A day in the life of a Grandma......being like a little child

Its been  a great day with my grandchildren!  Some how it is always good when I get to spend time with them.  Today was no exception.  First of all we went to a McDonalds playplace.  As they say, getting there was half the fun!  I haven't driven around very much since they moved to a new house.  I thought (thought is the operative word here) I knew where I was going, but low and behold we were lost!  Needless to say the kids thought this was very funny.  I just kept driving in what I thought was the right direction and prayed for a road that I knew!  I saw parts of this area that I had never been in.  Fortunately, we soon came to a familiar road and we proceeded to a different McDonalds (one very close to their OLD house) and eat and played.

After we got home it was time for Zeke to nap and Lia and Ellie got to paint some new piggybanks that they got from their Mom.  It was great to watch them paint!

 

This finished piggys are so cute.  Lia and I enjoyed many, many great games of Uno and the kids played all afternoon.  There was a brief thunderstorm, but Zeke was already asleep for his nap and Lia and Ellie were fine.  I got treated to a couple of really nice dress up fashion shows and dances and Zeke and I played trucks (of course). 

 

But the most amazing thing was the conversation in the car on the way back from the McDonalds.  We passed a cemetery and Ellie said "that's were Great Grandma Nona is!"  So that started a conversation and at one point after I said that Great Grandma Nona was in heaven, Lia said and that is a wonderful place.  So we talked about being with Jesus and being happy and being with everyone you love.  Then Lia asked a really good question.  She wanted to know if we have to "start over" as a baby when we get to heaven.  Isn't that interesting?  So we talked about the timelessness of heaven and how Jesus doesn't have "time or ages".  Then she asked me how the Bible got to earth if it came from Heaven!  Another great question!  This gave me a chance to talk about the Holy Spirit speaking to people.   Ellie asked if there was candy in heaven! I told her I bet there is because Jesus has promised us a banquet table of all good stuff!  Ellie asked "even ice cream?" (Can you tell that she loves ice cream?)  Then Lia talked about Jesus getting the bread from his body and the wine from his blood!  Clearly she is listening and beginning to understand Communion.  So we had a great conversation about that.  Oh how I love that these kids are growing up to know all about Jesus and heaven and prayer and the Bible!  What a blessing this is to me.  And what sweet, sweet prayers these little one prayed tonight.   

 

Tonight I am a very blessed Grandma.  I love thinking about Jesus like a child.  I love thinking about heaven and the Holy Spirit and the Bible like a kid again. And I love that I can have so much fun just doing nothing but sitting on the couch watching the kids play.  What a great day.

 

I encourage you now to stop and think about things like Heaven and the Holy Spirit and how the Bible came to be.  Take a moment and step out of your "head knowledge" and let Jesus show you, in a deeper way, what it means to have the faith of a child.  Step back from everything that you know and let the Holy Spirit bring you to a fresh place of childlike understanding.  I think we all need to do this from time to time.  Jesus said the only way we could enter the Kingdom was as a little child!

 

Jesus, bless us as we sleep tonight!  Be with Gwen and Tim and all of the youth that they are with right now.  Be very present to them over the next couple of days.  Keep everyone safe and in your arms.  Bless Ken and give him a restful night also.  Bless us all with more childlike faith and understanding.  Thank you for my precious little ones!   Amen





Becoming like a little child....

Humor me, once again, as I talk about my upcoming birthday.  This week I have been thinking so much about my mom.  I know that it seems odd that she would be on my mind since she has been gone for 2 1/2 years.  But, I guess around your birthday, it is hard to not think about your mother!  I know that I posted a picture of me, just born, with my mom.  That picture was taken in the hospital - long before they were taking pictures of newborns.  Apparently the local paper in the small town we lived in decided to take these pictures.  Most people are not so fortunate to have a picture like this from 1954.  My mom always liked that picture.  I didn't realize, until I was much older, that part of the reason that picture was so special to her was because she didn't have a picture of her with HER mother.  But I digress........ 

 

This is what I have been thinking about this week..... The photo above.  I realized that my mom was exactly the age I am now at the time of my wedding.  As a matter of fact, she had just celebrated her 59th birthday 3 days before my wedding.   So I have been looking at the photo and thinking about how much older I look than she did.  I have also been thinking about that generational shift thing.  I absolutely adore being a grandma.  It is really such a wonderful part of life.  You get to experience the joy and wonder of little children without the sleepless nights and the toddler tantrums.  My grand kids have filled my life with so much happiness and I feel so blessed to have them.  The odd thing is that I was always upset that my mom and dad were "Grandma Nona and Grandpa Harry" for almost as long as I can remember.  I have very clear memories of hanging over the edge of a baby basket looking at my new niece Amy.   And I did not want my mom to be a Grandma!  She was my MOM!  Isn't that silly?  This is especially silly since my mom loved her role as Grandma Nona.  She had a "Grandma bracelet" that was one of her most prized possessions.  I remember when my sister Karen gave her that bracelet for Christmas the year my niece was born.  She wore that bracelet all the time. 

 

The last Christmas gift that she gave to her grandchildren was to return to each of them, their piece of this bracelet.  This was such an important thing to her that she wanted to give it back to them.

 

My mom never felt old.  She was always saying that she wasn't that old.  I remember her baking cookies to take around her apartment to the "old people" - when she was over 90!  I was so blessed to live most of my life with her as a grandma, as well as my mom.  I learned about being a grandma from one of the best. 

 

Isn't it wonderful how Yahweh's plan was always for us to be in families?  I just marvel at the wonder of this great plan and the continuity of the generations.  Jesus knew that it would be important for us to understand the shifting as our places change in the family tree.  I believe that grandchildren provide a special link for grandparents back to that wonderful "child-like" faith.  Let's face it.  Life is not always wonderful when you are in your later years.  There are financial concerns, health concerns, fears of the future, worries about where to live and even, when or if you should retire.  I think Jesus knew that it would be good for us to have grandchildren around so that we could experience life again, through their eyes.  I am convinced that when Jesus told his disciples that they had to become as little children to enter the kingdom, he was talking about those things.  He knew that his disciples were concerned about their daily tasks.   They worried about how to feed the people following them around, and they worried for Jesus.  So, he restated part of the master plan of his father.  Become like children. 

 

So, tonight on the eve of my birthday, I am going to celebrate my children and grandchildren.  And thank Jesus for the gift they are to me.  So that I can be reminded that I need to listen and learn and live in that childlike faith and trust.  And not fret or worry about anything - including my age. 

 

Jesus, thank you for reminding me that your plan is for us to enjoy each stage of our life and to live everyday for you and your Kingdom.  Help all of us to be able to celebrate your life in us, no matter what age we are!  Thank you for my mom and the wonderful mom and grandma and great grandma that she was.  What a blessing to be able to learn so much from her example.  Jesus, let me be an example like that for my kids and grand kids and for future generations.  Thank you for reminding me and everyone reading this blog, to become like little children.  Amen