The Gift of Grandparenting
Proverbs 17:6
A Covenant with God and My Children and Grandchildren!
a paraphrase of Psalm 78:4-7
“We will not hide these truths from our children
but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD.
We will tell of His power and the mighty miracles He did.
For He issued His decree to Jacob; He gave His law to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children,
so the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—
that they in turn might teach their children.
So each generation can set its hope anew on God,
remembering His glorious miracles and obeying His commands.”
(New Living Translation)
The Word of the Lord came to Joel:
Joel 1:3
3 Tell it to your children,
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.
(NIV)
Every Grandparent can testify that if someone would have just told them that grandchildren were so much fun, the choice would have been made to have them first!
She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful
eyes of her young granddaughter as she’d done many times before.
After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said,
’But Gramma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!’
My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy
Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, ’62.’ He was quiet
for a moment, and then he asked, ’Did you start at 1?’
Grandparents have one thing God doesn’t have: GRANDCHILDREN!!!!
After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into
old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she
heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew
thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their
room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room,
she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, ’Who was THAT?’
"A grandmother is a lady who has no children of her own. She likes other people’s little girls and boys. A grandfather is a man grandmother. He goes for walks with the boys and they talk about fishing and stuff like that. Grandmother’s don’t have to do anything but.. be there. Their old, so they shouldn’t play too hard or run. It’s enough if they drive us to the market where the pretend horse is and have plenty of quarters ready. Or if they take us for walks they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars. Usually, grandmother’s are fat but not too fat to tie your shoes. They wear glasses and funny underwear, they can take their teeth and gums off! When they read to us they don’t skip or mind it if it is the same story again. Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don’t have cable- because they’re the only grown-ups who have time."
Grandparents are the only ones who have time to play.
A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own
childhood was like: ’We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing
made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony.
We picked wild raspberries in the woods.’ The little girl was wide-eyed,
taking this all in. At last she said, ’I sure wish I’d gotten to know you sooner!’
My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, ’Grandma, do you
know how you and God are alike?’ I mentally polished my halo while I
asked, ’No, how are we alike?’ ’You’re both old,’ he replied.
In the car my four-year-old granddaughter asked me why I was wearing the brightly colored scarf I had on.
"I thought it would make my blue suit look much prettier," I said.
After a moment’s consideration, she replied sympathetically, "It didn’t work, did it?"
A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather’ s
computer keyboard. She told him she was writing a story.
’What’s it about?’ he asked.
’I don’t know,’ she replied. ’I can’t read.’
I didn’t know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I
decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it
was. She would tell me and was always correct. It was fun for me, so I
continued. At last she headed for the door, saying sagely, ’Grandma, I
think you should try to figure out some of these yourself!’
When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept
the lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects.
Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered,
’It’s no use, Grandpa. The mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights. ’
When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, ’I’m
not sure.’ ’Look in your underwear, Grandpa,’ he advised. ’mine says I’m
four to six.’
A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother,
’Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today.’ The
grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. ’That’s interesting, ’ she said, ’how do you make babies?’ ’It’s simple,’ replied
the girl. ’You just change ’y’ to ’i’ and add ’es’.’
Proverbs 17:6
6 Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children.
(NLT)
God intends for our grandchildren to be our crowning glory and for our children to be proud of us, their parents.
Grandparents are the only ones who have the time to stay.
Grandparents give grandchildren roots.
Grandchildren give grandparents renewal.
Ruth 4:13-17
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
14 The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!
15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."
16 Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him.
17 The women living there said, "Naomi has a son." (NIV)
Margaret Mead, the noted anthropologist, has said a lot of controversial things, but you will find no authorities debating her statement in her article Grandparents and Educators. In it she said, "Somehow we have to get the older people, grandparents, widows and widowers, spinsters and bachelors, back close to children if we are to restore a sense of community, a knowledge of the past, and a sense of future to today’s children."
Rootless people are the result, at least in part, of being ripped away from the influence of their grandparents. Grandparents can be just that, parents who are grand. They do not have to be the disciplinarians of life, and so they are more free to be the teachers of values. They have opportunities to talk and share in ways that parents often do not have, or do not take advantage of, because they do not see from the same perspective as do grandparents. Leo Tolstoy said, from birth to the 5th year is an eternity, but from 5 to old age is a step. It is a gift to be there for the one to 5 period of their life in order to be the place of refuge and an oasis in the hard land of growing up.
The grandchild- grandparent relationship is a two way street. The child has as great an impact on the adult as the adult on the child.
Ruth 4:15
15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. (NIV)
In verse 15 the women say of baby Obed, "He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age." This little guy was to be to Naomi all that Geritol is today, and more. There is something about a grandchild that can change the whole psychology of life, and bring hope and joy to the forefront. Your children may have kept you poor, but their children will make you rich. They renew your spirit, and give you a whole new role in the world of loving, lifting, and laughing.
A sweet little boy surprised his grandmother one morning and brought her a cup of coffee. He made it himself and was so proud. He anxiously waited to hear the verdict on the quality of the coffee. The grandmother had never in her life had such a bad cup of coffee, and as she forced down the last sip she noticed three of those little green army guys in the bottom of the cup.
She asked, "Honey, why would three little green army guys be in the bottom of my cup?"
Her grandson replied, "You know grandma, it’s like on TV, ’The best part of waking up is soldiers (Folgers) in your cup."
Grandparents are the only ones who have the time to pray
Proverbs 13:22
22 A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children… (NIV)
Are you leaving an inheritance of faith for your grandchildren?
Psalm 78:4-7
4 We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;
6 That the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children,
7 That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments;
(NKJ)
2 Timothy 1:5
5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
(NIV)
Godly grandparents have such a powerful impact on the lives of grandchildren that one is not far from the mark to say that the church and the Sunday School, and all other arms of the kingdom of God are supplements to the influence of grandparents. They change the course of history, and no matter how rotten a generation becomes, there is always hope for renewal because the next generation can be turned toward righteousness by the grandparents. Eight year old Ann Johnson wrote this poem which expresses the influence of millions of grandparents on their grandchildren.
My grandma likes to play with God,
They have a kind of game.
She plants the garden full of seeds,
He sends the sun and rain.
She likes to sit and talk with God,
And knows He is right there.
She prays about the whole wide world,
Then leaves us in His care.
In Point Man, Steve Farrar tells the story of George McCluskey. When McCluskey married and started a family, he decided to invest one hour a day in prayer, because he wanted his kids to follow Christ. After a time, he expanded his prayers to include his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Every day between 11 a.m. and noon, he prayed for the next three generations.
As the years went by, his two daughters committed their lives to Christ and married men who went into full-time ministry. The two couples produced four girls and one boy. Each of the girls married a minister, and the boy became a pastor. The first two children born to this generation were both boys. Upon graduation from high school, the two cousins chose the same college and became roommates.
During their sophomore year, one boy decided to go into the ministry. The other didn’t. He undoubtedly felt some pressure to continue the family legacy, but he chose instead to pursue his interest in psychology. He earned his doctorate and eventually wrote books for parents that became bestsellers. He started a radio program heard on more than a thousand stations each day. The man’s name was James Dobson. Through his prayers, George McCluskey affected far more than one family.
