grandchildren

Being a Grandparent in Shutdown

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged parents are the pride of their children.  Proverbs 17:6

I have always believed that when grandparents and parents play on the same team kids win. But when our grandchildren can’t come to see us and it’s hard even having a backyard barbeque a how can we continue to be a part of their lives?

I love long slow walks with our grandkids but now with them being in a lockdown area our visiting is on hold. So I have begun a letter writing campaign to try and keep in touch. Granted that they don’t write back much but I know at least that they have something that they can keep forever; unlike a video call that ends with a tap of a finger. Nana can’t make sure that there are  chocolate chip cookies on their table; but she can send them small thoughtful gifts that no one else knows they will love.

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Maybe most of all our enforced separation has caused us on both ends of the phone calls, to value the relationships we have taken for granted. We are not just asking how they are doing but we are really listening to what they have to say. Sometimes Dad and Mom feel like the demands will never end but we Grandparents know that it all comes to an end too quickly and we treasure slow and ordinary moments. God bless all you Moms and Dads as you have shared your children with us. We only have them for a little while and we promise to give them back to you wrapped tightly in the love of a grandparent!

While I certainly don’t have all the answers these are a few things we have been doing so why not let us know what is working for you.

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The Gift of Joy

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 2 Corinthians 8:2 ESV

Our twelve year old grandson is named Christian. Whenever Christian is happy about something he squints his eyes, rubs his hands together and smiles as wide as he can. Christian loves to tell me a joke or to give me some small gift he has made. While he is doing that he will shout out my name and sometimes even jump up and down in excitement. Some say that our grandson has special needs; but I just think that God has given him to our family so that we will know what rejoicing looks like!

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Christian with his little brother

When was the last time you can honestly say that you experienced joy like that? In today’s verse we are introduced to the little church in a town called Philippi who had a giant giving heart. They were very poor believers who had befriended Paul but they discovered first-hand what being more blessed giving than receiving really meant. Perhaps because of their own poverty they understood hunger and when they heard about people who were without food; they eagerly sent as large an offering as they could. Like us in the Western world some of the richer churches groaned when asked to give, and just grudgingly gave what they felt they had to. But the Philippians saw this as a joyful opportunity to give their best and they discovered that in God they were really rich.   They found out just as our grandson has, that giving whatever they had gave them a chance of receiving God’s overflowing joy and that was way more than they could have ever imagined!

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Staying Connected

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Making Connections

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.  Philippians 4:9 ESV

One of my least favorite bumper stickers says, “We are spending our children’s inheritance” Usually this is on the back of a shiny new RV or expensive camper.

man standing leaning on orange camper

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Navigator on Pexels.com

But Paul has better things in mind for us of the older generation. Of course the most important things we leave our children are not money or possessions. Paul begins by telling his friends, the inheritance he is giving them begins with what he has taught them. Our words to our children can hurt or heal; they can criticize or praise. Once a word is spoken it can never be unsaid and so it helps to slow down long enough to think before we launch into an angry lecture or sarcastic response.

Next Paul points his friends to the experiences they have shared together. Some of us plan events with our families such as a day at an amusement park or a meal at a fancy restaurant as a way of making memories. But Paul reminds his friends, of what they have seen, not of their “special” days but on their ordinary days together. When we walk with our family and loved ones with honesty, humility and grace they receive an eternal inheritance. In fact the most important thing that we will ever do is to pass along the peace that comes through our living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.