Kyle Dresback

Dear Friends,

For as long as I knew her, my grandma lived a life of heroic faithfulness. I have a lifetime of memories but she’s almost never at the center of those pictures. Rather, she’s on the side, in the background, or just out of focus. She’s humming while washing dishes, frying bacon, or cleaning up after us kids, her quiet but boundless energy always directed toward others. This kind of quiet faithfulness is usually only recognized in retrospect, though, in its cumulative effect.

Of course, most of my heroes growing up were the glossy subjects of mediocre films, battling it out against evil over a dramatic soundtrack. Meanwhile, grandma was sweeping the patio as the pie was cooling because my sister and I needed a caretaker while our single mom had a work event. While not quite the plot of a summer blockbuster, my grandma was laying the groundwork for a life well lived.

Even in the advanced stages of dementia, when I would visit, she would occasionally utter a coherent phrase or two like “Are you comfortable?” or “I could’ve cleaned up” that revealed the motivation that drove her throughout her life: others.

Hers was the kind of faithfulness that’s underestimated moment by moment but properly understood in its totality.

Much of today’s lectionary speaks to the cumulative effect of a well lived life of faithfulness.

Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
    who find great delight in his commands.
Their children will be mighty in the land;
    the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in their houses,
    and their righteousness endures forever.
Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
    for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
    who conduct their affairs with justice.

In Christ,

—Kyle