Category Archives: Grandparenting

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Laugh At the Days to Come

Don't laugh now!

Don’t laugh now!

Our son told me years ago – and in fact reminded me of this recently – that before I tell a joke, I needed to run it by him to make sure it was really funny.

I don’t think so.

First of all, I am a 62 year old female. I don’t expect the things I find funny to be funny to young men.

Secondly, I do not find it funny when people are physically hurt. Males tend to LAUGH when someone falls down. I feel their pain and want to help them up. I am not sure I always trust my son’s evaluation of my humor.

Finally, what a person finds funny changes over time. I now find it so funny when small children say things really loud in quiet places. When my own children did this – it wasn’t funny.

I also think it is funny to tell my students that organic shapes (as opposed to geometric shapes) are shapes that have no preservatives or additives.

One student actually laughed, so I felt good about my effort to use humor in class.

Laughter is important. It lightens our mood, refreshes our outlook, and it can be contagious.

Solomon gives this wise council when describing a Godly woman.

Proverbs 31:25-26 NLT

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future.
26 When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with kindness.

Why is she able to laugh at the future? Because she has strength and dignity. I believe it also means that she doesn’t take herself too seriously.

She doesn’t know what her future holds, but she knows God holds her future.

Let’s laugh together with our children.

Let’s laugh together with our grandchildren.

Let’s laugh together with our friends.

Let’s laugh at the days to come because we trust in our Father’s faithfulness.

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Meant to be Used

coverlet

I have been blessed to have beautiful heirloom coverlets, table cloths, and quilts made by both my grandmothers, some great aunts and my husband’s mother, aunts, and grandmother.

All except for one set, these treasures are in pristine condition even though they are 70 to 80+ years old.

Why is that?

These hand made treasures still look brand new because they were never used!

These gifted ladies spent countless hours designing, cutting, sewing, crocheting, and finishing these items. I have pillow cases with hand crocheted borders and table cloths with embroidered patterns and bound edges. All made by hand – all skillfully rendered.

Never used.

My husband’s Aunt Priscilla gave me a crocheted table cloth and table runner that was hand made by her aunt that had never been used. Aunt Priscilla was born in 1915, so her aunt probably made them around the early 1900’s. I use them frequently, and with care. I do the same with the hand decorated pillowcases and tablecloths.

When my parents recently moved from our home to the retirement community where they now reside, they had to downsize. Mother brought out the coverlet pictured above that was hand crocheted by her mother – Svea Anderson Rohner. It is one of the most beautifully crocheted pieces I have ever seen – so even and precise. Mother asked if I would like it and I told her I would be honored to have it – but I would use it – with care.

It now graces the antique bed in our guest room, my parents’ former bedroom. It looks so pretty there, just like it belongs! I do replace it with a nice, but more durable quilt when guests with children use that room. I want the coverlet to remain lovely so I can pass it on to the next generation. I also don’t want to worry someone using the guest room.

detail<

Still – I DO use it. If it does gets a stain on it – I will try to remove it.

It was meant to be used.

I did mention one set of heirlooms that aren't in pristine condition. These are two quilts made by my father's mother, Grace Auman Barker, that are worn, even a bit tattered in places. Yet they are beautiful hand work and warm and cozy to use. My Grandmother Barker was a very practical person. I doubt she kept anything that she didn't use. I think she would be pleased that these quilts are used by her great and great-great grandchildren!

One reason I enjoy using these handmade objects, besides their beauty, is that they remind me of the ones who lovingly made them.

I treasure the quilt and the coverlet because my grandmothers who made them were women who had a great impact on my life. They were very different in personality, yet each loved God and desired to honor Him with her life. Each had a unique influence on me – each loved me.

God has given us something that He wants us to treasure – something that is meant to be used.

His Word.

God has revealed Himself to us in the Bible and God also unveils His plan to redeem our lives through His Son, Jesus. If my Bible is just a book that is put on a shelf but never used, it is similar to all those lovely things my relatives made and stored away in trunks and bureau drawers – of absolutely no use.

I honor my family members when I treasure and use the lovely things they made.

I honor God when I treasure and read His Word. Just before Jesus was crucified on the cross, He prayed for us – His followers. John 17:13 – 19

13 “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. 14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19 And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.

Jesus gave us his Father’s words. Now it is our priviledge to share God’s word – the Bible – with our children and grandchildren.

It is meant to be used.

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What’s in a Name?

Abi and Dog

“We can’t name our baby after a dog!” Phil replied in an exasperated voice.

“But I named our first dog “Abigail” because it was my favorite name,” I explained.

Those of you who know our family know that our third daughter and fourth child has the beautiful name – Abigail.

By the time we had our third daughter, Phil’s resistance to the name had faded along with the memory of that first dog. She was a Bassett Hound that wandered into our lives, and then wandered out after we paid vet bills for shots and surgery to have her spayed.

I’ve never thought of our daughter being named after a dog.

The name ‘Abigail’ has a Hebrew origin and means ‘source of joy’. Our Abigail has certainly been a source of joy for our family and many others who know her. I recently read that Abigail and Hannah, (our first daughter’s name) have been among the most popular English female names for the past several years. The WEB sites on which I looked this information up varied slightly – but Abigail and Hannah were in the top 20 on all three lists.

When we chose those names, we thought we were being unique – little did we know.

Yet once you name a child something – the name begins to fit them – or does the child begin to fit the name?

God puts significant importance in names. He sometimes changed an individual’s name because of an important change in their life.

Abram became Abraham
Sarai became Sarah
Jacob became Israel
Saul became Paul

Jacob’s name change was the result of a struggle he had with God.

Genesis 32:24-29

24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

The part that impressed me in this passage was verse 28 – “you have struggled with God and with humans and have OVERCOME”. (emphasis mine)

God changed Jacob’s name to a name that meant “he struggles with God”.

I am encouraged by this passage because Jacob struggled and didn’t stop until he received a blessing. Jacob was even injured physically and limped afterwards because of this struggle – so much for us thinking that walking with God is a stroll through the park!

Many of us are struggling right now.

We may feel like we are in the midst of a wrestling match with one of our children, our spouse, our in-laws, a grandchild, or even God.

Hang in there! Don’t give up until you sense God’s blessing!

We will sense God’s blessing in our lives – not when we get what we want – but when we KNOW and trust that God is faithful to take on our struggle for us. He gave us His only son Jesus –

Philippians 2:8-11 (NLT)

8 He humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Amen!