As I've said, part of providing Grandparenting Ministry, involves letting the grandparents in your ministry know about resources available for them. I'm very happy today to let you know about another new resource! Over the years, from time-to-time, I've shared Scripture prayers with you which you can pray for yourself, for your volunteers and for children/families in your ministry. I just finished a book which provides a year of Scripture prayers - Deeper In 4 Grandparents & Parents, Too! Praying the Scriptures for the Children You Love - Old Testament Edition. It will be available in a few days, but I thought today I'd share with you some of the fun things people are saying about this book . . .
I've been talking about Grandparenting Ministry for a week and if we are serious about equipping grandparents in our churches to pass on a heritage of faith to their grandchildren, we need to help them find resources they can use. Science, the Bible & Fun! is a resource written especially for this purpose (and it is one parents could use at home with their children, too!) You will find information along with free sample lessons at this link! You will also be able to see the scope and sequence for the first year and order it - 52 weeks of activities to use with your grandchildren/children to pass on a heritage of faith!
I've been talking all week about Grandparenting Ministry and how our churches need to engage, equip and encourage grandparents to pass on a heritage of faith to their grandchildren. Today I want to share something Steve and Valerie Bell shared with us at the Legacy Coalition meeting I attended last week. They said when it comes to raising children, parents focus on, peace. They want to get through the day in as peaceful a way possible - this is a good day. Parents need to provide a peaceful setting for their home; a peaceful place for children to grow up. Peace is the bottom part of a "triangle" - and gives a firm base or foundation for their family.
I've been writing all week about Grandparenting Ministry and have been sharing with you some of the things the speakers said at the Legacy Coalition meeting I attended last week as we met to talk about engaging and equipping churches to engage, equip and encourage grandparents to pass on a heritage of faith to their grandchildren. Yesterday I shared what Cathy Jacobs had to say about the single grandmother; today I want to talk about the role of the grandpas. Ken Canfield spoke about the, "Grandfather Factor" and shared about the three events in men's lives which transforms their lives. He said these three events are . . .
As I mentioned a couple days ago, I was recently invited to be part of the Legacy Coalition and will be working with some wonderful people to engage churches, so they engage, equip and encourage grandparents to pass on a heritage of faith to their grandchildren. At our meeting, I was able to hear from a number of leaders in family ministry; one of which was Cathy Jacobs from Pass the Legacy. She spoke about the challenge facing the single grandmother; and today I'm delighted to share with you some of what she had to say.
I recently wrote a book about passing on a heritage of faith to our grandchildren/children - It Is Impossible to Spoil Grandchildren; and Other Important Facts for Grandparents and Parents, Too!and I'm about to release my second book; Deeper in 4 Grandparents & Parents, Too! Praying the Scriptures for the Children You Love - Old Testament Edition. I am looking for parents and grandparents who would be willing to take a look at the book and write a brief endorsement for me to include in the book. The thing is, I have to have your endorsement back to me by Saturday afternoon - the 29th. Yes, in just two days.
When we engage the grandparents in our churches so they are focused on passing on a heritage of faith, we will help them understand sometimes this means they will plan intentional times to sit and have conversations with their grandchildren. But, there will also be times when questions or conversations just come up as part of every day life. For example; the other day I needed to talk with my daughter-in-law on the phone for a minute and then, of course, I talked with my grandsons, too. Josiah had been looking at some VBS stickers I had given him - as you know, I review most VBS resources each year and some of the VBS items end up going to my grandsons. He asked me what it meant when one of them said; "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." I told him the "fear" it is talking about is not "fear", like when you are afraid, but instead it is talking more about "respect". When we respect God, it is the first step to being wise. He said this made more sense and went on telling me about some of the other stickers.
As we think about Grandparenting Ministry, it is important to think about what we want to see happen in this ministry with the grandparents in our church. Clearly, we want to engage them; help them see and understand how they still have a very important job to do. Their "job" is not over when their own children are grown. These years are not the time to just retire and recreate. There are very important things for them to do in passing on a heritage of faith! Yes, we want to, and need to engage the grandparents in our churches, but we also have to equip them. We need to provide resources they can use which will help them feel able to pass on a heritage of faith. I've talked with many grandparents to tell me they want to pass on a heritage of faith, but they do not know how to do so; they do not know what to do.
When you think about grandparents and Grandparenting Ministry, you may picture both grandpas and grandmas. While in many families they do have two sets of grandparents - both grandpas and grandmas, there are families in your church with single grandparents; most often single grandmas. At the Legacy Coalition meeting I attended last week, we were blessed to hear both Linda Ransom Jacobs (DC4K) and Cathy Jacobs (Pass the Legacy) speak to us about how divorce and single grandmothers impact your Grandparenting Ministry. Today, I want to share with you some of what Linda had to say.
For several years I've been talking about Grandparenting Ministry; not necessarily ministry serving grandparents, but ministry which engages, equips and encourages grandparents to pass on a heritage of faith. Cavin Harper describes this ministry as a; "Future Generations Ministry" as it is about future generations and helping them remember all God does, so they are able to faithfully and obediently follow Him.
I heard a fun quote at the Legacy Coalition meeting I was at last week . . . Do you know what kind of book sells for the most at a garage sale? The answer is an autographed book! With this in mind, if you live in the West Michigan area, I'm very happy to invite you to a Local Author Book Signing event with seven or eight authors; I am one who has been invited to participate! Mark your calendars for Thursday, September 24, 2015 from 7pm to 9pm and join me at the Kregel Bookstore in Grandville, MI.
Wednesday night my grandsons were at my house and we were getting ready for bedtime; Josiah, Caleb, Poppa and I talked about what it means when the Bible says, "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Last week when the boys were here, we had a big thunder storm pass through and our power went out. Since it was bedtime, this meant it was quite dark here in the house without any power. We used a flashlight to see where we were going.
Yes, I know when I began this series of posts I said there were five dangers I was going to write about, but there is one more I would like you to consider . . . the danger of thinking and believing, "I'm in this alone".
Yesterday on my other blog, grandma's cookie jar, I shared some things about grandparenting on purpose which Tim Kimmel said during the Legacy Coalition meeting I was at the other day. Today I want to share them with you - please think about them in regards to the grandparents in your church. Then think about what you do to help engage, equip and encourage these grandparents to be intentional about passing on a heritage of faith to their grandchildren. Tim said grandparents need to employ a "gracious grandparenting" plan . . . which basically means we treat our grandchildren with the same grace God lavishes upon us! When we mess up, God gives us His grace and forgives us - He does not hold it over our heads nor brow-beat us. God gives us grace and grandparents need to do the same! He said there are four roles for a grandparent . . .
I've been posting about five dangers to be on guard for; the danger of gossip, the danger of child abuse, falling into the "it's-all-me" trap and the "we're-the-only-ones" trap. Now I want to share the fifth danger to be on guard and watching for . . . the danger of being at the "bottom of the totem pole". It is unlikely leaders in any church would actually say the children's ministry is at the "bottom of the totem pole", but if you look at where resources are invested and the "visibility" of the children's ministry, you will often find the "bottom of the totem pole" is where the children's ministry actually ends up. So, how can you know if your children's ministry is at the "bottom of the totem pole"? Consider the following questions . . .
As I mentioned yesterday, I'm part of a group who will be working with churches to help them engage, equip and encourage grandparents to pass on a heritage of faith to their grandchildren. If you have been reading About the Children's Department, you know this is something I care very much about. Tuesday, as we met, Dr. Tim Kimmel spoke to us about a vision for grandparenting ministry. One thing he said really stood out to me; he said, "We can not afford to grandparent by accident." He is correct. We can not afford to grandparent by accident. We have to be focused. We have to be intentional. We have to be people who pray and pray throughout each day for our grandchildren. The price is too high if we do not pass on a heritage of faith to our grandchildren; it is a price I'm not willing to pay in regards to my grandsons.
As I've said, part of providing Grandparenting Ministry, involves letting the grandparents in your ministry know about resources available for them. I'm very happy today to let you know about another new resource! 
