Did someone say GRANDCHILDREN?

Grandchildren! You knew sooner or later it had to come up, right? We are so blessed to have ten of them and they are spread out from college age down to toddlers. What a joy they are and what a privilege to see them through an older set of eyes. I often tell people that when my three boys were growing up I was much too busy making a living instead of concentrating on helping them to build a life. Somehow they got through all that and today they have given me the opportunity to pour myself into their children’s lives. No, I can’t go back and change the past but I can do today the best I know how to influence them, and make a difference in their children’s lives.

You have heard of the stay at home dad but what about the stay at home granddad or Poppy as I am called? My time between work assignments coincided with the birth of our little Alex, (he’s our number nine). Since Poppy didn’t have a regular job I became the 8–10 hours per day caregiver for this little guy from the time he was about a month old until he was one year. Wow! What an experience! The photo is of me teaching him how to drive. Who else is going to do it? In the summer I also took care of his 9 year old brother and 7-year-old twin sisters. Some days I had their cousin also so the total crew was 4 supercharged kids and one infant. Challenging? You bet! Exhausting? Certainly! But looking back I believe it to have been a blessing from God that provided for them the care they needed and also allowed me to experience great joy.

Yeah, it’s true that I now probably act like “Poppy knows best” on all subjects regarding childcare and childrearing. I catch the looks of the parents as I give them my informed opinion on these important subjects. My wife, (the grandmother known as MiMi), is always reminding me that in the end it is their decision on how and what to do. This doesn’t typically bother me because all of my advice comes from down in the trenches, learned on the front line. If nothing else it makes for lively and entertaining conversations to say the least.

This photo is of our number ten just after he was born. He is a remarkable child and he’s now 16 months old and his dad calls him, “a one man wrecking crew”. I call him and all the rest jewels in a crown God has allowed us to have in this life. Some people live far away from their grandchildren and only see them occasionally. We typically see all of ours at least once or twice a month and sometimes even more. There are days when things are going bad and trouble seems to be brewing all around and you think perhaps it would be better if you didn’t live so close or know so much. But, when it is all said and done we wouldn’t trade anything for the blessing God has given to us in being able to be smack dab in the middle of the life and times of our kids, their wives, and all our grandchildren! The Bible makes it clear, they are a blessing from Him and we thank Him for them all. More later………………