THEY CALL ME "PRETTY"

My husband Charlie and I gave ourselves new names a little over 7 years ago. My daughter Katie announced to us that she and her husband Johnny were having a baby. Of course we were thrilled and could not believe that we were going to be grandparents! But first, we must come up with our grandparent names. We were way too young (age 50) to be called grandma, granny, nanny, mema, mimi or other common names. No, we needed to be different.

Charlie loves westerns! One of his favorite actors is John Wayne. John Wayne’s nickname was “Duke”. After not much thought, Charlie said he wanted to be called Duke. I wanted something different. For many, many years I served in Student Ministry. I have never been good at remembering names, so I called the girls “Pretty” when I did not know their names. The look on their faces was priceless! Their face would light up and a big smile would appear. I thought, that’s how I want to feel as I get older. So, my grandma name became “Pretty”. My friends said, that our grandkids would never be able to pronounce it clearly. Update…4 of the 5 grandkids say it very clearly and it puts a smile on my face.

Holding the title of Pretty and Duke comes with a high cost as a follower of Jesus Christ. In Psalms 78:2-4 it describes our responsibility: “I will declare wise sayings: I will speak mysteries from the past, things we have heard and known and that our fathers have passed down to us. We will not hide them from their children, but will tell a future generation the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, his might, and the wondrous works he has performed. “

Charlie and I make it a practice to make much of Jesus. Charlie has challenged the kids to memorize scripture. It is fun to see them anxiously waiting their turn to tell Duke their current verse. He rewards them with dollar.