“Auntie’s” Bible Study!

Normally in life, we only get two grandmas right? Our mom’s mom and our dad’s mom? Many of us are blessed to have our grandparents throughout our childhood. Many see us go through high school and college, and some see us get to walk down the aisle. The older we get the more blessed we are to have them around. A lot of us still get to have those sweet phone calls with their soft voices on the other end of the line speaking years of wisdom, and others still get eager to receive those sweet letters from them in the mail written in their ancient handwriting we call “cursive”! It’s the simple things we love about them. I miss all of these things every now and again when I think of my grandma.

My Dad’s mom passed away before I was born and my Mom’s mom passed away during my sophomore year of college. I still have her cards in my bedside drawer and her number is still saved in my favorites! The thought of grandmas and the love they show us brings me to a group of special ladies who have been a big part of my life this past year. I met this group of ladies at a Bible Study and well, they have quickly become my new “grandmas” in my life. I know my grandma would’ve been best friends with this group of sweet ladies:)

Our amazing friendship began back in January.. 

I had been attending Hope Chapel here in Hermosa for several months and one day my friend invited me to a Bible Study she was starting up the following Tuesday. I asked her what the study was called and she smirked and said, “It’s called Auntie’s Bible Study”. Of course, I said yes, I love old people. So I walked in on my first day and I immediately smiled at my friend and agreed with her on the name of the study…” Auntie’s Bible Study” did sound better than “Old Lady Bible Study” or “Grandma’s Bible Study”. To give you context, the youngest member of the group was 65 and the oldest was 89 years old, well I guess I was the youngest at that point at 27. After I met this sweet group of women on day one I was instantly hooked. I knew I was going to learn so much from these ladies about the Lord, about life, and everything in between. And well, almost one year later it has been an amazing adventure:)

Though my days and weeks were always busy racing from practice to weights, to PT, to traveling and so forth I always made this Study a priority. No doubt, the highlight of my week quickly came to be on Tuesday mornings at Auntie’s Bible Study. Ask my parents and my sister, it’s the first question out of their mouth on Tuesday. “How was Bible Study?” Every Tuesday I would have training from 8:30-10:30 and I would race up the street to Hope to make the last hour with the ladies. I often thought it was quite comical how I could go from intense training on the beach, sweating, sandy, or frustrated that I couldn’t hit a line shot haha… and 5 minutes later I find myself walking quietly into Bible Study where the ladies are reading and discussing the Word of God. Walking into this room was like turning a light switch on. No matter what was happening in my life I knew stepping foot into their presence would bring me peace. It had a special way of bringing me back to what was most important in my life. 

I never knew how impactful these ladies were going to be but I can confidently say no matter where I’m at in the world or the season of life I’m in, they are always going to be in my heart, and they will be my sweet, sweet grandmas forever. These women have shown me what it looks like to Walk with the Lord every day. They have shown me how to boldly step out in my faith with others. They have taught me that every conversation we have with someone is a chance to LOVE them, share God’s Word, and serve them the way Jesus loved and served us here on earth. Every day I was captivated by their wisdom. I couldn’t get enough of their life stories. I would sit with them and they would tell me stories of when they were kids living in WW2, what life was like back then, and how much has changed over the decades. They showed vulnerability by sharing their ups and downs but how they grew and what they learned along the way. I really can’t speak more highly about the love they showed and the wisdom they gave me. And their stories had me hanging on the edge of my seat.

This past Tuesday was my last day at “Auntie’s Bible Study” for the rest of the year. As I take off for the holidays and depart for several months in Michigan I want to reflect on my time with them. As the happy and sad tears dry up on my face all I can say is that I’m going to miss them greatly.

I am going to miss walking in every Tuesday morning and everyone “softly shouting” in their sweet old lady voices, “SARAH! How are you?!”. There’s nothing like receiving a warm welcome full of old lady smiles, it fills me up instantly! 

I am going to miss seeing them sitting court-side at the Huntington AVP cheering me on, well they might’ve been cheering on our opponents but I’ll let that slide! haha 

I’ll be missing all of their smiles and the LOVE they showed me each day. 

I’ll miss them asking all about my volleyball, knowing full well they don’t know much about the sport but they care so much about me.

I’ll miss going over to Beverley’s house to hang out and say hi and having her give me a full-blown hour 1/2 tour of every picture hanging in her house. haha

And I’ll definitely miss them just randomly laughing out of nowhere, no one knows what they are laughing at but they just can’t contain it lol I guess that’s what we have to look forward to in our old age…..uncontrollable laughter out of nowhere. Sounds pretty great to me.

God is so good and I am so blessed to have gotten the invite to be among such an amazing group of women! These sweet ladies have really shown me how to dedicate and live their lives for the Lord. How to trust them in trials and tribulations because at that age they have gone through a lot! As I’ve learned and observed, when you get to their age, their eyes aren’t focused on their accomplishments, their old careers, how much money they have, or status, their eyes aren’t on any of that….they are instead dead set on the Lord and living out His simplest commands, to Love Him and Love others. If there was one word that encompassed “Auntie’s Bible Study” it would be LOVE. From the stories and their daily “praise reports” they shared, they love and serve so well. That leads me to a question I ask myself and maybe something we can all stop and ask ourselves as the holidays approach. “How can we love better?” I mean these “aunties” are still working on that, it seems like work that will take a lifetime. Like them, I know I’ll be working on that for as long as I live. 

Left to Right: Me, Michelle, Stella, Corina, Laurie, Sophia, Mel, Su Chin, Beverley, Caroline:)

To the ladies of Hope Chapel Auntie’s Bible Study. I’m blessed to have met you. It’s a goodbye for now. But I can’t wait to walk into that room when I return and hear your sweet voices say, “SARAH, WE MISSED YOU!” as I give you all a BIG HUG:)

SS.