When he was about two months old we along with our son and family rented a huge house in Simi Valley, California. It was perfect for two families, we had our own bedroom, bathroom and living room. All we shared was the kitchen and dining room.
So from the time he was a tiny baby we got to hold him, rock him to sleep, play with him and before we knew it he had taken over our hearts. The other two grandchildren were ok with this because they loved, "this boy" too. As our grand daughter said about Reedley, he rocked our boat.
We got to be there when all three of our sons children were born and God worked it out for us to be there when our daughters three children were born. And even though being there for their birth was something we will never forget, there is a difference in that and then being there day after day and watching them grow.
We have six grandchildren, three from our daughter, Scarlett Rose 23, Logan 18, Ava Jo 12. Three from our son, Jared, Emarie, 11, Austin, 9, and Reedley, 5. All of them are special in different ways but living with them day after day from birth build a special bond. And that is why Reedley would want to call us and have a special time with just us. He feels the bond very strongly between us. He misses us the most since we moved away.
Proverbs 17:6 “Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.”
Psalm 103:17 “But from everlasting to everlasting the Lords love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.
Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.”
Grandparents are given to us to bestow their wisdom on us, to teach us about God and His Word, and to help raise up children who will serve the Lord. Even as they age and are able to do less, they are no less valuable. Their lessons may change as the age--but we still will learn to love others and to love God by caring for them.
Ace and I both feel the blessing of being part of grand children's lives. They love to come see us and that makes us extremely happy.
Our grandchildren accept us for ourselves, without rebuke or effort to change us, as no one in our entire lives has ever done, not our parents, siblings, spouses, friends - and hardly ever our own grown children. ~Ruth Goode
How precious is it that Reedly FT'd you himself. Oh, how your heart and arms must ache for him. As Missionaries, you give your lives for others. And the same is true for you with your grandchildren. Reedly Doc Draper is one blessed child! God bless you and your entire family, Betty. Truly, they are your earthly crown, steadying your head in preparation for the time when you will wear Abba's celestial crowns. Hallelujah!
ReplyDeletelove that part about practicing wearing our crown of the aged to get ready for our celestial crowns. You are gem my friend in anyones crown as a friend.
DeleteBeing a grandparent is the cream of the crop. our grandson, unfortunately, has always been 4 hours away and his parents (now divorced) were never travelers. So it was up to us (a busy pastor) to make our way to Ohio to see him. He is not very talkative so texting or calling is not up his alley. it lies with us. So we make the drive as often as we can. But I can agree that your last statement is absolutely, 100% correct.
ReplyDeleteUp to this year we would just visit and daughter and family and we lived full time with our son and family. We plan on enjoying the reverse now. As long as covid is here our ministry is limited to mostly social medical, zoom call and face time with our missionaries home on furlough. Right now we have about 100 that cannot get back to their country of service due to cancelled flights. Teachers that can't get back to the missionary schools to teach. Leadership that can't get back to their field of service. it's a mess but one God is in control of or a person will learn what it is that God wants to teach them through the issues at hand. I have a friend who has not seen her grandchildren since the first of the year, she is not a happy person at this time. Her daughter and husband are taking the keeping the kids away from everything. Hard time.
DeleteReedley is absolutely precious, Betty! And yes, there is nothing better, hands down, than being a grandparent. When my daughter and her husband were living close by, we saw a LOT of the grandchildren, especially Virginia, as we would babysit her frequently. The bond between us is so strong, and my heart aches that they now live so far away. And with this virus, I don't know when I'll get to see any of them again. But I'll keep on hoping it will be sooner than later! Blessings, my friend!
ReplyDeleteBecause the two oldest were in school from his birth and it made it easy on their Mom to leave Reedley with so she could take the other two to and from school. Reedley loves sleeping with his Grandpa. they came for a visit in July and he wanted to sleep with Grandpa in our RV. We had a bear while they were here leave its teeth marks in our trash can. That put a little scar into us all, way too close. I figured Reedley would sleep close to his Mom and Dad after that but no, he wanted to be with Grandpa. I am not sure who is spoiled more, Reedley or us. you get this
DeleteWhat a sweet little "man"... He must miss you awfully, and vice versa for you. What a beautiful memory you all created, to be there for him while growing up that he learned a lot of nuggets from his loving grandparents, and for you, a treasure to have him close and be gifted with a child like faith and love. God bless you all and especially this "angel".
ReplyDeleteThank God for facetime and zoom and all others ways of reaching out to them. I wished we had excess to zoom when our two stayed in the states as we went back to the field. It's the hardest thing a missionary does. This covid has cause those who do not leave their family for another country to understand a little bit more. If there is a hard sacrifice its that one. When our daughter graduated and went home for bible school she would have to go to someone house who had a ham radio and a phone patch. We would call her on our ham radio to talk to her. At that time we did not have web service at all. Yep, its not sin to be homesick for your kids, to grieve being separated. I learned how to endure for the sake of the gospel. It's lesson that draw from now during this trial. Blesings.
DeleteIt must be so hard to be far from him after being with him in the same house for so long. Glad you can visit together over the phone. I hope the Lord will make a way that you can be together with him again soon and able to watch him grow up. Grandparents surely are special people.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you, hope all is well at your place. We are hoping to visit them in Ca. for Thanksgving. Our ministry has changed so much since this covid hit everywhere. We no longer do face to face meetings with our missionries, mostly zoom calls and facetime. But we do have a couple who are struggling in Ca so we will probably go there in Nov. and spend some time with Reedley and the family. Yep, we miss them. When you have little ones it's always exciting. My daughter only has one left at home, an 11 year old. Her oldest are living in another state. But it is a blessing to be near our daughter and family. thanks for coming for a visit.
DeleteI just realized that I was also writing about grandparents, but from a different perspective, that of the child who is now an adult and has learned to appreciate the value of the special things my grandparents did for me when I was a child. And yes, they lived their faith by example. They weren't outwardly demonstrative about their faith so much as it was how they lived and what was important to them...their church, their faith in God, and their relationships with friends and family. That was a powerful example. Your grandchildren were blessed to have you up close and personal during their most formative years, and I know that will have a lasting impact on their lives as well. Thank you for this wonderful post. Your grandson is such a cutie!!!
ReplyDeletethanks Pamela for your sweet comment. Our oldest grandson has finally come around to that appreciating us. He had a rough spell for a while in his last two years of high school but is learning to be responsible at college . We are proud of him. we are in our 70 and hoping to see a few of grandchildren get married and give us a great grandchild.
DeleteI couldn't agree more about the vital role of a grandparent. You and Ace are blessed to live so close for a time; what an amazing bond you formed. Our girls still refer to our parents often. They ask Tom and me so many questions about them now that they've passed away. I want to leave that kind of legacy to our granddaughters too!
ReplyDeleteAce father died before or kids were born.
ReplyDeletewe took care of my
dad the last four years of his life but his mind was too far gone to enjoy his grandchildren.
They both loved their grand mother when we would visit them, especially our daughter. She was just telling someone the other day she would crawl into bed with a grandma and tell her everything that was going on in her life. It's wonderful for grandchildren to have both grandpa and grandma on both side of their family. Its my daughter who actually kept at me to write a book since they love our family stories. We do feel we are a vital role in their lives and that is a comfort and joy in our older years.