Now That I'm a Grandmommie!

by Patsy Norwood

My children are having children!  How can that be?  It seems only yesterday they were all underfoot and I was busier than a bee!  I can look back now and smile at some of those times when I didn’t know what I was doing or whether I was coming or going.  I made a lot of mistakes and prayed for guidance daily. 

But, now I am a grandmommie and oh, how I love that role!  I once again have the opportunity to help guide sweet little souls to our heavenly Father.

My most powerful tool in teaching my grandchildren is my example.  I want them to see me studying God’s word and when they ask questions about what I’m doing I want to pull them onto my lap and let them explore my Bible while I answer their tender questions.  I want them to fall in love with God and His word. 

I want to slow down and take time for my grandchildren, take walks with them and exclaim over God’s creation. I want them to learn of God as we go about our daily routines.

I want them to hear me praying for others and especially for them.  I want them to know that they can talk to God about anything and anyone.

I want my grandchildren to know and realize that God and grandmommie are best friends and that they can be best friends with God too.

My grandchildren are still very young but even at their young ages they need to learn about consequences.  Consequences are much less severe and painful when they are young than they will be if they have to learn the concept when they are teenagers or even adults. As their grandmommie, it is my responsibility to guide with a loving hand when they are in my care and, when necessary, to hand out as gentle as possible consequences to them. But, it is also my responsibility and equally important to follow through with those consequences once they are given.  Learning about consequences now will help them to understand and be more willing to follow our Lord’s teachings when the choice is theirs.

I want my grandchildren to go to heaven and as much as is in my power to help them do that, I want to do it. I want to see them walk into their Sunday school classes and I want them to sit beside me at worship services.  I want to sing the old hymns with them as well as the newer songs of praise and adoration.  I want to help them learn the 12 sons of Jacob and the 10 commandments. I want them to know that God’s word has a solution for everything and as they grow up, how to read, study and discern His word.

II Timothy 1:5 (NASB) says that Timothy’s grandmother, Lois, had sincere faith.  “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.”  I want my grandchildren to have that biblical heritage too … that their grandmommie had ‘sincere faith.’ 

When they think of grandmommie I want them to think of God and when they think of God, I want them to think of grandmommie. In order for that to happen, I must make time for my grandchildren, they must know in their hearts that they are important to me.  I must live my life in such a way that shows them that God is number one in my life and that He can and wants to be number one in their lives as well.

The role of helping raise spiritually healthy grandchildren is one I am taking very seriously.  One day I want to see my grandchildren in heaven and that's the motivation that drives me.

she hath done what she could ...