The First Got the Party Started
It’s a happy 31st birthday to my FIRST grandchild, Braden Cole Wuerch. Though the love is no stronger for any of my six grandchildren from the other, there is still “something” about the FIRST. This first photo is big brother, Braden, and younger bros!
Who knew that we would be like all those photo-toting, beaming-from-ear-to-ear grandparents. Yes, I carried a photo album with me – no cell phones with cameras and photos in 1992.
I fell in love just like all those grandparents from the beginning of time. We helped care for this little guy. And, in that care, we wanted him to know how much we loved him. Our Braden was always on our minds. Most weekends we gave his mom and dad “time-out” and relief when we partied down with him.
Braden’s arrival into this world changed me completely. I prayed for him as I held him in my arms. We witnessed many of his “firsts”. We worked diligently to help him take his first steps and he did. We prayed for his protection, his wisdom and his God-given destiny in life, and that he would always know God’s love for him.
Over these 31 years I have still desired to be a godly influence in his life. I’ve seen with “new eyes” a passage of Scripture that I had read many times. In fact, it started with seeing the significance of a single little word: “and.”
I realized I have a specific purpose of fulfilling the command that followed the “and.” In Deuteronomy 4, the Israelites are told to “keep the commandments of the LORD your God” (verse two). Then verse nine says, “Teach them to your children AND your grandchildren.”
When I saw that little word “and”, I realized that I/we are responsible to teach two generations, not just one. Once our grandchildren reach a certain age, I realize I can’t just spoil them or dote on them or be a secondary caregiver. But I/we CAN be spiritual influencers.
Last year, I realized with my last grandchild, Bryson, his driver’s license and a car meant he no longer needed me to be his “chauffeur”. But no matter their ages and how much time I get with each one of my grands, I can still be a spiritual influencer.
In God’s Word, grandparents’ active role is to pass on God’s Word from “generation to generation”. But how can I? How can I influence my grands when I am rarely with them? Here is one way that I ensure my grands know that their Nana is thinking about them, praying for them and believing God’s blessings are outpoured on them. I send all six of them (as a group) a daily, early-morning, text message. It’s typically short and to the point, but it packs a punch.
I desire, through my prayers, to show them Jesus, stir up their love for Him, His favor on them and their life of abundance in Him.
Back to my beloved #1 grandson, Braden. I will forever thank God for him. I know God’s hands are on him. Braden and all my grandchildren and yours, too, are HERE on purpose — God’s purpose.
So, rather than being an overbearing grandmother, I choose to believe my precious grandson, Braden, and all my grands will fulfill every part of God’s plan for them.
My Braden is a treasured gift to me, and to this world. He is a man marked for blessings. I will endeavor to keep reminding him, and my other grands, they are treasured and loved – from here to eternity!