The Generation To Come

Charlie

Alice with Grandpa

I love my grandchildren.  Of course I do.  Alice and Charlie are adorable.  If you have grandchildren, you love them, too.  At least, I hope you do.  If you are a grandchild who has grandparents near by, better yet.  You get the regular adoration of those doting adults!  Parents are trapped in between - "Well, we actually DON'T need another battery-operated toy" and "No, please, NO more sweets…"  Grandchildren are not handy because you can spoil them and give them back to their parents.  That cliche annoys me for two reasons: I don't want to spoil my grandchildren and the time I have with them is never enough for me to want to give them back.  No doubt, the family resemblance and those first things all infants and toddlers do are impossible to observe passively.  Who can help but adore perfectly formed little fingers and toes and smiles and the drool on your shoulder and the leaky diaper when a grandchild is nestled on your lap.  OK, leaky diapers are not so cute.  Beyond those physical traits, what makes grandchildren profoundly delightful is when you see them in the context of heritage.  Values and traditions and faith were passed down from our grandparents to our parents to my wife and I who in turn became parents.  Both intentionally and accidentally we have passed down a heritage to our children who are now beginning that same process of not just raising children, but living a life in front of their children that says: "This is the way, this is the path, this is how a pilgrim journeys to their final home."  As I watch my daughter and son-in-law nourishing their wee ones physically, emotionally, spiritually I see the thread of grace woven through generations.  And that is truly heart-warming.