An "Old Man" Reflects on His Grandkids

Proverbs 17:6 Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.

As I sit here this morning in my office, I find myself observing all of the “artwork” and get-well cards, and little notes of love that I have received this last couple of years from some of the most precious people in my life. They hang on my wall as one, a beautiful tapestry, the warp and woof of which is love. These strands are woven together by my precious grandchildren. I have saved everything they have ever given me, and treasure each one of those little gifts.

I have crayon colored “masterpieces” by famous artists such as Leah and Livy and Joshua and Ethan. I also have in my collection sketches by such masters as Lilly and Davey, and water colors by Melanie and Haley and Kate. There are also several collages, again masterful works, by the likes of Amelia, and Emily, these, almost invariably hand-delivered to me, personally, with sticky little fingers. My collection also includes precious stones, meticulously extracted from the church playground and sticks formed into a beautiful frame.

Now, we lovers of art are a persnickety bunch. Our cultured tastes, that have been refined over the years, admittedly become a passion for only the greatest artists. We undeniably begin finding ourselves shying away from more inferior works.

Some of the Master Pieces I have hanging on the walls of my office include portraits of Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, and sketches of horses and mountain blue birds, and hawks and butterflies. There are also many hand drawn get-well cards and, “I love you” cards, and deflated balloons that were presented to me with wide smiles and sticky little fingers, anticipating my joy at receiving them.

Thankfully, most of these treasures include signatures, signed by the artist’s own hand. Many of the “signatures” include their names written below by their mother to reveal who they really are. (We all know how some of those famous artists are with their cryptic signatures.)

I love these little one’s with all of my heart and all of my strength. God gave them to me, and I pray every day, that they will be saved at an early age, that they will grow strong in the Lord, and that they will find a spouse that loves and serves the Lord in His church, and that they will serve Him for the rest of their lives.

I am struck with the truth of how often my children’s children are in my thoughts and my prayers. They are like a glimpse of sunshine in a dark world; they are like a spring rain after a drought. It is like a sweet homecoming every time they come through the front door. We always treat them like we hadn’t seen them for decades! (Even though it may have been just yesterday)

And when it is time for them to leave and go home, we make it a big deal, like we may never see them again…which will be the case some day. This is the time for huggykissy’s, (all one word.) They all know that this is the time to present themselves to NanaPapap (that is one word too) and get hugged and kissed and told how much we dearly love them. As they go out the door I always say, “see you later alligator” which always brings the retort, “after while crocodile!”

Then Linda and I in the quiet and peace, sit and talk of those sweet grandchildren and rehearse the things they did, and the words that they said. And then we thank God, for His mercy and His grace to have allowed us to spend one more day with some of the greatest people on earth! Sweet, sweet, times.

My children’s children, truly are a Crown to this old man.