“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged …” (Proverbs 17:6)
There are scenes that are and forever will be etched in our minds. Scenes of joy, happiness, excitement … and yes, even scenes of sadness, disappointment and separation. And many of those memorable scenes of our lives involve the birth and the growing up of each of our children and extended to their adulthood, their marriage and the arrival of the grandchildren.
One of those happy and rewarding scenes unfolded before our eyes this past week when our oldest daughter and her husband brought their new baby boy home after traveling by plane for several hours. We saw the first pictures, we face timed even though he didn’t know us yet, but when he was put into our arms, it was almost indescribable experience times seven!
He is number eight and his name is Levi and he brings with his arrival into the world so much joy, anticipation and pride just as the seven other wonderful and talented grandchildren the Lord has blessed us with! An added joy for us is that he was born on Will’s, our oldest grandchild’s, 17th birthday. We look forward to watching him grow, to being loved and then loving back, his interactions with his parents, his grandparents, his cousins and with the people of God!
Levi Mitchell Gray has another number as well and it is #194. What is this number you might ask? It is the wonderful and precious number given to him by Sacred Selections, a non-profit organization dedicated and committed to working with Christian families looking to adopt. It is taken from the old hymnal entitled Sacred Selections wherein each adopted child receives the next available number. And what a blessing they continue to be for so many.
I know that the majority of grandparents recognize the privilege, honor and even the responsibilities that accompany our precious grandchildren! We don’t call them ‘grand’ for nothing! And we may ‘spoil’ them from time to time and that’s ok!
We hope to build on the heritage our gracious and loving Heavenly Father has given to us. As parents, we weren’t perfect and we made our share of mistakes. No parent is but every parent should do their very best in “bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Every parent who is striving to serve the Lord hopes they are doing the right things in their parenting skills as they proceed through their on-the-job training. There is a great deal of satisfaction to be found when one of our grown children echoes the words we spoke to them, or does things so close to the way we did them with their children. “Perhaps we did do something right,” we think and give thanks for the blessing. Maybe this is part of the “crown” Solomon speaks of in our opening text.
Our caring and mindful God promises us that the blessings He provides for us in our lives will resonate through the generations to follow. Psalm 103:17 reads, “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children’s children.”
Long before our first grandchild was born our prayers were that each of our grandchildren will grow up knowing, loving and serving the Lord and that Heaven will be their spiritual crown when life is over. I have seen with my own tear-filled eyes the two oldest of our grandchildren confess their faith in Jesus Christ and be “buried with Him in baptism for the remission of their sins.” How sweet it would be if I could witness the other six do the same!
Bill Fairchild, Jr.
Bill,
Thanks for the good thoughts. It also reminds me of a favorite quote someone told me after I had my first grandchild. “Grand children are God’s gift for not killing your own.”
It was very much a pleasure to meet you this past weekend and of course to see Levi as well.
All the best to all of you.