Grandparent's Day-September 12th

Grandparent's Day-September 12th

I love Grandparents Day. I love to visit with my grandparents. I love to hear their stories. I love to learn from them. I just love to be around them.

But I thought that was all over when, two years ago, my family moved half-way across the country from both sets of grandparents. I was afraid we might never see them again, or, if we did, we wouldn’t know each other as well as we had. I looked bleakly at the future. No more visits. No more jokes. No more stories. No more hugs. No more of my grammy’s special cookies or cakes. No more of my grandma’s fun treats.

Since we’ve moved, however, I’ve learned a lot. I now know that my grandparents can still tell jokes and stories just as well on paper, computer, or over the phone as they do face-to-face, and that we did, in fact, get to see them again (and we still knew each other). Most of all, I’ve learned that God provides for our needs.

Over the past two years I’ve kept in touch with my grandparents through emails, phone calls, and the like. We probably communicate more now, than when we lived close to each other! My grammy and I email each other almost everyday and my grandma sends me handwritten letters. All of our communication helped us to continue to be close even though we live so far away.

Of course, part of living far away from your grandparents is that you can’t visit them very often, so I was excited when my family went on a trip this summer to visit our extended family. Squeezing all seven people in my family plus my Grammy and Papa into their one bedroom apartment gave us lots of time to spend together! Our Grandma and Grandpa had their 50th anniversary while we were there, and in celebrating they brought out a box of pictures, which we enjoyed looking at and learning the stories behind. I think God provided that trip so that we could be ready to come back home and face all the new challenges before us.

One of the other things God has provided for my family was a “grandma” and “grandpa” here at home. We got to know a really nice couple and started to spend a lot of time with them. They quickly became like grandparents to us, and we soon began to call them Granny and Grandpa. They never replaced our real grandparents at all; instead they helped us bear through the hardship of living so far away from family.

I still miss my grandparents, but I know God provides in wonderful ways. This Grandparents Day, think about how God has provided for you. Thank Him for your grandparents. Thank your grandparents for all they have done. Send them an email or letter. Give them a phone call or a visit. And remember them, not only on Grandparents Day or Christmas, but everyday. It could very well teach you a whole lot.

“Grandchildren are a crown to the aged...”

Proverbs 17:6