Grandchildren are the crown of the aged...

Proverbs 17:6, ESV

An older preacher told the story of the first time one of his grandchildren saw snow. The little one and his family were staying with him, and to the grandchild's absolute delight, the whole property was covered in snow when they woke up at grandfather's one fine morning. Looking out at this magical scene, the little boy exclaimed, "Grandfather! How'd you do that?"

One of the things that most fills the heart of every grandparent with love is the innocence and wonder of their grandchildren. Every new sight, every new sound, every new taste just seems to fill these little ones' lives with awe and joy. By the time most of us get to that venerable age that qualifies us to be grandparents, we have often become tired and jaded and unexcited by life in general. We are not all that happy about all of the difficulties that come with old age, and life simply has often lost its zest. Then these precious little bundles come out of nowhere and fill our lives with an enthusiasm that we may have felt was no longer possible. For so many of us, our grandchildren provide for us a long-needed renewal.

Take this evening for example. I walked into the church building only to be met by my four-year old grandson. He is so filled with energy that he always seems about to burst at the seams. Then his sister - three-years old and going on thirty, decided that she needed to sit with her grandmother and me. She immediately snuggled up in my lap and began feeling of my face with the studied intensity of a blind person who was trying to get a more complete picture of the object of her attention. Later, her one-year-old sister walks up to me with a tiny Bible, tightly gripped in her little hands, and reaches up to me to be held.

Life just gets better and better, when you are a grandfather! I've got four more just as precious as these who live just 90 miles away, and another grandchild due in about four months. God has blessed me far mor than I could possibly deserve, and I am more than conscience of that fact. I am also more thankful than words could describe.

It is these "heavenly seven" plus the one on the way that will make them the "great eight" that gives my life more joy than I could have possibly imagined that my children having children could yield. They are also one of the primary motivating factors that makes me want to leave a better world behind than the one I am leaving now. They create within me a longing to leave this better world that gives my life purpose and direction. I realize that there are a lot of things that are wrong with this world that must be made right before my life is through.

I am fully aware of my personal limitations, so I understand that I can do little to change the present state of this world, but I can do something. And, since I can do something, I am determined to do what I can, praying to God all the time for the wisdom to know what is best for me to do while I still have the opportunity. 

So, despite the fact that no grandfather can change the entire world any more than he could cause it to snow, I do know this: I can still do all things through Him who gives me strength, and I therefore understand that I can at the very least do my best. It is not enough to just enjoy the cuteness and affections of our grandchildren - we have to be actively engaged to make their lives better. This means that we pray for wisdom to know best what we might best be doing with our time, and that we then get to the work of doing it!

You and I cannot change the entire world, but with God's help we can change that little corner in which we reside. These little ones are counting on us, and God has left us to do the work. While it is true that we are utterly and completely insufficient for a task so monumental as leaving behind a world that is worthy of our grandchildren, we can at least be doing what we can. It will take all of our focus and all of our efforts, and it will still not be enough, for we are only human. However, with God's help, we can accomplish anything that He wants us to accomplish and that we are willing to devote our best efforts to. Surely our grandchildren are worth these efforts and so too, by the way, is God.

So, let's get to the work and do what we can for as long as we can. God is more than capable of filling in the gaps that our efforts will surely leave.

And that will be enough!

We are so blessed, we who are grandparents. Since that is the case, let's do the best we can to repay God and our children, and our children's children, by leaving behind the best world that we can. It is a noble task, and no person can ask for anything more worthwhile to do with the time that God has given them.