Courageous Grandparenting Blog Archives - Page 13 of 17

A Thanksgiving Blessing for 2015

Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner. All the preparations are under way, and we look forward to this time of celebration and feasting.

As I mentioned last week, this is a time to remember God’s goodness and provisions. I hope some of you are making plans to build your own Witness Altar for the Thanksgiving table to remind everyone why we are giving thanks… and to Whom.

As you consider all that God has done and how undeserving we are of His goodness, I want to leave you with this Thanksgiving Blessing—as a witness between us of God’s greatness and goodness—that He alone is God.

Thanksgiving Day or Turkey Day?

by Cavin Harper

The Ruebenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name:
A Witness Between Us that the Lord is God
Joshua 22:34

Preparing for Thanksgiving usually involves a lot work. Just ask Mom and/or Grandma. So, is it worth all that effort if it’s nothing more than ‘Turkey Day’? Is all the preparation only about entertaining a house full of family and friends who may give token thanks, but who really only care about gorging themselves and watching football?

It’s easy to forget that holidays like Thanksgiving have a reason behind them—something significant we are supposed to remember. Thanksgiving serves as a point of reference to remind us of something we are prone to forget in a time of plenty—that the Lord is God, He is good, and He is the source of all our goodness. Therefore, He is worthy of our thanksgiving.

When Abraham Lincoln issued his proclamation declaring a National Day of Thanksgiving, he described its purpose as “a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.” In his proclamation, Lincoln reminded Americans that we have much for which to be thankful—

Grandparenting in a Digital World: Part 2

by Cavin Harper

I have only met one grandparent who told me he had no desire to stay connected with his grandchildren. With that attitude, I suspect his grandchildren felt the same about him. Fortunately, most grandparents really do want to connect with their grandchildren. They want to do it often and they want to do it well.

Our digital world presents both opportunities and dangers for helping us stay connected. Sadly, our grandchildren are growing up in a world in which screen time is more important than actual face-to-face time. Consider some of these new realities in our digital world today:

A large percentage of teens today say they’d rather text than talk.
Many young people have indicated they would rather Instagram about strawberry crepes with whipped cream and chocolate sauce than actually taste it and experience it.
Teens walking to and from school tend to move slowly and, often, alone glued to their smartphone screens
More and more people are glued to their device screens in public areas like airport waiting areas, restaurants, shopping malls, and even school classrooms.

The street next to our house is a school bus stop. I often walk my dogs at about the same time the neighborhood students are gathering at the school bus stop. I have observed that none of them talk to each other while waiting for the bus, and most never hear me say “Good morning.” They are glued to their smartphone screens with earbuds stuck in their ears.

And it’s not just teens and young adults.

Grandparenting in a Digital World

by Cavin Harper

I was in my forties when I got my first cell phone. It was a flip phone and I thought it was cool. It reminded me of the communicators Captain Kirk and Commander Spock carried with them in the Star Trek series. My phone really didn’t get much use, though, because we lived in the mountains of Colorado where cell phone service was definitely spotty.

By then PC’s were fairly common, though it really had limited applications. Email and internet surfing were just emerging as significant options for this new technological age, though with our slow internet connections in the mountains, we didn’t spend much time on the internet. I could not have imagined the digital world we live in today.

For my grandchildren, technology is as much a part of life as indoor plumbing had become for me. Unlike my parents, I cannot imagine living without indoor plumbing, and my grandchildren cannot imagine living without technology. As one computer scientist points out, “technology is technology only for people who are born before it was invented.” That’s you and me!

While digital technology has introduced us to information, entertainment and communication options we only knew in science fiction, it has also introduced us to innumerable dangers. Accessibility to everything imaginable has created a screen time addiction that is consuming our younger generations—and maybe some of us.

Is It Important That Our Grandkids Are Safe?

by Cavin Harper

Who wouldn’t want their kids and grandkids to be safe? As parents, and grandparents, we all want to do what we can to protect our kids from the unnecessary dangers of life in a fallen world.

But is their safety what we really want? Is it truly in their best interest to coddle them and keep them safe from the world?

We grandparents were the last of the ‘free range’ kids who didn’t live in a world of paranoid fear. We roamed our neighborhoods and communities generally unconcerned. Our mothers only wanted to know where we were going and when we’d be home. Terrorism, predators and school shootings were never on our minds.

Then photos of missing children began to appear on milk cartons and parents began to worry about their own children. Soon the reigns were pulled in as parents tried to keep their children safe. Schools began to ban certain foods, remove unsafe playground equipment. The Columbine school shooting lit up the news… and then two years later 911 launched a new reality.

I understand the fear and paranoia that exists in our world today. This isn’t Kansas anymore, and the world is a much more challenging place for parents and grandparents when it comes to our children. But have we gone too far? In our attempts to build a safe, comfortable world, are we creating paranoid, thin-skinned children who will not be equipped to face the world out there as adults?

What Is Your Greatest Advantage as Grandparent?

by Cavin Harper

When you held your first grandchild in your arms, what dreams and aspirations did you have for that child? Like most parents, grandparents often dream grand plans of what this child could become. Will he or she be a great athlete? Will he be President one day? Will she be a doctor, a lawyer, a famous author or a celebrity? Will he become the new CEO of the family business?

We all want our grandchildren to have all the advantages they can in life to succeed. That goes without saying, but do we place the proper priority on the life advantages that really matter? Tony Evans says, “too many parents put more effort into their kids making the team than gaining the Kingdom.” I’d say that rings true for many grandparents too. Anybody need to join me in raising a guilty hand?

The fact remains there is no greater advantage in life than our faith in Christ—if it’s the real deal. True faith is the greatest advantage we can bring to the table to help shape a young life for all eternity. We do not give them faith—God does that. But we do provide the advantage of our faith in Christ to show them what is our greatest treasure, and possibly help shape their faith as well. The fact is that if we do not give validity to the joy and power of faith in Christ, then we will likely give them a reason to think that such faith is not real or relevant to life.

Just Too Much to Lose!

by Cavin Harper

Today’s blog is a departure from my usual weekly posts. I want to share with you a few exciting opportunities being developed at CGN to help raise up intentional, courageous grandparents who are showing their grandchildren what it means to know, love and serve Christ wholeheartedly.

Being a grandparent can be a lot of fun, but it can also have it’s share of challenges and disappointments. That’s life. The question is what will we do with the circumstances we face and turn them into opportunities to speak into our grandchildren’s lives so they can successfully walk in grace and truth? There’s just so much at stake—too much to lose if we do not embrace our biblical roles intentionally and courageously.

There are more grandparents alive and active now than at any other time in human history. With more than 80 million grandparents in the United States alone, we have the voice to make a difference. But to do so we must be own up to our responsibility to authentically and compassionately represent Christ to the next generations. Will you join the ranks of intentional grandparents who want their lives to make much of Christ for the sake of the next generations?

That’s why I want to tell you about a few of the projects that we believe will effectively equip grandparents for this grand role we have been given by God, and how you can make a difference.

Where Do We Find Modern-Day Issachars?

by Cavin Harper

Travis is a good friend and an avid, skilled fly-fisherman. I’m not much a fisherman myself, but I do enjoy an occasional trip to the mountains to try my hand at it. So Travis took me out one time to show me some of the basics of fly-fishing. I learned it’s a lot more than knowing how to cast your line. Travis taught me that if you don’t know the nature of the fish you are trying to catch, and their feeding habits, you won’t experience much success. That’s why he always stops by the local fly shop to find out what the fish are biting at the time. He knew the wrong fly would yield poor results.

It can be challenging for those of us who are grandparents to accurately understand the times in which we live, let alone know what to do about it. This is a pop culture that has built a value system and worldview that is dramatically different from the common worldview prevalent when you and I were growing up. How did we get to where we are so quickly and what do we need to know about today’s pop culture to help our grandchildren navigate it and boldly walk in the truth? How do we find out what the fish are biting?

Living in a World Where Good is Bad

by Cavin Harper

“Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth…” Ps. 86:11a

I remember a story not long ago about a student who was told by his principal and two teachers at his middle school that he was not allowed to wear a t-shirt he had on because it was ‘offensive’. What was so offensive to these school authorities? His t-shirt read, VIRGINITY ROCKS!

What makes something like this so disturbing is that not only is it inconceivable that something good should be considered “offensive” in our schools but that it is not an isolated situation. This incident is representative of the pervasive anti-truth, anti-moral attitude sweeping through America’s schools and culture today. As grandparents it is difficult for us to fathom how a message like this student’s t-shirt could be “offensive” to anyone. That only highlights what a different world it is than the one of our childhood.

How should we, as grandparents, respond to the morality void that bombards our grandchildren from every direction?

Have a Blessed Grandparents’ Day

by Cavin Harper

Today is National Grandparents’ Day in the United States. In lieu of my regular blog, I want to use this opportunity to acknowledge the vital role you play as a grandparent and bless you: May you receive the honor and praise due you, especially you who are faithfully living out a legacy worth outliving you—one that makes Christ look great and glorious. May you know on this day how much of a treasure you are to your grandchildren, and may they truly rise up and call you blessed!

Today is not only National Grandparents’ Day, but the Global Grandparents’ Day of Prayer. In 2011 we launched a movement of calling grandparents around the world to intentional prayer on behalf of their grandchildren concurrent with Grandparents’ Day. I invite you to accept the challenge to make this day a time to gather with other grandparents and remember whose Name we lift up as King and Lord, and to battle for the hearts, minds and souls of our children and grandchildren.

Grandparents understand that there is no greater joy than to see their grandchildren walking in the truth. There is also no greater heartache than to know they are not. Today is a grand day for grandparents everywhere to link arms and come into our King’s presence to petition and intercede on their behalf. Who will you link arms with today to pray for your families—your children and grandchildren—and for those who influence their lives?

We pray so that the Lord will keep them from the evil one. We also pray that we may not forget all the Lord has done for us, and that our lives will validate the power, glory and grace of God through Christ our Savior rather than give them a reason to doubt or think our faith in Christ is not real or relevant.

John Bunyan wrote, “Seaman cannot create the wind, but they can hoist their sails to welcome it.” May the sails of our hearts be hoisted and open to receive the wind of the Spirit of God that He may draw us to our knees in repentance and sorrow, that He may anoint and inhabit our prayers of faith and hope for tomorrow, and that He may breathe His Spirit to bring revival and transformation through Christ our Lord generation to generation.

GRANDPAUSE: He is the God of boundless resources. The only limit is in us. Our asking, our thinking, our praying are too small; our expectations are too limited. –A. B. Simpson

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