Grandpa’s
Wish List
Ask
the typical parent what their hopes and dreams are for their children, and
you’ll get a myriad of responses. They
desire that the child would follow Christ, find fulfillment, be used to
influence others, find a good spouse, raise a few kids, and things of this
nature. Other people ‘”just want their
child to be happy” and “successful.”
Ask the typical grandparent what they would
like for their grandchild, and it probably would be similar. However, all grandparents aren’t
typical. Some have a keen sense of the
true experiences that life can offer to bring a healthy perspective and heart
of character.
Paul
Harvey, noted broadcaster, author, and grandfather expounds on this
thought. Let me give you a few excerpts
of life’s greatest character builders:
“We
tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse.
For
my grandchildren, I’d know better. I’d
really like for them to know about hand-me-down clothes and homemade ice cream
and leftover meat leaf. I really would.
My
cherished grandson, I hope you learn humility by being humiliated and that you
earn honesty by being cheated.
I
hope you learn to make your bed and mow the lawn and wash the car – and I hope
nobody gives you a brand-new car when you are 16. And I hope you have a job by then. It will be good if at least one time you can
see a baby calf born and see your old dog put to sleep. I hope you get a black eye fighting for
something you believe in.
I
hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it is all right to draw a line down the
middle of the room, but – when he wants to crawl under the covers with you
because he’s scared - I hope you’ll let him.
And
when you want to see a Disney movie and your kid brother wants to tag along, I
hope you take him. I hope you have to
walk uphill with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it
safely.
And
rainy days when you have to hitch a ride, I hope your driver doesn’t have to
drop you off two blocks away, so you won’t be seen riding with somebody as un-cool
as your mom.
If
you want a slingshot, I hope your father teaches you how to make one instead of
buying one.
I
hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books, and when you learn to use
those new-fangled computers, you also learn how to add and subtract in your
head.
I
hope you get razzed by your friends when you have your first crush on a girl,
and that when you talk back to your mother, I hope you learn what Ivory soap
tastes like.
May
you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick
your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I sure
hope you make time to sit on a porch with your grandpa or go fishing with your
uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral
and the joy of holidays. These things I
wish for you – tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness.”
These
are the experiences life gives us that makes it rich and worth living.
Solomon wrote to his son in Proverbs 4:13, “Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is
your life.” May God use every means to help us to grow
like Him.
Terry
Risser
Consider reading the Word today:
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