What is Wisdom Anyway?

I wrote this article for one of my admissions newsletters today and as I got re-reading it thought that it would be worth posting here too. It could have been a lot longer if I could have included all the reasons why I am thankful for the example of wisdom that I have but, alas, there's only so much room in a newsletter.

Since our theme this year is "pursue wisdom, I've been doing a lot of
thinking about what that means. What is wisdom anyway? Is that some adjective
reserved for describing that old guy sitting in the back row of the church who
seems to have a story about everything and remember more random facts than I even knew existed? Perhaps.

When I look at Scripture, there are a lot of people described as wise,
both godly and ungodly figures. The men in Pharaoh's Egyptian court were
described as wise men. That didn't turn out so well for them, did it? Worldly
wisdom at it's best was not enough.

Perhaps being wise isn't just about being smart. The whole book of
Proverbs is dedicated to describing godly wisdom. David, in all his fumbling and
failing, could be described as wise. Solomon was described as the wisest of men
because he "feared God."

I think of my Grandmother. In my mind, she is my living picture of what
wisdom looks like.

My Grandmother is 80 years old this year and has lived
through much. With my grandfather, she farmed, raised five boys, loves 15
grandchildren and has been blessed to see three great-grandchildren come
into the world. That alone has to say something.

I often say that everything I know comes from Grandma. Some of it is
knowledge about "stuff." She knows more about a lot of things than I can ever
imagine knowing. I often smile when I'm in the kitchen and remember some little
trick and realize (again) that it was Grandma that taught it to me. More than
that, however, is what Grandma has taught me about life.

A year ago, almost to the day, my Grandma had a massive heart attack.
Our whole family, four generations worth, sat in the hospital together
loving, laughing, crying, praying, and reminiscing. It struck me again how each
one of us has stories of how we are better because of who Grandma is.

The day she gained consciousness (which wasn't supposed to happen, by
the way), I remember sitting with her, holding her hand and sharing with her
what was new with me. I remember her looking at me with tears in her eyes as she
told me that she was proud of me and reminded me to always put Jesus first.

Grandma's always been this way. When I ask her how she is, she says,
"The Lord has given me another day and I'm going to be thankful," (or something to that affect) and I can tell that she means it.

That, in my mind, is the wisdom that I want to pursue. I don't need to
know everything about everything but I want to learn to live well in the fear of
the Lord.