Living The Grand Life Now

As grandparents, we can be the ties that bind family together. And in some cases, we become the family hub where all who come know it is safe. If there are problems in the homes of our children, in some cases divorce, or even death of a parent which are all traumatic in themselves, but to know that there is already built in and established relationship going on, will help everyone during these difficult times. In many cultures the grandparents live with their married children, and help raise the grandchildren. This gives the reinforcement of principles, traditions, values, and virtues to be handed down generation to generation. Pr 24:3 “ A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good choices with knowledge filling the rooms of the house with all kinds of valuable assets and resources.

The challenge we face in our society is to recognize what we have to offer as valuable. Again Proverbs provides an excellent resource of confirming the value of our words. In Chapter 8 starting in verse 10, wisdom is compared with precious gems, and knowledge more valuable than silver or gold, and there is nothing that can compare with that. Chapter 20:15 says that wise speech is rarer and more valuable than gold and rubies.

As a grandparent, we must recognize a sad reality and truth; many people have children, but a lot of them do not want to or have no idea how to be parents. There are no Marriage 101 or Parenting 101 classes taught in school to prepare us for life. And this is where we have the unique distinction of being seasoned, experienced, tried and true “experts” in training up our grandchildren. We have earned the position to be called on by our children to help with them. But what if we are not around?

The casualty rate increases when family is not involved in the lives of young members of the family. The break in the chain, the link that should not be broken is the relationship of grandparent, grandchild however, the loss of that relationship is not felt in the beginning sometimes until it is too late. And this loss reverberates throughout the entire family and sets the course to breaking the family apart due to lack of strong family ties, family relationships, family traditions that would instead solidify and strengthen the family unit across generations. The God designed support system disintegrates when we abdicate our responsibility and take off because we want to relax, enjoy our life, not have cares, retire, etc…but the Bible does not let us get away with it because it gives grandparents a mandate to teach our children's children.

Chapter 4 of Proverbs tells of the father instructing his children as his father instructed him, and here we see plainly how one generation has passed words of wisdom to the next generation and that is being perpetuated by this father now passing this legacy to his children.

So you might be thinking;” I’ve already raised my kids, and now it’s time for me”, but the Bible clearly doesn’t mention retirement or quitting your job as a parent/ grandparent.
In fact, I Timothy even talks about the grandparent’s vital role in training up the young child. Paul told Timothy to remember what his mother and grandmother had taught him.
Isn’t it interesting that football players, and different athletes always say; “Hi Mom”, not Hi Dad? Perhaps the influence of the mother and grandmother was so great their lives that when the spotlight is on them, they take a moment to acknowledge them as a sign of respect. In fact, Mother’s Day is the one busiest telephone day of the year. Clearly, even the world acknowledges the importance of a parent's influence.

Grandchildren are wonderful little people who bring out the best in us, the child in us, the teacher in us. It is exciting to know that we can share with them the things we may have missed with our children. In a way it is redemptive; a way to make up for the past regrets, lost times with our own children, and a very special privilege to share our lives, experiences, and teachable moments with our children’s children. Our life stories take on new meaning because we are planting them as seeds in the memory banks of their minds, in hopes that they will carry these stories forward into the lives of generations to come. Trips to the park, and walks become an adventure as we open the eyes of our grandchildren to God’s wonderful creation, and introduce the beauty of imagination into their lives. We can help them look with eyes of wonder and awe, and never tire of their questions; ‘What? How? Why?’ What a grand opportunity to speak into the lives of our grandchildren in ways we could not, did not, or missed in our own children’s lives.

To be a “grand” parent means to be big, large, and heroic in the eyes of our grandchildren. To be able to fill a grandchild’s heart and life with unconditional love, let them know you are a safe place for them to come to, that with you they can find security, comfort, and honesty is a special responsibility we cannot take lightly.

Grand living is more than supplying or indulging our grandchildren with their every whim or desire, it’s teaching them about the various virtues needed to coexist and live joyfully in a materialistic society that tries to entice and lure them into thinking they need “stuff” or the next “it” toy to make them happy and content. Those will soon be left in the bottom of the closet, thrown away, or even sold on the internet – yet the time spent together; laughing, crying, singing, praying, reading, teaching and learning, those are the moments, priceless, irreplaceable moments in yours and their lives that live on in their hearts and minds forever.

As a Grandparent, you can impact your grandchildrens lives with a rich heritage and a grand legacy that will outlast any amount of material inheritance you would consider leaving for them. If all they get is the material inheritance from you, they haven’t received very much, because even the Bible says that moth, rust, and or robbers will make that disappear, but the memories, the teachable moments, time invested into their lives will last for ages.

When your grandchild looks at you, what does she see? What does he hear? Your grandchild watches the relationship between you and their parents. He hears about your relationship with God by what you share and how you walk out your trust and faith in Him before them. Our influence as a grandparent can be grand because we have no hidden agenda, nothing except pure love for them. Since we have seen and heard it all before there are no surprises.

With us they know they have complete love, complete trust, security, and safety. We model the relationship that God wants to have with His children before them and allows us the privilege to lead them to knowing God. Living our lives before them by being an integral and vital part of their lives so they can learn our values, our relationship with God, and others. There is no waste of time here it is all so precious. Oh, what we would miss by ignoring our call as grandparents, and living selfishly for our own enjoyment and pleasure? Now we have no excuse to pack up and go on a permanent vacation thinking that our job is done, when really, it is just beginning. This time of our lives is probably the most important and valuable investment that we can make, and we would be remiss to be so foolish as to ignore God’s commission to us and then wonder why we don’t hear from our grandkids, or worse, have no relationship with them at all.