The Birthday Gift

"Do you know what day it is today?"  the neighbor girl asked.  I had seen the birthday balloons being unloaded from the car the day before, and she had told me then, but she wanted to tell me again.  She turned eleven today.  "You gave me a book for my birthday last year," she reminded me.

"That's right," I said.  "Did you read it?"

"Yeh, it was really good!"  She cocked her head and grinned up at me, "What are you going to give me this year?"

 I smiled.  I loved this young neighbor, but, in my mind, I was doing some calculations.  I had given her Gang Trouble for her tenth birthday because I knew that she loved to read, and she had been so exited then to receive a book from the author.

Should I give her Susie's Story? I was near the end of my supply, and if I kept on giving them away it would have to go back to the printer.  But then the Lord whispered,  "do you remember why you wrote that book?"  I did remember.

I hadn't started with the clearest motives, but the Lord had taken me through the fire and refined me a bit before He let me finish the story, and when it was finally published, the one motive was to lead souls to Him.  He had directed me to Psalm 78 where it talks of telling a parable and of   "shewing the generation to come the praises of the Lord ... and his wonderful works that he hath done" and then says "That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandment."

As a Christian Grandparent, I knew that it was my responsibility to pass those wonderful experiences on to my grandchildren, but I also knew I needed to share them with others who had no Christian heritage.

That is why I have had to leave my own grandchildren, at times, and teach other children about Jesus, and that is why I knew I had to give away Susie's Story.

My neighbor was thrilled with her birthday present, and a few minutes later when she realized it hadn't been signed and came knocking on my door for a signature, she was already into the story.

As Christian Grandparents I do believe our first responsibility is to our own grandchildren, but if God gives me the opening to tell my stories to someone else's grandchildren, I hope I never waste that opportunity.  God loves them, too.

 For the previous post see: Guest post by my Daughter Susy

For more about the Susie of Susie's Story, see:  Grandma Susie and   I wanted to be like Grandma Susie

For more about the book, Susie's Story see: Susie's Story 

For the next post see Sometimes Grandparents get Sick

Guest Post by my Daughter Susy Snow - Susy's Grandpa (My Dad)

About a week ago my mother, Carol, asked me if I would write a guest blog for Father's Day about my Grandpa. I had forgotten how hard it is to marshal all the thoughts and memories into a few paragraphs, so, naturally, I said yes. Since then a flood of forgotten moments has surfaced-- my grandfather's quiet ways, his gentle sense of humour, the way he looked a person straight in the eye when he shook their hand and said “God bless you, my brother,” and his undying loyalty whether deserved at that particular moment or not.

I was Grandpa's girl. (All of his grandkids thought they were, but I KNEW I was!) He was my Grandpa and my friend and he loved me. It wasn't something that depended on whether I was a good girl or if I met certain expectations or anything that you could put your finger on. He loved me because I was his grand-daughter. Nothing could change that. Ever. To me his love exemplified the way my Heavenly Father loves his children-- I am His, He is mine, nothing on Earth can change it.

As I reflected this week on the qualities I loved so much in Grandpa I couldn't help comparing the 'other men' in my life to him. I see the loyalty and generosity that was so much a part of who he was in my father and in my husband. I see that sincere look in my son's eyes when he shakes my hand or the hand of an elderly brother or sister at church and smiles as he says, ”God bless you.” In both my boys I see his soft-heartedness shining through at just the right moments.

So today I would like to remember him by wishing a Happy Father's Day to all the men who mean the most to me. To my Dad, I love you, thank you for all you have done for me and taught me.
To Hank, thank you for being a good husband and a good father to our three children, I love you.
To my sons, I love you. I pray that when you become fathers someday (in the distant future....) you will live the Godly examples that you have been privileged to have known. You have a Godly heritage and it will never leave you, pass it on!

For more about Susy's son Luke, see: Someone up There was Watching Over Him

To read about Susy's dad, see:  My Favorite Daddy


For the previous post see: Video Book Review by Nathanael and Noelia

Life in the Great Ice Age

Nathanael and Noelia enjoyed this book, Life in the Great Ice age, so I decided to let them do a video review of it.
The review was unrehursed, interesting when you are working with an eight year old who likes to preach, and a six year old who thinks she is shy but can't stay out of the picture when we start to role.  I did cut out some of Nathanael's rambling because it was a bit long, and some of Noelia's antics because she asked me to.

Prepare your children or your grandchildren to counter balance the lies they will hear in the future.  You are the expert now.  Make a strong enough case and you will have fewer struggles as they mature. 

One of the biggest lies they will face is the "old earth" theory.  They will hear about dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, and and ice age and will some day tell you that all these were part of life on this earth millions of years ago.  Or will they?


If you, as Christian Grandparents, or parents, have prayed for them, and then done all you can in preparing them to understand the truth, you can expect God to do the rest.


 Life in the Great Ice Age by Michael & Beverly Oard is by Master Books at:  New Leaf 
 Publishing Group

To check this book at Amazon see:   Life in the Great Ice Age



For more about Nathanael and his desire to preach see Influence of a Christian Grandparent 
For more videos of Nathanael and Noelia see Nathanael's Sermon and Nathanael's Monologue

For another video book review by Nathanael and Noelia  see: Mrs. Rosey Posey and the Fine China Plate

Play Time Outside

It was a beautiful day. The patio door was open, and I could hear the neighbor girl directing the play as usual.  She was creative in her play, and I was curious. What new game was she inventing now?  I stepped over to the door to get a closer look.

"OK, now, you guys can be the ones that get killed, and one of us can be the serial killer.  The other one has to find the bodies."

Was I hearing right? Were these ten year olds actually creating a game about serial killers?  I opened the screen and stuck my head out.  "What kind of a game is that to be playing?" I scolded.  "That doesn't sound very nice to me."

"It's fun," my neighbor assured me.  "We are only pretending," She said and went back to her game.

I had always admired the creativity and acting ability of my neighbor. So had my grandchildren. They loved playing with her, and I had never worried much about what they were doing when they were with her. But this gave me a rude awakening.

I need to be outside with my grandchildren, not just keeping an eye on my own, but also being an influence to my neighbors. These neighbor children love it when I come out and spend time with them.  I should be there having fun with them all, leading them gently away from the games that harden their childish hearts. I should be like my mother, the fun grandmother in the neighborhood. See Grandma Susie

I have found that when I am close by, Nathanael and Noelia have a boldness about sharing their faith. My presence makes it easier for them because they know that Grandma is a Christian too, and she tells there friends about Jesus, and yet their friends like and respect Grandma.

I have three options when I send my grandchildren outside to play. I can send them out to be influenced by children who have not had a Christian upbringing, and I can then expect my grandchildren to loose some of their beautiful childlike innocence.  I can send them outside to play alone, and let them entertain each other or climb into the willow tree to dream.  And I do this sometimes, but I don't want them to spend most of their life isolated from other children.  The third option is for me to go out and have a fun time with their friends and teach my grandchildren, by example, how to be a witness to other children.  This is what I believe I should be doing. 

As Christian Grandparents we should be teaching our grandchildren to be missionaries, not just in some far off land, but right in our own back yard. 




To see the previous post go to My Daily Surprise