Lauren Ruef
About the Author

Lauren is a woman who wants to feel beautiful in her own skin and she’s not alone. It’s prompted her to write a book & blog on beauty called Echoes of Eve. She lives in the Northwest: a coffee-drinking, mountain biker’s paradise and is a ghostwriter for non-fiction authors. She...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. Beautiful post. Beautiful words. There is so very much we can learn from this generation. Your love for your grandmother and your respect for her come through so tenderly here. Thank you for sharing these gentle reminders of a simpler time. I know you are blessed by family, and she would be pleased I am certain of your gifts as a writer.

  2. Beautiful story – Thanks for sharing <3. I'm so blessed to have some wonderful
    Memories of my Mama <3. She was also a woman of few words, but full of Love for us grandchildren. She spent treasured time with me <3

    • Those memories are precious, aren’t they? It’s amazing how women can speak so much through their actions in graciously serving others. Thanks for reading along Stacey!

    • I’m still astonished by it Lisa! We have a family reunion coming up in August and I have fifty first cousins just from this side of the family. It’s beautiful and a great blessing.

  3. Thank you for sharing. I am a mom who has 15 kids. 10 girls and 5 boys and I can really relate. 🙂 And yes, no reality show here either. Thankfully just quietly serving my family.
    Theresa Hartman

    • You’re a legacy in your own right Theresa! Thanks for sharing. You are doing so much to change the world in your day-to-day. I admire you!

  4. Delightful post filled with charming words. I am taken aback to a much simpler time–a place & time I would love to go to. Don’t care for the hustle & bustle of everyday life–just the simple days of raising children without much distractions.

    You are blessed by your family & your grandmother would be proud of such an interesting writer!

  5. Thanks for reading Beth! I also long to return to that time when life was slower and a bit more simple. Though I don’t have children of my own, my grandma taught me how to love people well in how she raised my mom. Blessings to you and your family!

  6. Thanks for giving me a moment of beautiful memory today. I do remember Grandma Marie…I was eleven when she died. I remember her as generous, nurturing, thoughtful, and kind. I think she was made of strong stuff – to have carried and birthed sixteen beautiful babies and kept that house running all those years, especially when Grandpa was on the road. During my own pregnancy and childbirth experiences, I thought of her so many times and wanted to ask her questions. I wish she were with us now!

    • Thanks so much for reading cousin Sarah. I admire that “strong stuff” in you that endured child labor to bring sweet little Dot into existence! I know Grandma Marie would be proud!

  7. Lauren you are an amazing writter! You beautifully have captured the essence of Grandma without ever having met her! I got goosebumps reading this. Thank you!
    Love, Greta

  8. You made think of my grandma. I was fifteen when she died, when I look at her picture I see strenght. She always gave me a sense of safety. When she visited us, she stayed in my room and I think that were the moments I felt the savest. My grandma was not a quiet she talked a lot, but she was also very humble. In my country grandma’s are very “powerful”, they often take care of their granchildren, because the parents have to work. She lives forth in my mom who looks more like her everyday and talks maybe even more than her!

    • Wow, I would love to hear your story! You sound like a very strong lady yourself and certainly a reflection of your grandma. I love what you said about your grandma being a “powerful” lady. I think our culture could appreciate the “powerful” women we know a lot more often. It’s refreshing to hear that kind of strength is appreciated in a woman where you are from. Thank you so much for reading!

  9. Lauren, You captured her heart so perfectly, thank-you for honoring Mom in this way. God has big plans for your writing skills, keep up your beautiful insights. Now, to find some tissues.

  10. What a lovely tribute to an amazing women!! Your words are so eloquently written, I feel like I know your grandmother just a bit myself!!

  11. Lisa told us about this beautiful story that you wrote about Marie and as I (Morrie) read it, the description was amazing. You described Mom in such a loving way even though you didn’t know her. It was hard to get through reading the story without wiping the tears away. Thank you for your incredible writing and love for your grandma. She was an amazing woman.

  12. Lauren, Christiana passed this link onto me…and I am so glad she did. What a beautiful life story of sacrificial love. Frequently today our society calls us to “get in touch with yourself” and to “do what is best for you”…and while we are certainly called to know our identity as women in the Lord, we are also called to empty ourselves and become more like Christ. And becoming more like Christ means total self-gift. I see this in the story of your Grandma Marie, and I am filled with inspiration and joy for such an example of womanhood. Thank you for sharing.