Rachelle Chase Blog: Everyone deserves to feel beautiful ~ My Grandmother's story

"Hi dahlin'. How's my girl today?"

My grandmother's sweet voice with a thick New England accent still makes me smile every time I hear it. I grew up hearing it a lot and I think every time I am with her, I hear "Love you, dahlin'" before I leave!

My grandparents raised 5 kids in a tiny house in Brentwood, NH.

The middle child was my dad.

We grew up pretty close to them until they moved South when I was in High School.

Their salvation story is pretty amazing.

They were fighting a lot, my grandfather was drinking a lot and there was no peace in their home.

Until.

Until that one day when a local pastor visited my grampy and told him about a God who loved him enough to die for him. Told him that God wanted a relationship with him and could turn his life around.

He accepted Christ as his Savior, and their marriage was saved, their family turned around and everything changed.

I am so grateful for the fact that my family has given me such an amazing legacy to follow.

My grandfather passed away a week after Riley was born, but his legacy lives on.

I still have emails from him and cherish the times we had together. I still remember many times sitting at my kitchen table listening to stories he would tell.

My grandmother is visiting us for a while this summer and we could not be more excited.

She is an amazing woman.

She is incredibly positive.

She is loving and caring and never thinks of herself.

She is so giving and she loves God.

I believe that everyone is incredibly valuable to God, regardless of age or physical condition.

My sister, Melanie, came to visit from New Jersey last weekend and we decided to give gram a makeover.

I believe that everyone deserves to feel beautiful - because they are beautiful.

I told my gram about it a couple weeks ago, and she didn't stop talking about it up until the day it happened!

I believe that everyone needs something to look forward to.

She came to my house and we started out with a manicure. Melanie gave her hands a treatment, and then painted her nails. Her hands have always been so soft. I remember that from when I was little. She would sit next to me and rub my hands.

I wish you could have seen her. I should have taken video. She lit up. She talked and talked and talked some more. She told us about the times she was dating my grandfather and they would go dancing together. She told us about the time she and her BFF cleared out a restaurant because they had gone out to eat right after working at the egg factory.

I believe that everyone needs someone to talk to.

Then I curled her hair. Did her makeup. Put a necklace on her. And brought out false eyelashes...to which she responded "oh my lawwwwd!" I wasn't really going to put them on, but her reaction was so funny!

I believe that everyone needs to laugh more.

And then I gave her a photo shoot.

She. loved. it.

She has said that she feels like a burden, and it breaks my heart to hear it.

The circle of life is a funny thing. I can't imagine the countless hours she selflessly put into her 5 children, grandchildren and great grandchildren over the years.

And here she is, needing time put into her, and she feels bad.

Because that's how she is. She wants to give, not take.

I believe the fact that God has a perfect plan for us that does not stop when we age.

Just recently, my mom was walking by the room my grandmother was sitting in, and heard her praying. She is a woman who loves God and is still being used by Him, even though it is not in an obvious way.

The fact that people can't see how she is serving God does not change the fact that she is making a difference for eternity by her prayers.

I believe that God will use anyone.

I proudly introduce you to my beautiful grandmother, Annie.

(I forgot to take a before picture..my mom reminded me after I had done her makeup! So I had to go to my sister's blog and get this picture from the first week she had come to stay with us.)