5-21-13

Being a grand parent is SO much more than I ever thought it would be. It is an opportunity to watch those adults that we raised to put into action all that we taught them. The good, bad, and the educated. We hope that “the bad” they realize and correct, but it is the educated I want to reflect on now.

All three of our children are smart...not just book smart...not just common sense smart...not just street smart...and not just Bible smart. They are all three, all of these...just not all the time or at the same time. They educate each other too, I love that about them. They also educate us. For my husband that is not easy, he is very intelligent. Like all of us though, we don't know everything. So, we are glad our children are learners. The internet is such a great tool to learn and do research...and to find trivial facts. Vacations with the kids was always the best. We would go somewhere and hear...”Did you know...?” from one of them all the time. What was really cool was when one would start the ball rolling and the next would say, “and did you know...?” I would ask where did you hear that, and they would tell us that they read it somewhere.

They will tackle any problem head on from remodeling a bathroom, to fixing plumbing and A/C, to teaching us the dangers of the chemicals that we are exposed too all the time... and the list goes on. As parents we put a high value on education. I do believe the way we handled our children and their education helped them to learn how to learn...how to study things out for themselves. We taught them not to just take what people say and believe it but to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” II Tim 2:15.

We have taken great strides in teaching our children to love and let God judge, to love and let God do the correcting, to love and let God do the molding, and to love and let God do the using. For us to be prejudice is wrong...to teach it to our children is sinful...it is saying God made a mistake. Now when it comes to sin in the lives of others we still have taught them not to judge but to love without compromise. Show God's love and let Him change the heart...after all He is the only one who truly can.

It is so exciting to watch our children not only with their families, but through the ministry, the families that they are touching...making a difference.

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling [them] out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” Jude 1:20 -23

A man once said a great saying, one that I will butcher now, “We are all teachers, you're either a bad teacher or you're a good teacher. We are all teaching all the time” -Bill Nelson