Grandparents Day!
Last Sunday was Grandparents Day and you may or may not have known it. It’s actually OK with me, because every day is grandparent’s day in my world! Not a day goes by that I don’t thank Father for the blessing of our grandchildren.
No matter the age of our grandchildren, grandparents enjoy seeing them smile, watching them excel and giving them gifts. I would like to suggest five gifts we can give our grandchildren that will come from our hearts, not so much the credit card.
- The gift of Intentionality – This gift suggests that instead of letting the days just play out when we are with our grandkids, that we determine every time to make a difference in their lives. It can be our physical presence or Facetime, but make it count. Make every effort by listening, asking well-thought questions about their experiences, smiling a lot, and always encouraging. Words are powerful for building up and affirming (Eph. 4:29). We have so much to share about God’s faithfulness in our lives – tell your God-story.
- The gift of a healthy soul – We cannot give our grandchildren something that we do not have. “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and you children’s children” (Deut. 4:9). Our souls are nourished as we pray, feed on God’s Word, serve and share Jesus. When we are filled with God’s love, it will be contagious to our grandchildren.
- The gift of a cross-shaped life – We show by example what it means to live in a culture of anxiety, conflict and chaos by our genuine faith in Jesus as Lord. How we spend our time and what we talk about will either lead our grandchildren closer to a powerful God or give them reason to fear and be anxious about this world. (Do they read our Facebook page?) If Jesus is Lord, then no one else can take his place for my time, thoughts and actions.
- The gift of a Biblical Worldview – There is truth found in none other, no exceptions. “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ (Col. 2:6-8). Teach our grandchildren the wonders of the bigness of God, be amazed at his power and show them how to live by God’s truth and always be able to give an answer to our hope in him.
- The gift of legacy – We will leave something to our grandchildren, but what will it be? All of that is determined now, while we are with them, giving them gifts of faith, love, commitment, and example. I have said many times, my great-grandchildren may not know my name or what I did while on earth – but I want them to know that I lived by faith and passed it on.