,
and
gigantic
pickles;
or
like
the
stay-at-home
days,
when we had
to stay
in plain sight,
and
we would sit in the shade,
fanning
in the sun,
under
a clump,
a house
of trees,
between
our house
and
Cousin
Bessie's,
all
of
us,
pretending
to be grownups,
playing games,
like family,
like church,
because
PawPaw hadn't just been
a sharecropper,
a farmer;
he had been
a truck logger;
and a preacher, too,
so all of us kids
knew how to act,
knew what to say,
knew what to do,
and
we would pretend--
preaching
and singing,
clapping
and
dancing,
shouting
and
falling
out,
supposedly
in
the
spirit--
and we would do
whatever
we saw and heard
some
of
those
so-called
good,
country,
church folks do;
OR
I could
make good
and
do right,
like walking,
then running,
upfront
To the altar,
In tears,
in truth,
in church,
in child-like
faith,
surrendering
my will,
my way,
my heart,
my soul,
my mind,
my might,
During
The real Altar Call--
The real Invitation--
and then,
get baptized,
with water,
Then
With fire,
By the Holy Spirit,
Just
by
Being real,
by
Being true,
by
Being sincere,
And
Showing Grandmama
The real
Waterfall,
Letting her see
The real
Heart of repentance,
The real
Heart of contrition,
The real
Heart of regret,
The real
Broken spirit,
By
Moving
my body,
My shoulders,
Up and down,
Just right,
Just so
my eight-year-old,
nine-year-old,
ten-year-old
Sinfully,
Sarcastic,
And
Rebellious
Self
Could get out of
the fiery furnace,
The lion's den,
Escaping
Another
round
Of discipline,
Another
Round
Of correction,
Another
Round
With
the belt,
the switch,
or
Grandmama's
Swinging hand.
So,
now
and again,
More often
Than not,
My eight-year-old,
nine-year-old,
ten-year-old
Perfectly imperfect
self
Would submit
And surrender
To
Grandmama's will,
Grandmama's way,
Grandmama's authority,
Grandmama's discipline
And correction
Because if I didn't
Listen,
If I didn't
Submit,
Or
If I didn't
Confess my sins
Or
Cry
Or
Show
Some
Remorse
Or
Contrition,
Grandmama,
Full of Faith,
Full of Strength,
Filled
With
The WORD of GOD,
And
The flaming fire
Of GOD's
Holy Spirit
would find
her second,
Mighty,
Rushing wind,
And
my hazel eyes
would not be dry land
But watery,
like a sea of red
then.
Grandmama whipped me,
Along with cousins, siblings, even childhood friends.
She lined us up front,
From the eldest to the youngest kid,
And she always flushed out the true culprit in the end.
Grandmama whipped me--
Why she made me pick the switch,
I still don't comprehend.
But she'd whip me
until the sweat cried,
dripping from her sun-baked face,
And then she'd say, "Hush up, child! You'd better not do that again."
She gave me
some good stings
and swipes
with that
ol' belt
or that bigger switch--
the one I thought I had hidden.
"Grandmama, I was using the bathroom. I wasn't outside, playing in the road,
with those other kids,"
I said.
But she said, "Let this whipping be for something else you likely did."
Grandmama whipped me,
And she always made sure I was prepared.
She told me why I was being punished,
Why she had to discipline,
then correct me;
She was trying to protect me,
Teach me right from wrong,
Keep me safe
and secure,
All because
GOD had entrusted me
to her,
And because
she truly cared.
She whipped me,
And it wasn't an act of anger,
violence,
even child abuse,
Because through it all,
Grandmama loved me enough
To discipline me,
correct me,
Teach me right from wrong,
Just like Father GOD said,
In His Holy Word,
Building my character,
my integrity,
My sense of justice,
righteousness,
Grace, forgiveness,
Mercy, compassion,
Obedience
and love,
as the years rolled on,
By giving me
life lessons
In taking responsibility
for my actions,
good or bad,
By telling the truth
Instead of lying,
making excuses
or blaming others,
for my choices,
or my mistakes,
Like Adam
and Eve had,
Just to get out of trouble,
Out of the fire
In that ol' frying pan
And escape
The hurt, the pain,
The consequences,
The wages of sins--
The judge's sentence,
The jury's verdict,
The DIVINE
Court's penalty--
Like death,
In spirit,
In body,
In self,
Like my Grandmama's
swift
punishment,
Whether it be
a switch,
a belt,
Or Grandmama's
Swinging hand.
Grandmama whipped me,
Just like Father GOD,
Who is Good,
Who is Just,
Who is Love,
throughout His Holy Word
Instructed
and commanded,
And I am who I am today
Because Grandmama watched over me,
Grandmama protected me,
Grandmama prayed for me,
Grandmama "dragged" me to church,
Grandmama praised,
thanked,
and
worshipped GOD
every day;
She read her Bible
every morning,
every afternoon,
Every night,
And she always
sang around the house
And got on her knees,
so she could intercede
for others,
fellowship with GOD,
and fervently pray.
And every week,
we had Family Prayer
meetings,
Whether we kids wanted
to participate or not,
usually on Tuesdays
Or
Wednesday nights,
Or
often, when I was trying
to watch my favorite
night-time shows
on TV,
Like
Soap,
Benson,
Knots Landing,
Fantasy Island,
Gilligan’s Island,
Night Court,
Eight
is Enough,
The Golden Girls,
The Love Boat,
Cheers;
Frazier,
Seinfeld,
Rags
to Riches,
Barney Miller,
Head of the Class,
A Different World,
Taxi,
Amen,
The Wonder Years;
In the Heat of the Night,
The Jeffersons,
The Colbys,
Moonlighting,
Airwolf,
Street Hawk,
Dynasty;
Happy Days,
Falcon Crest;
MASH,
Home-front,
Charlie’s Angels,
China Beach,
The A-Team;
Matt Houston,
Magnum P.I.,
Murder, She Wrote,
Matlock;
Dallas,
Las
Vegas,
Nashville,
Blossom,
Webster,
Alf,
The Charmings,
Mr. Belvedere;
Once Upon a Time,
Three’s Company,
Three’s a Crowd,
Beauty and the Beast,
Perfect Strangers,
Good Times;
Family Matters,
Scarecrow
and Mrs. King;
Growing Pains,
Family Ties,
Empty Nest;
Roseanne,
The Simpsons,
The Cosby Show,
The
Facts of Life;
The Fresh Prince
of Bel-Air,
T.J. Hooker,
Jake
and the Fat man;
The Adventures
of Young Indiana Jones,
Wonder Woman,
Max Headroom;
WKRP in Cincinnati,
Knight Rider,
Spenser for Hire;
MacGruder and Loud,
MacGyver,
CHIPS,
Murphy Brown,
The Fall Guy;
Quantum Leap,
Freaks and Geeks,
The Pretender,
A Year in the Life;
Thirty-something,
Living Single,
Mad About You,
In Living Color—
The Bachelor,
The Doctors,
The Dating Game—
Mama’s Family,
Designing Women,
Coupling,
Walker,
Texas Ranger;
Law and Order,
JAG,
Hunter,
NCIS,
The People’s Court;
L.A. Law,
My Two Dads,
21 Jump Street,
227,
Just the Ten of Us,
7th Heaven;
Full House,
Hill Street Blues,
Highway to Heaven,
Little House on the Prairie;
The Proud Family—
Moesha,
The Parkers,
Different Strokes;
Sister, Sister,
Smart Guy,
Newhart,
Bob Hope;
Boston Public,
Gimme a Break,
New York Undercover,
Joanie Loves Chachi;
Boy Meets Word,
Laverne & Shirley,
Kate & Allie;
Cagney & Lacey;
Simon & Simon,
Remington Steele;
Hardcastle and McCormick,
The Greatest American Hero;
Star Search,
Fame,
Showtime
At the Apollo,
The Voice,
Songland,
That’s Incredible,
Ally McBeal,
Valerie,
Dear John;
Believe It
or Not,
Sisters,
Friends,
My Wife
and Kids,
Heroes,
Blue Bloods,
RoboCop,
Girlfriends,
Army Wives,
Married,
With Children;
Life Goes On;
Undercover
Boss,
Gossip Girl,
NewsRadio,
Spin City,
My Name is Earl;
The Game,
Hotel,
Superstore,
What’s Happening—
The Office,
Sports Night,
Friday Night Lights,
Birds of Prey,
Desperate Housewives,
Gunsmoke,
Sledge Hammer,
Green Arrow,
The Rifleman,
A Man Named Hawk;
The Equalizer,
The Closer,
All in the Family,
At the Movies,
House,
The Real World,
Lost—
Life Unexpected—
Step by Step,
Hart to Hart,
Third Watch,
ER,
Scrubs,
Wings;
Higher Ground,
Touched by An Angel,
I’ll Fly Away—
Finding Normal,
St. Elsewhere—
The Encounter,
Promised Land,
Resurrection;
Sweet Inspirations,
Last Man Standing,
Manifest,
Grace Under Fire,
It’s a Wonderful Life;
Lois & Clark,
Jack & Jill,
Jack & Bobby—
Alice,
Martin,
Felicity,
Chuck,
The Brady Bunch,
The Gilmore Girls,
The Dukes
of Hazzard,
King of the Hill,
Party of Five,
This is Us;
Downton Abbey,
Smallville,
Gotham,
South Central,
One Tree Hill;
Krypton,
Dawson’s Creek,
Herman’s Head,
The West Wing,
Third Rock from the Sun;
Malcolm in the Middle,
That 70s Show,
The Bernie Mac Show,
The Redd Foxx Show,
The Tonight Show,
With Johnny Carson,
Late Night,
With David Letterman,
Miami Vice—
Everybody Hates Chris,
Everybody Loves Raymond,
Saturday Night Live,
Hawaii Five-0,
Chicago PD,
Brooklyn Nine-Nine,
NYPD Blue,
Bones,
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,
Homicide: Life on the Streets—
Working Girl,
9 to 5,
Melrose Place,
Models, Inc.,
The Biggest Loser,
Beverly Hills 90210;
Property Brothers,
Home Improvement,
Fixer Upper,
Flip or Flop,
List it or love it,
Extreme
Makeover:
The Home Edition;
SeaQuest,
Farscape;
The X-Files,
Twin Peaks;
Battlestar
Galactica,
Starman,
Stargate,
The 4400,
Family Feud;
Win, Lose, or Draw,
The Supermarket Sweep,
The National Bible Bee;
Wheel of Fortune,
Ca$h Cab,
The Wall,
Strong,
Jeopardy;
The
American
Bible Challenge;
Deal or no Deal,
Who wants to be a Millionaire;
Whose Line is It Anyway;
Idiotest,
Are You Smarter
than a 5th Grader;
The Ten Commandments,
Jesus of Nazareth,
The Bible,
A.D. The Bible Continues,
Drive Thru History:
The Gospels,
Drive Thru History:
Acts to Revelation,
Praise the Lord,
Manna-Fest;
One Night with the King,
It’s Supernatural,
The Supernatural Now,
Signed, Sealed, Delivered,
The Watchman,
The Chosen,
The End of the Age—
and this
was the rhythm
and the rhyme,
the sunrise
and
the sunset
of my day-to-day,
week-to-week,
year-to-year
childhood,
adolescent,
young-
adult,
middle-
aged
life--
watching
and
praying--
all in the family home--
At Big Mama
and Big Daddy's
Ol' wooden house,
On a dusty,
Country road,
Just up the green-grass trail,
From PawPaw's
Ol' pig
and vegetable farm,
near
that ol' outhouse
on Mr. Cooter's land.
Then,
Big Mama
and Pawpaw
died,
graduating
From earth to
Heaven,
and we all packed up
and moved out,
just down the road,
on that narrow
Commerce
street,
almost
in the beating
heart
of my hometown,
and these were
The garden homes,
and
The garden houses
GOD planted
and placed me in,
so I could grow,
so I could flourish,
so I could bloom,
From the ages of youth,
ignorance
and innocence
Into
The ages of maturity,
Adulthood,
and
knowledge,
understanding,
and wisdom,
spanning
from age eighteen,
all the way
Through
age twenty-six,
and
then,
I had
To get uprooted;
I had
To leave
That
Familiar
Territory—
every
comfort zone;
I had
To leave
That hometown
Garden—
All my family
and friends,
All my safety nets—
like Abraham,
like Isaac,
like Jacob
and Joseph
in the Book of Genesis;
like Moses,
like Ruth,
like Samuel,
like David,
like Esther,
like Daniel,
like Elijah,
and Elisha,
in the Old Testament;
like John the Baptist,
in the New Testament;
like Simon
Peter,
like Andrew,
like James,
like John,
and the rest of the Twelve Disciples,
Including the most
Notorious apostle,
Paul;
But
Even in the wilderness,
GOD made a road,
And
He gave me
Wells of water,
and
Even in the desert,
GOD made rivers,
And
He led me
to the ROCK
Of my salvation,
Along
The ROAD of redemption,
Through
HIS SON,
JESUS,
and
GOD
Has
Always
been
With me,
Protecting me,
And
Drawing me closer
To HIMSELF—
Inviting me
Into another homeland,
Another kingdom,
Another realm,
another Promised Land—
His eternal KINGDOM,
beyond the clouds,
beyond the stars,
beyond
everything
visible
in the natural
to me,
where there sits
and reigns
on a throne
of grace,
in majesty,
in holiness,
in power,
in love,
in goodness,
in faithfulness,
in might,
with the foundations
of justice
and righteousness,
the Sovereign
and
Matchless,
The
Incomparable
And
Great,
The Almighty,
All-Powerful,
All-Knowing,
All-Present,
And
True,
LIVING GOD--
the LORD of lords,
the KING of kings,
and
the PRINCE
of PEACE--
and HIS
is the greatness,
the power
and the glory,
the victory
and the majesty;
for all that is in heaven
and in earth is HIS,
and
both riches and honor
come
from HIM,
for in HIS hand
is power
and might;
in HIS hand
is the ability
to make great
and to give strength
to all--
for HE
is the
KING
eternal,
immortal,
invisible,
and
wise,
and
to HIM
belongs
all
glory
and
honor--
so
every year,
every season,
every cycle,
through
every
trial
and
triumph,
in my journey of life,
in my walk of faith,
as a believer
in
JESUS
CHRIST,
The
Messiah,
and
as a child
of
GOD,
I AM
finding more
of my purpose,
more
of my assignment,
more
of my identity
in JESUS,
In CHRIST,
and
I AM
becoming
MORE
Like
JESUS,
More
Like
the person,
the daughter,
the servant,
the ambassador,
the citizen,
the minister,
and the BRIDE
of CHRIST,
GOD
Imagined,
created,
called,
commissioned,
commanded,
designed,
and
planned,
me to be.
So, yes, Grandmama whipped me,
when I was young,
until I reached the age
of maturity,
The age of accountability,
when I knew the difference
between good and evil,
The difference between
right and wrong;
Grandmama whipped me then,
So nobody else in this world,
except the GOOD LORD,
my heavenly Father,
Would ever have the right,
the privilege,
the need,
to whip me,
strike me,
lay a hand on me,
at any time,
now or
later.
So, yes,
Grandmama scolded me,
And
Grandmama corrected me,
But
Grandmama also encouraged me,
Grandmama comforted me,
Grandmama hugged me,
Grandmama kissed me,
Grandmama laughed with me,
And Grandmama taught me
the will,
the WORD,
And
the Way of JESUS, of GOD,
And she showed me how to love
GOD with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, in good times and bad.
Because of her, I know that JESUS is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through HIM, because GOD so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
So, if Grandmama hadn't whipped me
all those years,
back then,
I likely wouldn't be
the same,
"SOULED-out,"
JESUS-loving,
GOD-fearing,
HOLY-SPIRIT-filled,
WORD-professing,
Kingdom-spreading,
Eternal-minded,
Well-disciplined,
Spirit-led
believer,
Living Life
LOUD
for
JESUS
and
Blood-bought
child
of GOD,
I am
today--
walking in faith,
running this race,
as
a victor, not a victim,
as an overcomer,
not a casualty,
in favor,
in obedience,
in humility,
in grace
to serve,
to please,
to revere,
to honor
the HEAVENLY FATHER,
the PRINCE of PEACE,
the KING of kings,
the LORD of ALL--
JESUS,
GOD.
--A GOD'sWORD Poem by Terra Blakemore
Dedicated to Every Godly Grandmama, Just Like My Grandmama, Ruth
25 February 1997, original version,
11 July 2020, revised version
