Grandchildren

“Your children are your rainbow, and your grandchildren are your pot of gold.” So goes an old saying. We are blessed with 16 grandchildren, and 13 of those are girls!!

Like us, you have had friends who have moved to be close to their grandchildren. Then, one of the children’s parents gets a new job in a different city and they move away from the grandparents.  We are so blessed to have all four of our children and their families living close to us. One has lived 30 minutes from us for many years, and another is building a house right next door to us. The other two live an hour and a half from our home.

We cannot control what our grandchildren do about sharing time together after we have gone to be with the Lord, but as long as we are able, we intend to get family together whenever possible. To that end, Cheryl prepares Sunday lunch for kids and grandkids every Sunday that we are in town. We usually have 15 for lunch, but sometimes one of the granddaughters who are in college will drive an hour or an hour and a half to come spend Sunday with us. And sometimes they drive from college another day of the week just to spend time with Nana and Papa. We love that our grandkids like to spend time with us during this season of our lives.

Preparing Sunday lunch is a task for Cheryl, but she has the gift of hospitality, and she loves to cook—especially for our family and our chosen family. She does a lot of the cooking on Saturdays. Yes, I do help, although I help her less during college football season. But I still carry the dishwashing duties for the pots and pans and cooking accessories. Different kids and grandkids help with the cleanup after Sunday lunch, but Jeff carries the big load.

After lunch, some kids and sometimes an older grandchild will take a nap, but most of the grandkids are supercharged, so we try to harness some of that energy by playing table games or playing on the floor with the preschoolers or playing outside.

It is volleyball and soccer season for some grandkids as I write, and it seems that ballet goes on all the time. We enjoy seeing grandkids playing a sport, singing in the chorus, participating in a school play, performing in ballet programs, and just taking them out to eat.

A huge joy for me is to walk into a room while a grandchild is staying overnight with us and see them reading their Bible or journaling with their Bible in their lap. One day I was watching TV in our bedroom, and I walked into the living room to find two granddaughters reading their Bibles. I felt so bad because there I was watching TV while two of my grandkids were seeking wisdom from the Bible.

I am blessed to have wonderful grandchildren who walk with the Lord and enjoy spending time with Nana and Papa.