March Blog – Women's Ministry

Gramma’s Front Porch, The Corner Store

June in Fairfield, Iowa, 1967, the trees were huge that shaded my gramma’s front porch. We have nothing like these here in Colorado except maybe by a riverbed, though the trunk of the trees in Iowa would diminish those we have here. You can’t reach around them, even if you hold the hands of someone else in a “tree-hug,” as I remember, and the days there were exceedingly warm.

On one such warm day, my grandma Ruth sat in the living room of their quaint little home. Rocking in her chair, talking and carrying on with my mom, who I know now was enjoying her time with her mom immensely. Leaving the porch, my older sister and I went in for a drink.

Passing my grandma, she called us and leaned forward in her rocker, which she did from time to time. This time she gently dipped forward a bit farther to slide her hand quietly into her, “pocket-book”. She pulled out 2-one-dollar bills, giving one to my sister and myself. She said we could go to the corner store and buy something we wanted. The corner store was one house down, across the street diagonally, and then one more house down from the opposing corner. It was converted home turned into a little neighborhood store.

A dollar went a long way at the 5-and-Dime then. A dollar would last a whole week going back and forth to the store. Candy was a penny or two. We looked at each other and set out on our short journey to get whatever suited our appetite in the moment.

Entering the small store, it was unlike our stores in Colorado. It had a screen door on the front that slammed if you didn’t help it drop to the doorframe gingerly. The smell inside was musty. The floor was made of wood planks worn on the edges that creaked with the movement of our feet as we quietly passed the uninteresting items to assure our stance in front of the inventory displayed in the candy aisle. There was a kindly gentleman behind the counter with his glasses that slid down his nose. I never knew if he did that purposefully to see over the top, or if his glasses just wouldn’t stay on the bridge of his nose in proper order.

He would watch us at times with an endearing look noticing us and making small talk. “You girls finding what you need?” followed by, “Are you getting some candy today?”

We would secure what we wanted gripping the sweets in our hands. Walking to the counter, I would reach above my head to pay for whatever sweet thing I had acquired. We would then open the door again and step out into the sunlit day and walk slowly down the broken cement sidewalk tracing our steps back to Grandma’s front porch. Satisfied with our purchases, we tucked the change back in our little coin pouches for another day of adventure later in the week at the corner store. When we were older, we got to walk 2 blocks to a small store in the other direction, for a refreshing dip of ice cream!

What simple things we gathered to make a day more joyful. When I look at my days now and what makes me joyful, there are times when I long for these hot days spent with grandparents in the summer. I account for those things that memory brings back to me and desire the joy and peace that was held then. When I am quiet, at rest, listening and leaning on the Lord He gives me rest, joy and peace. When I reach back in my memory of walking with Him over the years, I feel the joy He provides. When was the last time you stopped to be with Him?

If you are looking for solid learning and listening with commentary check out Read through the Bible schedule OR find an app you can carry with you on your phone, The Bible Recap by D-Group commentary of what you read by Tara-Leigh Cobble, find your reading segment and click on the commentary that matches as you scroll through the complete list of daily commentary.

- Traci Hollingsworth