A Tribute To Mamaw Juanita:

"God's Gracious Gift"

Oftentimes we give names to our children, hoping and praying they will live up to them.  We name them after famous people, loved ones, and those who have inspired us.  Such was the case on June 20, 1943, when my great-grandmother Rosie gave the name “Juanita” to my grandmother.  She named her in honor her sister, Juanita, who died at a young age when her silk gown got too close to the stove and caught on fire.  She couldn’t have given her a better name.  The name “Juanita” means “gift from God” or “gracious gift”.  Indeed, her name says it all; she was a gracious gift from God.

Mamaw Juanita was a unique person who experienced joy and heartache, happiness and sorrow, pleasure and pain.  Her 70 years upon this earth stand as a model of faithfulness, steadfastness, honesty and integrity for her family to follow.  She was a rock.  She was Juanita.

Mamaw Juanita’s devotion to her family was seen before she ever had a family of her own.  Because her mother, Mamaw Rosie, and step-father, Papaw Bob, had to leave the house early to work, Mamaw assumed the responsibility of caring for her brothers and sisters when she was very young.  She cleaned the house, watched over her siblings and always made sure a meal was ready when Mamaw and Papaw came in from work.  She was so young and small that she often stood on a crate while cooking at the wood-burning stove.  To many of her siblings, especially her younger brothers Roy and Floyd, Mamaw was a second mother.

On April 8, 1959, at the age of 15, Juanita began a family of her own.  On this date, she married her first husband, my maternal grandfather, Eugene Powers.  The two of them would welcome three children into this world: Terry, Emma (my mom) and Lillian.  The two of them would remain married until his death in January of 1971.  His death left her with the sole responsibility to care for a 10 year old, a 7 year old and an 8 month old baby.  At the young age of 27, she did not shrink from this responsibility, but accepted it and worked hard to provide for her children.

On April 10, 1976, Mamaw married my Papaw Buddy (Buddy Craft).  He loved her with all his heart and took her children in, treating them as he would have treated his own.  He never attempted to replace their dad; he just showed them the love and support they needed.  They would welcome two children into this world my uncle, Dwayne, and my aunt, Wanda, who is only 9 months older than me. 

Mamaw was a hard worker who held many different positions throughout her life.  She has worked a as waitress, a cashier, and at numerous factories.  She often said she enjoyed being a waitress more than anything she ever did.  In fact, many people remember her from her days of being a waitress at the Cozy Corner, and later at the Coffee Cup.

It didn’t take a lot in life to make Mamaw Juanita happy; she enjoyed the simple things.  She liked to drive. She often drove too fast with her left hand hanging out the window, most of the time with a KOOL 100 in it.  She loved playing ROOK, and was a skilled player.  Friday and Saturday nights were nights when the family gathered at Mamaw Rosie’s to play ROOK.  She and her partner, Larry Holderby, were a difficult duo to beat.  When Larry saw her at the hospital he told her to get better so he could get his ROOK partner back.

Mamaw Juanita was a very neat person (and that’s an understatement).  Her house was always clean.  Her dishes were always washed, dried and put up after a meal.  Her appearance was always exact.  She was particular about her clothes, her glasses and her hair.  Her looks have indeed changed throughout the years.  As a child, I had a hard time believing that the woman with the bee-hive hair-do and cat-eye glasses in old pictures was really her…but it was.  After coming out of surgeries, her first request was always for someone to get her glasses and teeth; and a request to comb her hair would soon follow.  She wasn’t vain in any sense; she was just well organized and neat.

I chuckle when I think of the other men who shared a special place in her heart: James Arness, Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Sam Elliott, Elvis Presley and Conway Twitty.  If you were at her house while the television was on, there was a great chance that one of these actors would be on the screen.  She took her Westerns seriously.  She loved Clint Eastwood, but she didn’t like his movie, UNFORIGVEN.  She said that Clint Eastwood wouldn’t have allowed men to beat him up in a saloon, and then crawl outside in disgrace.  And, it was a toss-up between whose voice she liked the most: Sam Elliot or Conway Twitty.

Most importantly, Mamaw Juanita was a Christian.  She trusted in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.  She and Papaw Buddy were baptized together by AW Smith and Grant Cantrell.  Those who knew of her fear of water and snakes know that it took great faith for her to be baptized in a creek.  Thankfully, on the day of her baptism the water was shallow, but it was so shallow that they hit her head on the creek bed, getting mud in her hair.  She was a charter member of Lakeville Baptist Church.  Her brother, Floyd, and I both had the privilege in our ministries of being called her pastor.  She faithfully attended each week until her health prevented it.  Her Bible was marked up with notes and dates of sermons Floyd and I preached throughout the years.  When her health prevented her from attending church, she was fed spiritually by her favorite preacher on television, Charles Stanley.  She had a love for God’s Word.  The last few weeks were spent with her lying in a hospital bed reading a Gideon Bible.

She spent much of the past months assuring us that she was certain of Heaven.  She often remarked that she wasn’t afraid to die.  She was ready to go.  She trusted Jesus and knew Heaven awaited her.  In one of her last acts of assuring her us, when asked if she was tired and ready to go, she nodded her head and patted the Bible that was on her tray.  It was her way of communicating to us that her faith was strong, her eternity was secure, and her heart was set. 

So, on November 22, 2013, at 2:10 a.m., the time of her departure arrived.  She had fought a good fight; she had kept the faith; she had finished her course.  She inherited the crown of righteousness that the Lord, her Righteous Judge, gives to those who love His appearing.  She loved and longed for His appearing.  And she entered into her eternal rest; she entered into the joys of the Lord.

If any person ever lived up to their name, she, by the grace of God, did.