I came from a long line of "marryiers". My grandfather had four wives. Three died and he died on the fourth one. My Dad had four wives. I had three step-mothers and a mother living at the same time. There were 20 siblings. At ten I joined a church which was anti-divorce, so I caught the fever. I was determined I would not put my children through all of the explanations of blended, blended, blended families. "My sister's grandmother etc. So I didn't go into marriage looking out. We had to learn to work it out. All of my kids were going to be by the same daddy. No, lengthy diagrams. So we had our children and our grandchildren. Some of our children reached back and used the values of their forefathers, had nerve enough to tell me that those were my values not theirs. Getting to know and have a relationship with my grandchildren was an obsession of mine. i would agonize every time I would "lose" one. I was busy during my young life, going to prisons, teaching, school, counseling" so I am /was not a babysitter, Parents and children were welcomed at the home together. I had two teenage granddaughters stay with me, one for two school years, and one for about four months. They were sixteen or more so it wasn't babysitting. I love my children and my grandchildren occupies a special place in my heart. I can't believe I have been multiplied many times over. I was the conduit from God to earth and even though the Grands were raised in different cradles-they came from the same seed.

Different Cradles, Same Seed

By Ruby Alexander

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Ruby Alexander
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4634-2125-0

Chapter One

I'm in an airplane, leaving Minneapolis to go to Los Angeles for a conference, and began to think of all my grandchildren and what I'd want them to know about me in case I died. Things I want to say and questions I'd like to answer even though they haven't been asked. My heart has been broken many times concerning you. Most of you have lived in my house; some for less than a week, and some for a year or more.

Every time I look at you, I see a miracle. If your parents weren't supposed to be born, then you weren't either. I promised God that I would give your parents back to Him, and I did. So, technically if they belonged to God, everything they possess belonged to Him also; including their seed. All of you that I have adopted, whom I call my Godchildren; Milton (six children), Judi (four children), Pat or Trisha (two children), Charlene (three children), and Warren (three children). You and yours are dear to me; you in me and I'm in you. Even the ones who aren't biological, you have just been had by association. I have asked God to show you the way—not to let you go until you have given your hearts completely to Him. That God will help you live up to the purpose to which you were born. You can't spot my life. I didn't say I was perfect, I said you can't spot my life. I have never been mean or evil. You have never seen anything other than a Christ-like spirit in me. I have loved you all the time and protected you when I could. I used to go out of my way to remember your birthdays and Christmas. Then I made a conscious decision to only give gifts to people who have formed a relationship with me; especially the ones old enough to. I have cried many nights thinking of my babies. You are that. I have held all of you on my breast. You can't imagine the hurt I feel. I don't want to go to my grave, or be raptured without you knowing that if no one else loved you unconditionally, Grandma does. You see, I am responsible for you being here. Maybe the doctors were wrong, but I do believe that God worked a miracle in my body through prayer and I conceived your parents. If I had chosen the three other men I was engaged to, you would have been different people. But divine intervention allowed you to be here. You are not here by chance. I wouldn't have been in Minnesota, so I wouldn't have met Judi, Pat or Charlene. Milton's family wouldn't have sent him to anyone but Alex. I have given you and yours to God also. You are always in my prayers.

When some of you were taken away from me, it tore my heart out. I was, in my opinion, a good grandmother and a good in-law. I never interfered unless I felt your safety was threatened. I made sure you had food and a place to stay. When some of you went to foster homes, I made sure I picked up your mom and we visited.

One day your mom took five of you to another town and I didn't know where you were. I knew you were okay because your other grandparents were involved and I knew they were as concerned about your welfare as I was. They were pastors, as we were. Just because two people come from similar backgrounds, is no indication they can be compatible in a marriage. Your parents were both eighteen when they got married and neither was ready for marriage or responsibility. The children came too fast.

You were not a mistake. I believe that God chose you to be in our family and that He has a plan for your life. You must listen carefully to His directions. He will direct you. It's up to you whether you have a hard time getting to the high road, but to the high road you will get! That's your destiny. You are somebody.

I taught coping skills for over ten years. I can remember telling each class (I would get a new class of adults every two weeks), this story: A farmer will take his prize pig to the State Fair and he can win a blue ribbon because the farmer has bathed him, brushed him down, and whatever else it takes for him to win this ribbon. After he has won it and goes back home, the pig, if left alone will go back to the mud. Someone can clean him up on the outside, but they can't change his nature. His nature is to wallow in the mud."

Only you can change your nature with the help of God. You have a choice. My dad used to say, "If you fall, don't wallow; don't stay down there. Get up and try it again". Know that that kind of life is beneath you.

So I missed a lot of your growing up years. You've been the subject of many of my prayers. Every holiday and birthday I made sure you were taken care of. Then when I couldn't find some of you, I did like AA suggests. In essence, I don't worry about the things I cannot change. I thought, "When they get old enough, they will find me". I made a policy that I wasn't going to be anyone's Santa Claus. When a person, be it family or not, is old enough to form a relationship with me and chooses not to, then I won't stick my nose in their business. When they want me, I'll probably be there.

I want all of you to know that I love you dearly and want only the best for you. But, as some of your parents told me, "My values aren't their values". So I keep my opinions to myself unless asked, but no one can tell me what to pray for. I don't pray that you come to our church. I pray that you come to know and love God. When you have accomplished this, your values will change. I'm only talking to the ones who might need this. There are twenty-three of you who are fourteen and older. None of you are in jail and from what I bear, you are not on drugs. I pray that the hounds of Heaven continue to nip at your heels until you run right into your destiny. The twenty-two younger ones, I'm in their lives. I have visited grand kids in Seattle, Omaha, Detroit, and Jacksonville. All of you are an extension of me.

One Sunday, I informed the congregation that I believed in abortions. I waited for a reaction. The church was quiet. I could feel their uneasiness. Maybe a few were judgmental, but I had everyone's attention. I finally told them how negative thoughts should be aborted when first conceived; use the morning after pill. Even if the thought has been allowed to grow for months, abort it. It is your decision, your right, and your choice to keep that negative thought or kill it. A thought is a seed that will yield off springs somewhere down the line it you don't abort it.

Chapter two, 9:8, in Samuel states that the king's grandson was invited to sit and eat at King David's table. The grandson fell off his chair and lay on the floor and called himself a dog. The king thought him worthy of eating with him, but Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, the son of King Saul, thought he was nothing.

The king invites us to come and dine, but we say, "I can't because I haven't given up this habit, or I've got something in my life to take care of before I can sit at your table". How are you ever going to get any nourishment in your anemic body if you don't come to the table? Now will you ever get the strength to get well if you don't eat? Unless you allow the king to feed you, you will never gain the strength to turn your life around. Those "I can't" thoughts should be aborted.

Someone told me if I wanted to learn the computer to ask my grand kids. Well, assuming you know how to delete something from the computer, or cancel the command on the microwave, why then don't you try that with your thoughts? Reprogram your subconscious. After you have aborted every negative thought about yourself and others, put a guard (the Word of God and other...