My Daily Surprise

"Nathanael, come on," Noelia whispers. They rush to my bedroom and shut the door.  Grandma can't come in because it's a surprise.  The same surprise that they give me every day, but it's still an exciting surprise. The first time they found my bed unmade they decided to do it for me, and I was so blessed by their efforts that I reacted accordingly.  Since that day it has become a daily event, an exciting one because it makes Grandma happy.  If I forget and make the bed myself, they are disappointed. Children love surprises, and remember, to them, the giving end is the most exciting part.  Getting surprises are nice, but it's way more fun anticipating the look on a parent's or grandparent's face.  Don't ever disappoint them by forgetting to be delighted. There are times when I see that they need a bit more instruction on the finer details of bed making, but I can do that without spoiling the surprise if I am careful to react positively first and then show them how they could make it even better if they wanted to be real experts.   I also love their creative ways of positioning Biscuits and Gravy and Monkey, and we have fun with that.  So, Nathanael and Noelia will continue to make my bed and will always love doing it.  It may never be perfect, but it is precious.  They have also started making their own beds at home which is definitely a plus.  But the biggest bonus they receive is the experience of joy in serving.  If they are to have the servants heart of a true Christian, it should start now, and in the eyes of there grandparents at least, this is happening with Nathanael and Noelia.    You might also enjoy Ways to make a Difference 

The Agenda 

and The Value of a Grandma's Smile

For previous blog go to Creation Museum, a Great Place to Take the Grandkids  

For next blog go to Noelia the Gardener

The Creation Museum - A Great Place to Take the Kids or Grandkids

Want the ultimate in a Christian oriented field trip? We just went to the Creation Museum, and as any normal Christian Grandparents would, we were wishing our grandkids were with us.

Where else could you take the kids to see the garden of Eden, the the Ark from the inside, or dinosaurs chomping on leaves and existing right along side the other animals?

Where could you show them Cain after he slew his brother, or  Moses, or King  David or Paul the Apostle?  Some of the life sized figures even talked to us and we had a hard time believing they were not real.  

We got there just before the doors opened and were surprized to see the Museum founder, and creation writer, Ken Ham standing outside.  I was impressed enough to have my picture taken with him.

If you do get a chance to go to the Creation Museum you should make it an all day affair.  We spent six hours there and still missed one of the shows.  But it was not too tiring because we broke it up with a planetarium showing, where you recline in an easy chair and watch God's wonders in the heavens above you. We also watched one of the shows in the special effects theater, and that was fun.  We ended with a fabulous hike around the trails.  


I would like to visit it again, but the next time I hope I can take some of my grandchildren with me.  Several times while touring the museum I heard a child calling out, Grandma, look. I would turn, and then, when I remembered that my grandchildren were still back in Canada, I think I was just a wee bit jealous. 


To find out more or plan a trip, visit: http://creationmuseum.org/

Happiness is:

My young grandchildren won't be doing regular Pace work this week.  Grandma and Grandpa will be busy with an ACE International Student Convention (ISC), but that's OK.  Their mom is having a plant sale this weekend and what could be better than gardening with mommy on days like this?

I was busy planting my garden plot this morning, listening to the joyful singing of the birds, and I got thinking about a definition of happiness that our daughter Samantha came up with when she was just three years old.

We had enrolled her in a week long children's program, and on the last day the parents were invited to see what they had done.  There were displays all over the walls with answers the children had given to certain questions they had been asked.  We couldn't find an answer from Samantha on most of the lists, but when we came to the Question, "What is happiness?"  we spotted her answer immediately. 

The teacher saw us reading it and came over.  "We asked the same questions to all the children," she said, "but this is the only one she took an interest in."

Most of the children said things like "my birthday" or "Christmas", but Samantha didn't even bother to look up from the craft she was doing.  "Happiness," she stated, "is when the sun comes out and the birdies sing praise to God."

I hope that I can pass that same philosophy on to my grandchildren.


To read more about Samantha check my "God Leads Us Along.com" blog:  Broken Mom Part 2 
To watch her sing a song she wrote go to: At a Loss for Words

Nathanael's Sermon

I am praying that this is a stepping stone to my grandson's future.  Even though he sometimes had trouble expressing himself without clearing his throat, he did speak from his heart.  And that's what makes it special.

This is what grandparenting is all about for us.  It's giving them the opportunities and encouragements they need to develop their potential.

Nathanael thinks we spoil him by taking him to Awana and Aim High and Junior Convention, and bringing him to our house for breakfast and school, but the whole idea is to do our best to prevent the enemy from spoiling him.

To read more about Nathanael's desire to preach read Influence of a Christian Grandparent
To watch him recite his monologue go to:Nathanaels Monologue

Nathanael's Monologue

Today, I would just like to be a typical grandma who wants to show off  her wonderful grandchildren.  Here is Nathanael doing the monologue that won in the ACE junior convention.

We took Noelia and her parents to the convention as well, and everyone enjoyed her.  I'm going to add her song here that she sang with me, because some of the friends she made at convention may want to see her again, too, and because it's cute.

The best compliment that I heard from the parents and teachers at the convention about our grandchildren was that they "are so real."  And I agree.  they are sincere, they are fun, they are not afraid to have a conversation with an adult.
Why?
Because there are adults that have had an input in their lives.  Christian grandparents, the time you spend with your grandchildren is more valuable than you can imagine.  Seek for ways to make that time happen!

Nathanael won a first for his preaching as well.  See Influence of a Christian Grandparent for more about Nathanael and his desire to preach. 
To watch a video of him preaching see Nathanael's Sermon 
To watch him do a book review see Life in the Great Ice Age

"Someone up there was Watching Over Him"

I had planned on doing a book review blog yesterday, but then we got the phone call.  Our grandson Luke just had an accident.  My husband didn't wait for details.  He hurried out the door to pick up Luke's dad, Hank, and take him to the hospital.  I paced for a few minutes and prayed for a few more before I realized that Hank would have his cell phone with him, and I could get more information from him while he was waiting for Bruce.

The youngest son of my second daughter, Susy, Luke has just turned eighteen, and is serious about being able to earning a living.   He is finishing his grade 12, apprenticing as a mechanic, and working part time for Little Caesar's.  He also has a girlfriend.

He was on his way home yesterday in his dad's old car when all the long hours of pushing himself took their toll.  His eyelids closed and he fell asleep at the wheel.  The car went through a traffic light, dodged a tree on either side of it, and rammed into a telephone pole. 
The pole landed on top of the car. That's when Luke woke up.

The car was totaled. But Luke walked away with nothing more than a headache.  The police officer came over and spoke to Hank and my husband.  "Someone up there was watching over him," he said.

Yes, Officer, someone was, but that Someone was not just up there, He was right there with him. 

Thank You, Father, for protecting our grandson.

Godly Heritage

I am blessed with a heritage that I had nothing to do with but which has everything to do with who I am.  More than just my eye color and my size were determined by who my parents were. It is amazing to think of all the similarities between what my parents and Grandparents were and what I am today.

Before I was ever conceived my parents were missionaries in Northern Canada working mainly with children. How did my husband and I wind up in Northern Canada teaching children?  It had nothing to do with where my parents were. 

My dad's father, whom I never met, was a principal in a Christian School in Russia. I have been a principal of a Christian School. So has my brother, and also my nephew. My other grandfather was an evangelist. My one brother is an evangelist, another is a missionary. Grandpa was also a writer, and of course my Mom was a wonderful story teller (see Grandma Susie). Two of my brothers have written books. So has my niece, and so have I.

Even my husband, who did not come from a Christian environment but whom the Lord led into the ministry, has just discovered that some of his father's family were Christians who were actively involved in a church in Scotland. His great great uncle was actually the first minister of the Thomas Coats Memorial Baptist Church in Paisley Scotland. Believe it or not, Bruce was the eighth pastor of a Baptist Church in Paisley Ontario, Canada.

Is it all just genes, or is there more to it?

Could part of it be the prayers of our Christian parents and grandparents? They wanted us to carry on the heritage. I am sure they prayed specific prayers for us even before we were born.

And could it also be because God has promised blessings to the third and fourth generation of them that love Him and keep His commandments? What greater blessing could you ask for than to see your offspring carrying on your ministry?

Thank you Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa for your commitment to the same God that we serve!

I Wanted to be Like my Mother, Grandma Susie

Have you ever admired someone and envied her at the same time.  Those were my feelings as I watched Grandma Susie with my little family.  Mom could always get them to do whatever she wanted them to do.  There was never any fussing.  She was just plain gifted with kids.  It came so easy with her.

I could be having a bad day dealing with stubbornness and temper tantrums, but when their grandmother came over the tantrum stopped in seconds. I wished I could have her knack for handling children.

But I was the baby of my family and never had the opportunity to work with little brothers or sisters.  I was just a bit afraid of children.  How did one get them to stop their crying, or eat their lunch? I knew my mom could do it, but that was Mom.  I was nothing like her as a child.  I was timid and didn't even know what to do with a baby.  Mom could entertain them for hours.

I started gaining confidence as I got older, but not like my mother. She was a wonderful Christian Grandparent.   I just couldn't understand how she could get perfect obedience out of my kids, while I struggled so.  I knew I wasn't gifted with little children the way she was.

Then one day I was a grandparent, too.  By then I had figured out that I could work with eight to twelve year olds.  Maybe I wasn't gifted like Mom, but at least I enjoyed that.  We decided to start an ACE school with our first grandchildren who were about eight, ten and eleven.  But I didn't get to work with them. Instead, the Lord placed me with some three and four year olds.

That's when I learned an amazing truth.  God does give us the ability we need in His own time.  Maybe wisdom does come with age, especially wisdom in dealing with little children.  I was thrilled with what the Lord was doing through me as I worked with these children.  I saw little lives change and realized that the Lord was allowing me to carry on a little piece of my heritage as I was faithful to follow His leading.

I now work with my younger grandchildren and love it!

For more on Grandma Susie see Grandma Susie 
and Susie's Story

Elephants and Grandfathers.

I was sitting in church at 11:45 this morning thinking about grandfathers and elephants.  That's right, elephants!

We were seated in the third pew with only one family between us and the preacher.  It wasn't that the pastor wasn't interesting.  With a name like Mark Lowrie you just know he's got to be able to keep even a scatterbrained grandma like me interested.

Well, I was interested.  And I was listening.  I was listening to him tell us about the behavior of elephants.  And it was what he had to say that got my mind wandering.

Elephants herd together in large family groups.  The bulls do their own thing while mama takes care of her baby boy.  But when that baby boy turns about three years old he gives off an odor that tells the bulls of the clan that it's time for him to have some male companionship.  Those bulls teach him how to forage and work and basically how to behave as a well mannered young bull.

If the young bull has no older male example to follow he develops serious behavioral problems.  (apparently this has been observed in a zoo type setting where they finally had to rectify the situation by bringing in older bulls.

So, what does all this have to do with Christian grandparents?  Just let me mention one more thing that the pastor talked about.   He gave us some sad statistics about kids without full time dads.  Do you see the direction my thoughts were headed?

I'm guessing that more than just the daddy bull gives the young bull the attention he needs. The grandpa bull would be there lending his expertise on matters of trunk tricks, and table manners.  So, too, in our world of human beings created in the image of God, I believe the Grandfather has been given the instinctive desire to help impart wisdom into his young grandson.

That instinct comes from our creator and is meant to be acted upon.  Both grandsons and granddaughters will appreciate attention from their grandparents.  They need it to live normal healthy lives.

Lets act at least with as much wisdom as the elephant.

See also: Ways to Make a Difference