The Influence of Grandparents

• The Joys of Grandparents
• Proverbs 17:6
• Proverbs 17:6 Grandchildren are the crown of grandparents, and parents are the glory of their children.
• (God’s Word version)
• Proverbs 17:6 Grandchildren are the crown of grandparents, and parents are the glory of their children.
• (God’s Word version)
• Deuteronomy 4:9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,
• Facts about Grandparents..
• There are over 60 million grandparents in America
• Average age for woman to become grandmother 46
• With divorces, we now have “step grandchildren”
• Many grandparents have to get visitation rights to see their grandchildren
• Long distance grandparenting
• Grandparents are important in God’s Eyes …
• You have the opportunity to have a special influence for your grandchildren that no one else has ..
• If you use that opportunity, you can be very, very special to these precious grandchildren …
• Psalms 78:4-7 We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. 5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children…
• 6 that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children, 7 that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments…
• 2 Timothy 1:3-5 I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, … 5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.
• Two types …
• Active Grandparents …
• Call their grandkids
• Know their grandkids sizes
• Ask to babysit
• Mark grandkids’ special events on calendar
• Plan next trip to visit grandkids
• Keep their pictures in wallets
• Can name their grandkid’s best friend
• Passive Grandparents…
• Wait for the grandkids to call
• Send a gift for the whole family
• Babysit only when asked
• Read about special events in a letter afterwards
• Store the latest pictures away
• Don’t keep up with their grandkids’ ages and grades
• Grandparents can make their grandchildren feel special …
• Parents have the pressure and financial responsibility of raising and supporting a family…
• Many parents just don’t have as much time as they would like to spend with their kids…
• What one child wrote …
• Grandmas give me things …
• Hug a lot, fix me a big breakfast …
• Let me buy things at the grocery store mom won’t
• Accept me just the way I am ..
• Want me to explain things they don’t understand
• Say things like “a few cookies before dinner won’t hurt anyone”
• What one child wrote …
• Grandpas tell really good stories
• Laugh a lot
• Don’t get embarrassed when you do something silly
• Need more naps than other people
• Let you do things others say you aren’t old enough to do
• Know how to say “I love you”with their eyes
• Think you are the greatest kid in the world
• Grandparents can introduce us to the past…
• Psalms 145:4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts.
• Psalms 71:17-18 O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. 18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.
• What you can do …
• Teach grandchildren your family heritage …
• Teach them your unique skills…
• Love your grandkids unconditionally…
• Keep praying for those grandkids …
• Be there when they need you…
• Leave them a spiritual legacy …
Proverbs 13:22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children …