Here in the USA, we do not tend to value grandparents as they are in other places around the world. And, here in the USA grandparents often do not understand the value they have to offer when it comes to passing on a heritage of faith to their grandchildren. Many grandparents even have the attitude their “job” is “finished”, their children are adults and now they can just retire, relax and enjoy life.

The truth, however; is our job is not “finished”. We have a very important job to do. The average age of the first-time grandparent is 47 and most of us live to be at least 78 years old – our lives are not over! We have much to offer and can not just toss away these years by focusing on ourselves and not being intentional about passing on a heritage of faith.

Think about it. Which matters more? Taking another trip or seeing your grandchildren love, know and walk with Jesus? Clearly the trip is not even in the same, “ballpark” when it comes to importance.

We have to grandparent on purpose. We have to be engaged. Some of the most important and most precious people in our lives need to see an example of people who faithfully love and follow Jesus and who will point them to how to do the same. We want to keep Jesus and knowing and following Him in the forefront of our grandchildren, so they do not forget Him, but instead remember all He does for them and experience the joys of following Him themselves.

Being a grandparent who faithfully passes on a heritage of faith is not only important and essential for us to do; it will be something which is fulfilling and one of the biggest sources of joy for us as well – far outshining retiring and traveling! Let’s be the grandparents who grandparent on purpose!

I can not over-emphasize how important it is for us to give our attention to our grandchildren. When they want to talk to us or ask us something, we need to put down what we are doing (especially if it is using our smart phones, computers, tablets, etc) and look them in the eye while they tell us whatever it is they want to tell us.

Our grandchildren need to know we pay attention to them. They need to experience how we listen to them, because when we do, we are showing them how much we love them.

Yes, it is entirely possible the things they have to say will not be “earth-shattering”, but if it is important to them, it has to be important to us. If we do not listen to them, really pay attention and listen, they will find others who will and it is possible these “other” persons will not be people who will influence them as we want them to be influenced.

While we want our grandchildren to observe good manners and not interrupt, they also need to know we will listen to them. We value what they have to say. We want to hear the things which are important to them. We love them.

And, remember, God sets the absolutely perfect example for us of what it means to give someone you love your attention, because He promises He will always hear, listen to and answer our prayers! He wants us to talk to Him! He shows His love and one way He does this is by listening to us.

So, pay attention to your grandchildren. Listen to them. Put down your “tech” and look them in the eyes when they have something they want to tell you or ask you. Only you can give them your attention . . . and when you do, they will experience your love in ways they will remember!

But, intentionally blessing our grandchildren is something we do in small, everyday ways as well. For example, when you encourage your grandchild to try something new, you are blessing them. When you cheer them on as they accomplish something they worked hard to learn, you are blessing them. When you snuggle them in your lap and whisper to them how you love them forever and for always, you are blessing them. When you tell them God knew what He was doing when He made them to be boys – or girls as the case may be – and you are oh so glad He did, you are blessing them.

Yes, be intentional when it comes to blessing your grandchildren with a Scripture verse or passage. This is something which matters. But, do not forget to be intentional with all the “little” blessings; the everyday blessings as well!

This is true for us, but it is also true for our grandchildren. Teaching them to be people who pray is one of the best and most important things we will ever do as grandparents. We can be certain our grandchildren will also face situations they are not able to “fix” or solve throughout their lives, but if they know how to talk with God, they will be able to find comfort and strength for whatever it is they are facing.

My husband and I are praying through the Book of Psalms this year. We are using my book; Deeper In 4 Grandparents & Parents, Too – Praying the Scriptures for the Children You Love – Psalms Edition. This book guides us as we pray through a different Psalms passage each week for our grown children and our grandchildren. When our grandchildren heard we were doing this, they wanted to pray through the Psalms with us – yes, my grandma heart is rejoicing over this for sure!

But, my grandchildren are young – just eight, five and three – so I simplify the passage their Poppa and I are praying each week for them to join us in praying through Psalms this year. For my eight year old grandson, who is an excellent reader, I merely simplify the week’s prayer into four or five sentences. My five-year old grandson is just learning to read, so for him I use words I know he is able to read and make his prayer a bit simpler. My three-year old grandson is not reading yet, so I draw pictures and talk with him about what they mean, to give him his own copy of our prayer – like his older brothers. All three boys put their prayers by their beds, so they are able to pray them before they go to sleep and/or when they get up in the morning.

There are many things my husband and I teach our grandsons, but one of the most important is the truth about how God hears, listens to and answers their prayers. We teach and show them how they are able to talk with God by praying, with a focus on helping them learn to pray God’s Word. While God’s Word is not magic, it does have true power. God promises His Word will not return void, but it will accomplish what He has planned for it. Helping my grandsons learn to pray God’s Word into their lives is something which will last and may be used by God to encourage them and help them see His work in their lives. And this is something which truly matters to me!

Isaiah 55:11 – So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

I also love the newer praise songs, but today I want to share one of my favorite hymns with you, and some thoughts about how these lyrics encourage grandparents. Before I do, here’s some background on the lyricist – Frances Havergal.

Francis lived in the mid to late 1800’s and wrote a number of hymns. In 1876 she became quite ill. Many thought she would die, but she was not upset or afraid. Instead she had great peace and wrote the song, “Like a River Glorious” – one of my favorites!

Look at the first verse – 

“Like a river, glorious, is God’s perfect peace. Over all victorious, in its bright increase. Perfect yet it floweth, fuller every day. Perfect yet it growth deeper all the way. Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest. Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.”

This verse and chorus are true – God’s peace is perfect. It flows fuller and grows deeper each and every day as our hearts are stayed upon Jesus. When we do this, we find His promised perfect peace and rest! Isaiah 26:3 says; “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

Here’s a question for us to consider; Do we live like people who trust God and have a deep peace from Him?

Let’s move on with this song; 

“Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand. Never foe can follow, never traitor stand. Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care, not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.”

Another question to consider: Do we pray knowing God is in control and is big enough to do whatever needs to be done, or do we pray, then worry? Do we trust God knowing we – and our grandchildren, are hidden in the hollow of His hand?

The song finishes with; 

“Every joy or trial falleth from above, traced upon our dial by the Son of Love. We may trust Him fully, all for us to do. They who trust Him wholly, find Him wholly true.”

What a wonderful way for this song to end! It is true – every joy or trial comes from above, so we absolutely are able to trust God with our all and know He is true with His all! We are able to pray, and live, like people who believe God hears our prayers, and who know every joy and trial we face in life has to travel through God’s hand to reach us. One last question; how will living like this impact our grandchildren?

Our world is scary at times, but God’s hands are big enough to hold us in our trials and our joys! When we trust Him, we will have His perfect peace and joy – this is what our grandchildren need to see; especially in times where the evening news and conversations they hear may frighten them.

Share with your grandchildren today about a time when you experienced God’s perfect peace, how you have been able to trust God wholly and have found Him to be wholly true!

My grandsons look forward to celebrating Children’s Day. This year we are making s’mores, having hot dogs, melon and rootbeer floats . . . yes, they chose the menu! Since it will be warm out, we will also have a full-scale water war with squirt guns and the water hose. I’m quite sure I will be drenched!

And, along with the fun (and we will have lots of fun), I plan to use this day to be intentional about reminding my grandsons how much I love them, how very thankful I am God blessed our family with each of them, and how much He loves them!

I love Children’s Day – one of my favorite days of the year . . . for very good reason!

Consider the following ways we might be intentional about helping preschool and elementary age grandchildren learn to be responsible stewards of their time . .

• • Young preschool age grandchildren are able to help their mom with simple chores such as dusting, folding laundry, putting laundry into the dryer, etc.
  • Elementary age grandchildren are able to help their mom with chores such as taking out the trash, putting laundry away, drying dishes, emptying the dishwasher, etc.
  • Both preschool and elementary children are able to sit down and make a schedule for their out of school time and how they will spend it – so much time reading (or being read to), helping with chores, how much time they will spend with video games and TV, etc.
  • Both ages are able to use their time to help others. They could make cards to brighten the day of a shut-in, help bake bread or other baked goods for an elderly neighbor, write a note to a teacher, pastor, or Sunday school teacher to thank them for how they serve others, etc.

These are just a few simple ways we are able to help our grandchildren learn to be responsible stewards of their time. If they learn at these young ages to be responsible with their time, when they start to earn money later in their lives, they will already have the positive habit of being responsible with what they are given… for their is a time for everything.

Trust in God with all your heart and do not depend on your own understanding. In everything you think, say and do, think about God and He will make your path straight.

Even the three year old has learned this blessing and says it with gusto!

We have talked through what these verses are saying and what they mean. When the boys have difficult situations to face, we talk about how they may choose to trust God with their all, rather than depend on what they might think. When they question why grandma does not let them watch a show they might want to watch, we talk about how it matters what they think, say and do and this grandma wants them to think about God rather than the things in the show they wanted to watch. When they are not sure what to do, we talk about how when they trust God and think about Him, they can be sure He will make their path straight.

For us, this passage has become a blessing and so much more. Yes, I want a Scriptural blessing to use with my grandsons, but I also want them to understand what it means and how it changes their lives, because I want to be intentional when it comes to blessing my grandchildren. I want it to become something they hear from me and choose to live in their lives.

Jesus prayed His disciples would be protected by the power of God’s name so none of them would be lost He did not ask God to take them out of the world, but to protect them from the evil one, so they – and we – will have unity and the world will believe.

I believe there is good reason to pray these same things for my grandsons; and this is my prayer based on John 17:6-21 . . .

Dear God, I want to first of all thank and glorify You for Your love, for sending Jesus and for giving Him the power to give us all eternal life. Thank You, Jesus, for showing us what God is like; please help me make the choice each day to obey You. I want to glorify You. I pray also for my grandchildren and ask they will come to know, love, obey and glorify You as well. Please keep them safe from the evil one by Your amazing power so they will not be lost. Thank You for the complete joy You give; please help them experience and know this joy! As they go about their everyday lives in this world, please help them come to understand they do not belong to this world, but instead they belong to You. Please help them have friends who love, know and choose to follow You and help them be at one with other believers, so the people of this world will believe in You. Thank You for Your great love for us, amen!

As I’ve written before, there is so much I am not able to do, but I can be a grandma who is intentional about truly loving my grandsons and one big way I do this is by praying for my grandsons . . . and this is one of the Scripture passages I am intentional about praying.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There is a wonderful love between parents and children, too, but I describe the difference in the following way. When children first see their parents at the start of their day, they may say, “hello” or “good morning” and they may not. But, when grandchildren first see you – at least when they are young – no matter where you are – they shout at the tops of their voices, “Grandma!!!” and run to you as fast as their little legs can carry them, shouting all the while, “Grandma!!!!”

This is the difference. Yes, our grandchildren love their parents with all their hearts, but there is a different, special, wonderful love between a grandparent and a grandchild!

And, yes, this love between our grandchildren and us shows itself in the glad greetings, the wonderful times spent together, but it also shows itself in the way we are intentional about the things which really matter. The things which bring a joy which is far deeper than the happiness we experience with the greetings, hugs and snuggles.

All of these things are wonderful and amazing parts of being a grandparent and I love them all! But, there are some things which are even better. Things which are part of being intentional when it comes to loving our grandchildren and intentional about sharing God’s love with them.

I remember, for example, the day my oldest grandchild called me on the phone when he was four years old to tell me he was “part of God’s family” . . . absolutely one of the most wonderful, amazing, joy-filled and best days of my life! His momma had the joy of leading him to Jesus and then had him call me. I had the joy of receiving the great news, rejoicing with him and of having a conversation about what he did. I was able to affirm how much God loves him and let him hear how much his grandma rejoiced at his news. This is part of intentional love.

Or the day my five-year old grandson and I were talking about how to get to Heaven and he said he wanted to go to Heaven. He told me; “I believe in Jesus!” Then he turned to his three year old brother and said; “Shane, if you want to go to Heaven you have to believe in Jesus!” To which Shane said; “I want to go to Heaven . . . I believe in Jesus!” Definitely one of the most wonderful, amazing, joy-filled and best days of my life!

Throughout the previous year we had been talking about God, His love, and discovering what the Bible said. On this particular day, my grandson was ready to respond. I love my grandsons and am intentional in sharing my love to point them to God’s far greater love.

But, once they turn to Jesus, my “job” to be intentional in sharing love does not end. Most weekends when my three grandsons have their sleep-overs at my house, we do a Science the Bible & Fun lesson – the boys love science projects and they have been enjoying the opportunity to learn about real Bible people who chose to know, love and walk with God.

While they did not initially enjoy keeping a prayer journal, they have come to actually look forward to it! The boys give me their prayer requests, which they put in their journals and I put in mine. We also draw or write the things for which we are thankful – along with how God answers our prayers.

One of the things we have been praying about with my five-year old grandson is for him to have great days at school. The other evening my husband and I went to stay with the boys at their home for a little bit while their parents had a meeting to attend. When we walked into their kitchen, he ran up and told me he had a really great day at school! They he said; “Grandma, did you pray for me today?” I told him I had certainly been praying for him. He said; “I thought so! This is why I had such a great day!”

Yes! Most definitely, absolutely one of the most wonderful, amazing, joy-filled and best days of my life! I love how the boys are able to see God answer our payers – and have the growing trust in His love for them and a growing confidence He will answer our prayers! I love my grandsons and am intentional about how I show my love to them and about how I point them to God’s love for them. My grandsons are growing in their walk with God and this grandma’s heart is filled with joy!