Grandparents say? And I think, even if I have not yet experienced this? That grandchildren are children with honey!
This term, which many grandparents use to describe their feelings for grandchildren, expresses very well their love for their children’s children. If fatherhood and motherhood are among the most eye-catching and transformative experiences of human life, imagine yourself sprayed with honey!
Today in Brazil we celebrate Grandparents Day and I think it’s worth thinking about.
Here in Brazil and Portugal, a country whose Roman tradition has great influence, July 26 was chosen for the celebration of grandparents’ day because the date corresponds to the day when the Roman Catholic Church, in the person of Pope John VI (1963-1978), established for the celebration of the feast of Sao Joaquim e Sant?Anne According to Roman tradition, based on the apocryphal book of Tiago’s Protoevangelho, Joaquim and Anne would be Mary’s parents, therefore the grandparents of Jesus.
In the United States, for example, the Grandparents Day celebration takes place on the first Sunday after the celebration of American Labor Day and is unrelated to Roman traditions. American history reports that Grandparent’s Day began at the initiative of Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade in the western United States. Virginia, a mother of 15 children, 43 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and a great-grandson, who began her one-day campaign to honor her grandparents in 1970, with three goals: honor grandparents, give grandparents the opportunity to show love for their children’s children, and help children become aware of the strength, information, and counsel older adults can offer.
Whatever the reasons that led to the establishment of a specific date for the celebration of grandparents’ day, Christians must remember that the Word of God tells us that being a grandfather and grandmother is first and foremosth an honor:
The crown of the elders are the children of the children; and the glory of the children, are the parents. ?(Proverbs 17:6)
One of the most important objects of a king’s ornamentation is his crown. The crown is an emblem that expresses the majesty and authority of this king. Therefore, it is said that there is no king without a crown. In sayings, the word crown, often translated as honor, expresses this place well than that of grandparents in the family, a position of dignity and respect.
We also read that seeing your children’s children is a sign of God’s blessing in grandparents’ lives:
The Lord may bless you with Zion, that you may see the prosperity of Jerusalem during the days of your life, that you may see the children of your children. Peace on Israel! (Psalm 128: 5. 6)
How rewarding it must be, after years of struggling to educate their own children, men and women can experience the fruits of this mission, through the lives of their grandchildren. As parents, we make our children’s day-to-day concerns about family support and Education often ends in the joy of little childhood things. In the condition of grandparents, without the weight of the primary responsibility of grandchildren, there is a pleasure in the companionship and in every gesture of the grandson It is the blessing of the Lord!
But Scripture does not stop there, it still tells us about the responsibility of grandparents for generations to come. But what is the responsibility?
It’s not uncommon these days to see grandparents take on the role of parents in educating children. While we understand that, unfortunately, because of the economic reality of our country, this is usually the alternative that parents find, it is not good that this is happening, because as we have seen before, it is time for grandparents to enjoy. another phase of his life. The responsibility that the Bible attaches to grandparents is therefore linked to the legacy of faith they must leave to their grandchildren:
? (?) because of the memory I keep of your unpretentious faith, the same one that first lived with your grandmother Loid and your mother Eunice, and surely you did too?
And this responsibility comes full of the Grace and Mercy of the Lord, as he promises to those who fear him:
But the Lord’s mercy is from eternity to eternity, for those who fear Him, and his righteousness, for the children of children, for those who keep their covenant, and for those who remember and keep their precepts. . ?(Psalm 103: 17. 18)
Grandmothers and grandmothers should therefore strive to know the Lord our God more and more and pass on biblical truths to their grandchildren, for example, in their free time or in all the opportunities they have.
Grandparents play a vital role not only in the family, but also in society at large. This generation must be heard and honored, because it is the characters of the near past who, rich in experience, have much to contribute to this generation and to the future. They are living books waiting for those who read them.
How many stories have you lived? How many knees have you grated? How many gifts have you received? How many flowers did they smell? How many proud wounds? How many frustrated dreams, how many fights have you won? How many values have been accumulated? How many tears have been shed and how many smiles already sketched? How much wisdom is there ?, waiting for the absolutely empty space between the generations to be broken, perhaps with a simple hug.
Today is Grandparents Day, take the opportunity to resume intergenerational relationships, bring the family together, show children the value of this generation, encourage them to show appreciation for their grandparents (and other elderly people).
He values those whom God has chosen to be your ancestors.