Daughter and granddaughter
I’ve been a grandmother for less than a year, not long enough to be an expert, but long enough to know that all the grandmas who went before me were right: It really is the best thing ever. I see my grandchildren as blessings from God in a way I didn’t see with my own children, not because I didn’t know my kids were blessings, but because when you’re the parent, little blessings come with loads of work and responsibility. The unrelentingness of parenting can shade our view of the blessing side of children.
Grandmothering is not like that. Grandmothers do, of course, have responsibilities toward their grandchildren (I’ll say more on that later.), but not in the ultimate way that parents do. In the end, the kiddies go home; our joy is not tempered by day to day care.
I didn’t have much say as to whether or when I became a grandmother. I had children who grew up to have children, and the role is now mine. It is as simple as that.
Or maybe not. It is also, I’d argue, an appointment from God. In the context of writing about the family and social relationships of new believers, Paul writes:
Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him… (1 Corinthians 7:17 ESV).
There’s a general principle in there for us all: Family circumstances and relationships are assignments from God. I am called by him to be a grandmother; it is a God-given role. God summons me to serve him in the vocation of grandmotherhood.
I’ll return to this theme again, looking at what duties God assigns me in my new vocation and how I can fulfill this calling. Meanwhile, I ask you:
- Are you a grandmother? If so, how do you serve God as a grandmother?
- Are you a mother or father? Then how has your mother or mother-in-law served God by serving you as a parent? Or your children as children?
- Are you a person who has or has had a grandmother? How does/did she serve God in her relationship to you?