He raised his head and looked at me and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking, he said in a clear strong voice."
"I didn't mean to disturb you Grandpa, but you were just sitting there staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were okay," I explained.
"Have you ever looked at your hands?", he asked. "I mean really looked at your hands?"
I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them. I turned them over, palms up and then palms down. No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands, as I tried to figure out the point he was making.
Grandpa smiled and related this story:
"Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. These hands, though now wrinkled, shriveled and weak, have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life. They caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor. They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child, my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. They dried the tears of my children and caressed the love of my life. They held my rifle and dried my tears when I went off to war. They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son. Decorated with my wedding band, they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special. They wrote letters home, and trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse and walked my daughter down the aisle. Yet, they were strong and sure when I dug my buddy out of a foxhole and lifted a plow off my best friend's foot. They have held children, consoled neighbors, and shook in fits of anger when I didn't understand. They have covered my face, combed my hair, washed and cleansed the rest of my body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw. And to this day, when not much of anything else of me works real well, these hands hold me up, lay me down, and continue to fold in prayer. These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of my life. But more importantly, it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when He leads me home. And with my hands, He will lift me to His side, and there I will use these hands to touch the face of Christ."
I will never look at my hands the same again. But I remember, God reached out and took my grandpa's hands and led him home. When my hands are hurt or sore; or when I stroke the face of my children and wife, I think of Grandpa. I know he has been stroked and caressed and held by the hands of God. I, too, want to touch the face of God and feel his hands upon my face.
Author & Origin Unknown, Submitted By-Wanda Gonzalez
