“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.” 2 Timothy 1:5
How many of you have noticed this one little verse? How many of you have pondered it? This verse to very important to the family because it is speaking of a grandmother’s transmitted faith. In fact, there are quite a few scriptures that talk about grandmothers and grandfathers and the role they should play in our lives.
As homeschooling parents, we have and do exercise the ability to surround our children with the best, the people who we want to influence our children in a positive manner. We pick out the best care groups, we investigate all the ballet schools and pick the one we think is going to teach our values along with ballet, we conduct our own girl scout and boy scout troops so our children are around moms and dads and children we approve of. But, how often do we use the godly influence of the grandparents. I know that not everyone out there has parents/grandparents that are Christians but if you don’t how about using surrogate grandparents…a couple in your church that doesn’t have children or that their children live far away and they don’t get to see the grands.
When I was around the age of 4 or 5 we lived in California. My grandparents (both sets) lived in Canada and we didn’t see them very often. There was a couple, in our church, that could not have children and they “adopted” all five of us. At the time, my father was in Viet-Nam and to lessen the load on my mother they would take two of us at a time to spend the weekends at their house. They provided beds for us and beside each bed we had a lamp and on our beds we have electric blankets with our own controls. We thought we had died and gone to heaven. They spoiled us, in a good way…we got to eat on TV trays…they had time to play with us and Uncie (as we called him for some forty years) would tell us stories from sunrise to sunset. And they were always faithful to read the bible to us…talk about God with us and pray with us. Even though we had sleep overs, we got up on Sunday morning, put on our Sunday best and met the family at church. They were a living example of their love and devotion to God and that helped mold and shape us.
As for my parents and in-laws, they have always lived within miles of my children. Every time my children skinned a knee, made a new figure with Lego’s, got a new baby doll or learned a new trick with their bike we had to call both “grammies”. It ended up that my mother went to almost every doctor’s appointment with me…the children just wanted grammie with them. During my homeschooling years, my mother-in-law would call around lunchtime, tell us to put our books away and come straight over…”I have lunch ready” she would say. It wasn’t that she liked making lunch, it was a means for her to spend time with the grandchildren. After lunch, she would bring out the sale papers and give them each a marker and they would dream through the sale papers…kind of like window shopping…circling all the things the children liked. Memories that will be burned into their hearts forever. And then there were the bible stories, the prayers, the church going and watching and listening to their grandfather preach. All these things have greatly impacted the lives of my children…more than what just their father and I can do.
Both sets of my children’s grandparents have had a big effect on my children’s life. Like Dr. Phil says, “There is no softer place for a child to lay their head then in their grandmother’s lap”. And that is so true! The influence of grandparents is God ordained, it is meant to be, and the scriptures show us that. In Joel 1: 3…”Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.” God wants the wisdom, the knowledge, the experience, the love of the generations to be passed on to our children. There is such wisdom, such patience, such love that comes from grandparents and other than parents and siblings it is one of the most important relationships you can have in this world.
So this summer, make an effort to spend a little more time with the grandparents. If spending time with their grandparents is not an option, pray and ask God to bring a elderly couple into your lives. In fact, God has probably done the foot work already and it is just something you have not been aware of. Even if the grandparents live away, change the way you are doing business….bring them to a higher priority in your children’s lives…let them call the grandparents more…make it one of their writing assignments to send a letter every week to the grandparents…carve out more time to travel to see them. Do what you need to do! God will bless you and your children and their children’s children…the scriptures tell us so!!
And here an abounding lineage…And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Sister of our, from you may there spring thousands and tens of thousands! May your descendants gain possession of the gates of their enemies!” Genesis 24:60 |
Jun. 15, 2006 - Untitled Comment
When I was around 8 yrs. old we left Ireland for our new home in Canada. In leaving Ireland we also left behind our extended family. My mother's parents had both died - her mom died long before my mom was even married, and her dad died just a couple of years before the move. My father's family, though, were all well and a very active part of our lives. What a loss to never see them again. We never had the means, or the opportunity to return to Ireland, and they never ventured off their little island home.So, I didn't have the influence of grandparents when I was growing up and feel a sense of loss.
Although I would like to say that the situation is different for my children, it isn't. My husband's parents live quite a distance from us, and have little interest in the children. They never phone, and due to family feuds we rarely get together for family functions.
On my side, my parents have been somewhat more involved but recently have shifted their interest to other things. They have become very busy and on their days off are tired and need quiet-time to recover. They aren't available to babysit, don't have time to have us over, and my mom can't drive so she depends on my dad feeling-up-to transporting her around. Also, because my children are passed the "cute" stage and are getting into their teens, my mom assumes incorrectly that my kids are "bored" when they are over. She frets over them and stresses herself out needlessly. The situation frustrates me because I recognize the importance of grandparents, want my parents to be more involved, but can't seem to figure out how to bring the change about. It's definitely an item for prayer.