The Joy of Children

What a gift to be around children!  My son and his wife are in the Dominican Republic this entire week on a mission team trip so we are keeping their three for eight nights plus, beginning this morning, our daughter's two today all day; that equals FIVE kids ages 9 down to 3! So our lives are somewhat upended but I have come to realize what a precious gift it is to be around small children. The energy, the joy of each other and watching the DNA you created flow in so many ways in the children astounds.

Yesterday I realized all over again how vital the role of the mother (in this case grandmother, aka Grammy) is to this whole venture and a major venture it is.  Getting three small children up on Sunday morning, feeding and dressing them and then bringing to church, registering them for Sunday School and then the church experience begins; wow!  Yesterday I, aka Poppy, had to be at church at 0800 for Praise Team practice so Grammy was faced with the mission of feeding, dressing, transporting these three gifts to church and, oh by the way, in time for her, aka Grammy, to get to her Children's Ministry teaching role of 1st & 2nd graders by 0900.  Yep, it got done with almost no real help from Poppy, aka, me.

What a wonderful experience it was though in listening to their reports on how much they loved Sunday School, their water bottles filled with stuff, getting to be in Grammy's Sunday School class and all the time worrying about Ms Hope in her totally new environ that began with her melting down when Grammy took her to her new class.  As it turned out, she, Ms Hope, recovered immediately and apparently charmed, as only she can do, the Nursery ladies and then proceeded to work the rope line as only she can do as Grammy walked the three of these treasures through the hallway to link up with me.  And then I got to see that joy of three brightly smiling faces blaring up at Poppy as I kissed and hugged all three as they linked up with me before exiting the church. I love the graciousness of my church's people you could see in the smiles, twinkling eyes, touches. BLESSING!

I will close as I look at Ms Hope with pacifier plugged helping Grammy vacuum the floors while the rest are downstairs watching a movie.  I realize in just three days how much of my children's lives I missed due to long hours at my work.  So I get another chance and I am loving each increment of that new chance.  I keep thinking of Proverbs 22:6 as we seek to raise these children in the few days and times we have them to know that God loves them for we know that if they are trained in that reality, in their lives, they will return to it. So very True!  And to know they get to to be reared in their own homes by parents that are so invested in their spiritual lives and churches.  JOY!

Tiring? yes!  Worth it? Beyond measure.  Additionally, my wife, Grammy, is simply amazing in her organizational skills, her ability to connect at each age level in an amazing way, stays calm, cooks, cleans, sings, reads,, simply amazing. My role, as Poppy, is the be the cat herder but I also get to listen to Ms Gracie read avidly, do math facts, watch baseball with Noah and pitch with him and just smile at the things Hope says and does. TREASURE.

Well, time to start the lunch process now that the house is cleaned up from breakfast for the seven of us! And then it will be time for supper! 

The joy of children is in them being the joy of their grandparents! I understand it better now more than ever before.