From Grandmother, Candyce Trew, Melbourne, FL…

As I was searching my bookshelves for a reference book to help me with a Bible study I was facilitating. A red hardbound book distracted me with my grandmother’s name embossed in gold on the binder. I had not looked at the book in years, but I suddenly had a yearning to see her handwriting once again. I took the book, sat down, and lovingly fingered her words.

It was a book of all her favorite recipes. I could have cared less about the recipes; her personal handwriting carried me back many years to when she was such an inspiration in my life. However, it was a book of all her favorite recipes. At that moment, the Lord chose to speak to me saying, “How much more would you have loved a book of all your grandmother’s prayers for you?”

That moment changed my life and my ministry. I began immediately to start journaling my prayers for my grandchildren IN MY OWN HANDWRITING. With computers, it would be much easier to type my prayers. However, God had shown me how much I treasured the personal touch of my grandmother’s penmanship. At that time, I believed that the Lord had given me this ministry for only my own grandchildren, as a legacy that would outlive me.

A few months later, I brought a dear Christian sister to my home diagnosed with stage four cancers. I showed her my handwritten journal for my grandchildren. She immediately made the decision to journal her prayers for her grandchildren, too. I helped her set up the prayer books advising her to ask God to give her a life verse for each child and to put it at the front of the book. Then, I encouraged her to write her testimony and include it so that her grandchildren would always know how God had worked in her life. Now, she was ready to begin journaling her prayers.

Soon thereafter, our Heavenly Father urged me to take the ministry to our church leadership. I was amazed to see their excitement and hear their individual testimonies about how their own grandparents had been instrumental in bringing them to the Lord. A decision was made to go forward in one month, with advertisement in the church bulletin. The group was named “Grandmothers Prayer and Share” or G.P.S., as we were navigating our grandchildren’s lives through prayer and journaling.

Only God Almighty could possibly have inspired and developed this ministry! We meet every Tuesday morning and not only pray for our grandchildren, but we SUPPORT each other in prayer. I publish a prayer request and praise report each week. Then we can petition the Lord and give Him all the glory for answered prayer. We have seen many miracles, upheld each other during every imaginable crisis, and drawn closer to our Lord through our fellowship.

We also have FUN together! We have matching G.P.S. t-shirts that we wear on field trips. We celebrate birthdays and have an annual Christmas party. We sing praise songs and have lunch together after our meetings each week. The joy of the Lord is alive in the G.P.S. grandmothers!

However, we never lose sight of our mission: to pray for the salvation of our children and grandchildren and to model the love of Christ in all we say and do. On the back of our G.P.S. t-shirts is Psalm 145:4-6. “One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty… They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.”

We rest assured that God is blessing this ministry. We can only imagine the impact these prayer journals will have on the lives of our grandchildren when we are worshipping at the feet of our Lord in Heaven. Amen!