Grandparenting with Grace: Day 3 of 31 Days of Family Life-Capture

I am a day behind. Life got in the way yesterday as I took my grandchild-almost adopted daughter- trail riding and we enjoyed some of God's beauty in nature and each other.

Yesterday's prompt was Capture.

Oh if I could capture joy and hold it each day, what a treasure that would be.

 I'm trying hard.
Looking for those little snippets placed in each day.
That toothless smile.
The giggle when I nibble/kiss her sweet little neck.
The "I love you Mama," breathed as she snuggles into her cozy bed exhausted from a day of play outside.
A walk in the woods with that small precious hand in mine.
Her silly way of charming the chickens-they follow after her as chicks after a mother hen.

But I get so tired from late nights, and the wandering restless little one.
All the spills, the messes, and the refusals.
It's hard work to grow a little one.
I tend to forget the joy in the midst of mess.
It so easily slips through my fingers.
Perhaps I need to start a Joy list, just to remember.
I need to remember. . . that smile, the I love you, those fingers, her sillys. . .
It's the best medicine.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22, ESV)

Grandparenting with Grace: Today was a good day

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

No tantrums today, happy, playful and imaginative. We walked to the park, had a picnic,had a great nap  and then went on a bike ride. I could really get spoiled by days like today. I like the happy. My heart just swells with love for this child. It is amazing to view the world through the eyes of a little one. I know there will be more tantrums to come, but today we end on a happy and contented note, harmony plays quietly in the background of my mind. I have hope for days to come, this is as life should be, enjoyment found in the company of another.

Matthew 18: 3-5 tells us we must be as a little child, have child like faith and walk in humility, humbly submitting to God's will for our lives. We must cast aside our thoughts and be open to His thoughts. We must let go of our self serving desires and be willing to take on the direction God points us in.

“Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me” (Matthew 18:3–5).

So I argue, is a child always willing to take direction quietly and without complaint?  Answer: no. However, it was Jesus who said we should be as a little child, and my guess is if we were able to interact with our children as Jesus interacted with the children, there would be no problem with cooperative behavior.  But since we are incapable of perfection at this point we will just have to try our best to love as we are called to love and be willing to humbly submit to what these precious grandchildren of ours can teach us as they put their faith in us....let us be Christ to them.