Lord, let me be like that white oak on the hill

I love the old mountain hymns. This one's been running through my mind all day.

There's a white oak on the hill
at my old mountain home
It stands straight and true
on the windspur alone
When the cold wind blows
its roots they bend and moan
But when the storm has passed
It straightens up and goes on
Lord, let me be like that
white oak on the hill
Help me to live
Your Almight will
Help me on my journey, Lord
the travel on life's way
Give me the strength
to straighten up and go on.

Songs like this remind me of my good old Gran who died last year. She went through so much but always straightened up and went right on. She buried both of her parents, two of her children, and her beloved husband before she went on to her reward. But she kept her faith in God and stood by what she knew to be right even as the world around her changed drastically.

Sometimes I think about how much she influenced my life and how I never really told or showed her that. But whenever one of my family members call me by her first name teasingly because something I've said or done reminds them of her, I can't help but smile.