Learning from Notherbeau

As a preschooler I had trouble forming the word "mother" so (as I am told) I said "beau."  Because my parents both worked outside the home I spent a great deal of time with my grandparents and great grandparents.  Many people have pet names for their "grands" and we were no different.  My mom's mother to me was "Notherbeau," or my other mother.

Notherbeau was a Sunday School teacher and although I never heard her teach she must have had something because there were ladies waiting to promote to her class (which meant they had to admit their age).  She loved the ladies she taught and that was evident by her actions. 

A number of Sundays we would have lunch at our grandparents house and as my brother and I played with cars on the floor the ladies of the house were busy preparing lunch while the men sat and talked.  I don't know when I began to notice, but my "Notherbeau" would not immediately don an apron.  Before entering the kitchen she would sit down at a telephone and began to make phone calls.  I later figured out she was calling those who were absent that day.  She would tell them that they were missed.  She would check to see if all was alright with them.  She would ask about those they were caring for. 

I did not hear her teach, but did I see her love.  Over the years many of those ladies would speak of Notherbeau in very loving and caring ways. 

A Sunday School teacher may not be the best theologian, but they can be a vessel of the Love of Jesus.  That was my grandmother.