Grandparent love

my job as a grandparent is to love.   unconditionally.

i am not the parent.   parents have the hard job of shaping and disciplining and teaching values and modeling right behavior and providing.

i build forts and buy ice cream and throw balls and take pictures.   and go play at the park.

parents live with their children.   they see them at their absolute best and absolute worst.   loving them can be a challenge,  especially as they grow older and more independent.   good parenting takes unrelenting energy and determination.

grandparents give them back at night.  (apologies to howard and lori…my grandparenting heroes!)

parents assume full responsibility for building a theology of god and a world-view that will carry their children through life.   parents show their kids how to face death and fear and injustice and hate…without succombing to cynicism and doubt.

grandparents simply hold on tight and wipe tears and go to sonic for slushes.   grandparents show the unconditional love of god and faith in his word.   i will not have the joy…nor the responsibility…of teaching my grandchildren of the greatness and majesty of the almighty.   that will be reserved for my children.

i simply get to love…and hope and pray that my love will always communicate a taste of grace that will consistently tantalize the spiritual taste buds  of  my heritage.   and that will be enough.   it has to be.

…and here’s why i’m really writing this:

grandparenting and youth ministry have a lot in common.

teenagers need people in their lives who will just love them.   their lives are complicated.   culture is constantly messing with their psyches.   the media sends mixed messages.   their world can be a brutal and unforgiving place to live.   right and wrong are conditional ideas…subject to the whims of whatever blows by.

these are difficult days,  and kids need people who will simply love them and live out lives of faith in front of them.   they need people who will compassionately walk through life with them.

i never care what my grandson looks like…how his hair is combed or what clothes he has on.   i just like him as he is.   teenagers need people who will look past their exteriors and see their hearts.   they don’t need any more people who focus on their hair color or their clothing styles or the music they’re into or their dysfunction.   they have plenty.

yeah.   they need good teaching.   they need consistent role modeling.   they need wisdom and insight into truth.

but what they need most of all is a good,  healthy dose of  grandparent love.

anybody out there ready to do some youth ministry?

#grandparent #love #youthministry