Ask any grandmother, and she will tell you that she is well aware that she wears many hats. She is wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter. She most likely is also aunt, niece, sister, friend, confidante, and neighbor. Many are employees, co-workers, managers, or business owners. And don’t forget cook, laundress, housekeeper, and chauffeur. Whew! Makes me tired just thinking about it! And these are certainly not all the roles filled by many of the grandmas we know including ourselves.
Earlier today I discussed my grandma role with a friend. After our conversation, I realized that even in that one role, I play many other roles. As a grandma I am a buddy and sometimes even a hero. I am also a role model, mentor, and guide. Sometimes I am a nurturer and once in a great while, a magician. As grandma, I occasionally fill the roles of teacher and of student. I am also the keeper of the family history, otherwise known as the “rememberer!”
Each of these roles is so very important. My grandchildren need me to be a buddy: to listen intently just to them and to play hide and seek or throw paper wad snowballs– all– day– long. It’s important to them that I wrap them in special blankets and snuggle them or kiss their boo-boos. However, I believe my greatest role as a grandmother is to pass along a godly heritage to my grandchildren.
I can pass along a godly heritage by being a prayer warrior for my grandchildren. As a role model, mentor, and guide I can point my grandchildren to Christ. As the “rememberer,” I can be intentional about setting up and carrying out family traditions that are God-centered. Even in my daily grandma roles, I can purpose to share the love of God with my grandchildren by offering them unconditional love, being available to them, and showing them I care. Each of the roles I fulfill as Grandma can, through purpose and intention, help me pass along a godly heritage to my grandchildren.
In “Our Life After Death: Leaving a Godly Legacy,” Pastor Charles Stanley enumerates seven scriptural principles by which we (as grandparents) should live:
- Will you leave a love for the Word of God?
- Will you leave the legacy of being a prayerful follower of Christ?
- Will they remember worshipping with you in church?
- Are you utilizing your finances in a godly way?
- Will the investment of your time reflect good works that bring Him honor and glory?
- Will you leave a pattern of living that reflected your choice to put your trust in God?
- Record how God has blessed you and answered your prayers.1
I pray you will consider these seven scriptural principles as you purpose to leave a godly heritage to your grandchildren. Above all, I pray that your desire to leave a godly heritage will affect the daily carrying out of your grandma roles.
1Stanley, Charles, “Our Life After Death: Leaving a Godly Legacy,” Life Principles Notes (April 17, 2005).
