Being a Grandpa

Being a grandpa is great! What can I say but that I think this is about the best job I have ever had. I loved being a dad, and I love being a grandpa. I have at the moment six little, precious lives that call me by that name. I feel such pride when I hear their voices call me as if I were being given an honored status. I get hugs, kisses, and so much attention. They ask me questions, and they expect me to know the answers too. I tell them about things they are learning about for the very first time. Believe me, I am influencing their little lives as they are mine. They tell me stories and startle me with little phrases that leave me wondering where that came from.

How privileged I am to be married to the same woman for 44 years and have kids that love and respect me and now grandkids that shower me with love and affection. I have seen every kind of family in my years of working with families, and I know what I have. I have seen families torn apart by divorce, shattered by an abandoned father, devastated by a mother who left them for another man. I have seen families confused by unfaithfulness, embittered by betrayal and left estranged by abuse and shame, and my heart goes out to all of them.

I know that I am blessed and that God has done this for me. My wife and I have been faithful to each other, and we have given to our family an example of faithfulness, but we know that God has enabled us. I have what money can’t buy—an intimate relationship with my wife and children, which has given me this unique relationship with these little people that call me grandpa.

Society and culture tells me that my worth is seen in the external props, but I know better. (I couldn’t care less what society thinks). I know it comes from deep within and from my relationship with my creator. By pursuing what is inherently right, the values God has given me, I find myself surrounded by wealth, and on top of the list is my family.