Love well…Nurture Grandparent Relationships
What was your relationship like with your grandparents when you were growing up? I would guess you can recall specific memories from time with them. Hopefully most of those are great ones! Do you carve out time in your family’s schedule for your kids to be with their grandparents? We hope so! Read on to see why.
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts…” Psalm 145:3-4
Yesterday I got back from visiting my grandparents over the weekend in their small – population 1,100 – town. It is definitely off the beaten path, and I’m struck by the amount of planning that went into this particular trip, given the busyness of my days and weeks coupled with that of my parents’ busy schedules as well. For all of us to intentionally spend time with them takes a conscious choice. However, it reaps huge rewards.
Building and maintaining relationships with our grandparents may not be convenient or natural, but it nevertheless holds great value. How can making the effort become much more second nature to us? I think recognizing a few valuable rewards will help get us there.
- The value of older generations speaking into younger generations – Grandparents have been there! They’ve got 40+ years on us grandkids. That means they’ve got loads of wisdom in the form of life experience. All those, “I remember when…” stories have weight and purpose. The Old Testament in particular instructs us to remember the great acts of the Lord, and Psalm 145 tells us that one generation should tell the others about the awesome things God has done. And who better than our grandparents to pull from a wealth of stories about God’s great deeds. Soaking up the history from our grandparents is not just kind towards them, it’s also wise for us!
- The value of younger generations speaking into older generations – Grandkids have tons of energy, and that energy can be harnessed for good. Grandparents might easily be worn out by the constant activity of kids, or simply not interested in the latest craze of the younger generations. However, the Bible tells us in Matthew that those who come to God with a child-like heart will enter the kingdom!
I love that this theme verse from Psalm 145 is not one-directional. Sharing the “new to us” truths that excite us in scripture is a neat way to encourage our grandparents and remind them of the passion they hold for Christ as well.
Grandparents are a huge blessing the Lord gives us. They are a tangible way for us to actually live out Scripture. How cool is that?!
Camper Corner
Grandparents have tons of stories to share. What’s one of your favorite stories you’ve heard your grandparents tell? Maybe you can ask them to tell you one. What is something exciting you’ve learned about Jesus you can share with your grandparents? Go share it with them!
