Friday, February 24, 2012

Grit!

Today I'm linking up with The Gyspy Mama for Five-Minute Friday.  Today's prompt:  Grit.  We have five minutes of free writing to that prompt.  Get ready!  Get set!  Go!

I see or hear the word grit, and I think of several things:  grits we ate growing up in the South, the grit and grime of the schoolyard or our own backyard, the acronym GRIT for "Girl Raised in the South" (a personal favorite!), and lastly and most painfully the way my mom would grit her teeth in anger.  Truly I feared that grit in her at those times.  But there was more to that gritting of her teeth than I realized at the time.

As a single mom, she'd had to show grit as she worked during WWII as Rosie the Riveter, like many other women, because all the boys were overseas.  She raised that child alone for almost 14 years having left behind an abusive husband and father.  It was tough, she was tough, she had grit!

Years later she married my dad, who became ill two years into the marriage and was unhealthy for the remainder of his life, until age 73 leaving my mom a widow at 62, four years younger than I am now.  Her grit surfaced again as she helped me, by now also a single mom with a toddler, to see my way through tough days, but also digging into that grit and paying off a mortgage working as a school cafeteria worker.  That's hard work and takes a lot of grit!

Yes, I'm a GRITS -- girl raised in the south -- by a mom who used her grit in many ways, but I'll tell you truthfully it wasn't all about grit.  She relied on God to see her through tough times.  I can still hear her saying, "God never gives you more than you can bear!"

So, let's get our grit on and handle the tough stuff with God standing beside us!



Photo credit:  Historical Stock Photos
(Graphics added after the five minutes!)

10 comments:

  1. I love your take on grit. Tough in the clinging onto God.

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    1. Alex, thanks for stopping by my blog -- appreciate your comments.

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  2. Sherrey, I loved how you shared the truth of how you were raised and how you can now see the positive and determination in your Mom. Anyone being a single mom during those years is a fighter.

    The picture of Rosie the Riveter is a perfect description of the grit life sometimes requires of us. Thank you!

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    1. Malisa, what a beautiful spelling of your name, and thanks for coming by to visit. I really appreciate your encouraging comments.

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  3. i love this story, of grit in the form of love!

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    1. Tara, thanks you so much for stopping by and leaving such lovely words.

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  4. I loved how you shared about your growing up and the grit your mother imparted to you! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Barbie, thanks much! It took me a long time to appreciate the woman she was and some day maybe my memoir about our mutual grace moment will be published. Ours was an abusive relationship and yet in the end God blessed us with His grace. :)

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  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Beck, what an egregious mistake I made! I hit the "remove" button accidentally and your comment was gone, flew away . . . it's out there in the ether. :( But I had read it and enjoyed it so much. Yes, we both are GRITS and I think of you often in Alabama enjoying all the Southernness around you. I sense that you are happy and enjoying your new home and congregation.

      Blessings to you and yours,

      Sherrey

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