Dedicated to God

This morning at church, a baby was dedicated to God. This happens in all religions. But it wasn’t the baby being dedicated that struck me to the core. It was the commitment that the Pastor asked the grandparents to have in helping the parents, encouraging them, and supporting their decision to raise the child to know God. There are many paths in life and if given the right instruction and guidance, it’s our prayer that our grandchildren will take the path that God lays out before them.

It’s great being a grandparent. E brings me unspeakable joy, even when I’m not with him, his heart and his spirit make me smile. It’s easy to love him. But it’s not easy to be a spiritual role model to him and to his parents. We are the generation they look to for support and guidance. The commitment required to teach the child about God is the most important part of being a grandparent.

E’s other grandmother got him a Bible for Easter. It’s just a sample kid’s Bible with all the usual stories: Noah and the ark, David and Goliath, Joseph and his coat, Jesus, Peter the fisherman, Paul the preacher, and others. There are life lessons in each of these stories. Noah teaches him to trust God and always look for His promises. David teaches him that even thought obstacles may seem insurmountable, God will always be with him. Joseph teaches him that sometimes we can’t always see God in what happens but He is always working in our lives. Jesus teaches him about God’s unconditional love for us. Peter shows him that his life should be invested in the lives of others and that mistakes, even though they will happen, can be forgiven and used to mold him into God’s image. Paul teaches him that you can be on one path, and an encounter with God can change your life.

I’m writing in a journal that I will give him someday filled with all kinds of life lessons that God has taught me and my hopes and dreams for him. All of these things play a crucial part in our desire, as grandparents, to help him grow up to love God. It’s a huge trust God has given us, but He has always used the elders to teach the younger ones. It doesn’t take a village to raise him; it takes a God-fearing family, a loving church family, and a commitment to show him the ways of God. It’s my prayer that one day, E will stand up with his own grandchildren and vow to do the same.

 

Somewhere

When my son and daughter were merely babies, my mother began praying for them. One of her specific prayers was that they would find godly mates.

When little E was born, I began doing the same thing. You see I know the value of those prayers. My daughter is married to a godly man. On her wedding day we all celebrated her godly heritage and the wonderful godly family she would be marrying into. My mother’s prayers from all those years ago were finally being answered.

Somewhere in the world there is a sweet little girl whose parents and grandparents are praying for her, just as we are for little E. This song is for my sweet little grandson and his future wife.

Marme’s house

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. My little buddy E is growing and changing every day. It’s exciting and heart warming to see him recognize my voice and come running to me when he sees me. I love talking to him on the phone and hearing him say, “Go Marme’s house”. It honestly makes me cry every time he says it.

I remember my son especially asking to go to Granny Sue’s or MomMom’s house. He enjoyed visiting with both of them. I looked forward to the day when my grandson would feel the same way.

My grandparents lived far away and I rarely had the chance to visit them. I didn’t spend summers with them or even weeks alone with them. I missed having that grandparent relationship and I was so happy when my kids were able to know the joy of having a grandparent around to love on them as only grandparents can do.

I hope that as E grows older, he will always love to go to “Marme’s house” and see Marme and PopPop, “uncle” and the “mean puppy dog”.

“E high!”

E is talking up a storm–finally. I think it’s partly because he finally decided to voice his likes and dislikes; and partly because his mommy is staying home with him. He is one happy little boy. He gets so excited about the littlest things and it reminds me of how simple life can be when you’re young. Why is that we all want to grow up?

E has started calling himself “E”–one of the few two word combinations he has learned to say is “E high!” This little guy loves to swing; and of course his Marme is more than happy to accommodate. Let me tell you, I push that swing as high as it will go without tipping him out. At first it scared me, so I toned it down. But then he said in his poor, pitiful begging voice, “E high”. How could I possibly refuse?

This little guy is going to be a risk taker. I can see it in his eyes. Let’s just hope he’s not like his uncle who scared E’s mommy to death when they were kids. Risk takers change the world though, and he has certainly changed ours.

 

No, No, No!

Before we left for Boston E learned the word every parent dreads–NO! It was basically overnight and it gave him that voice to finally express all the things he didn’t want or want to do. Who knew there were so many?

While we were in Boston for a week, we heard that word at least once every hour. Being the expressive child that he is, it wasn’t adequate to say it once. He had to repeat it over and over again every time he used it. “No, No, No!” became the go-to-words for the trip. Although it can be annoying at times, especially when you are trying to get him to do something, it’s also fascinating to see his little personality begin to strive for independence and voice his likes and dislikes. The key is to not let him get the upper hand and to know when it’s time to tell him, “Yes, yes, yes!”

The life of a toddler can be frustrating, especially before they can communicate with the adults in their life. Until that time, frustration sets in and they may know what they are saying but “we”, the adults, have no idea. As annoying as the “no” can be at times, at least he is able to let us know when he doesn’t want to do something (especially when he’s frightened).

It’s so much fun experiencing these phases with my little guy. The last few months have been some of the best times with him. There’s nothing like a “hi!” in the morning to cheer you up and make you realize that you are blessed to have had the chance to be a part of his life for so long.

Realizing what’s important

It’s been awhile since I posted anything on this blog. Needless to say, our family has been to hell and back since March and I’m glad to be on the other side of it all. Anyone reading this blog probably knows that a)I was in the hospital for 22 days with about 6 weeks of recuperating time and b)during that time my daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer. Also during that time, E’s father was working in Afghanistan.

It’s during times like these that you realize and recognize what’s important. To think I could have left this earth and E so suddenly reminds me every day that we truly do live on borrowed time. It also makes me thankful and grateful for the hundreds (and probably thousands) of prayers that were lifted up to God on my behalf and on the behalf of my family. I could never begin to thank adequately all those people who prayed for us, sent cards, flowers, made visits and phone calls. The simple truth is that there were so many people praying I probably won’t meet them until we all get to heaven. But this is my way of saying “thank you” to all of them and hoping that those that know me pass this along to those who prayed.

When push came to shove, so many people stepped up to help. For almost 6 weeks we needed help at the house to corral E who had no idea what was going on. He was the biggest trooper of them all. He warmed up to all the women in the house and we joked that he forgot what a man looked like; but I’m sure he ate up all the attention.

My son-in-laws’ company did their part by providing meals for all of us and by lending us all of their support while he was away. They did this without us asking and continued for weeks until we were both back on our feet.

My daughter’s mother-in-law was there the first week when we were both at the hospital (me as a patient and her as my rock of support). My daughter’s sister-in-law stepped up when she needed to go to the hospital for her first surgery and took care of E on the weekends. I don’t know what we would have done without these caring, loving women.

My brother was there when my daughter needed him. He was the first family member to the hospital and he stayed by her side until everyone else arrived. He asked the doctors questions that she couldn’t formulate because of the shock and he stayed until the worst passed. He came back when my daughter had the mastectomy and was my rock, just as he was hers. I don’t know what either of us would have done without him.

Then there were these two angels of mercy–my sister-in-laws. They were there to help in an instant and stayed as long as we needed them. They didn’t even flinch when asked and helped me, my daughter and E survive the recovery weeks by cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the little one. Without them, we would have been lost. I will be forever grateful that God put these women in our lives.

My best friend came up during the first few days of my hospital stay and helped my daughter and me in only the way she could. Her calming presence and the way she “nursed” me was a godsend.  She’s always there when I need her the most and I’m so glad she selflessly came when called.

Last but not least, there was my daughter’s friends, especially her “bestie”. They helped my daughter cope and recover after her surgery and gave all of us a much-needed boost when things got overwhelming. Her best friend stayed during the surgery and came back during the recovery time to help with E. These women were invaluable and I can’t begin to say how much their support meant to my daughter and me.

Then there were my friends from across the pond, in the land down under, in Canada, and scattered all across the United States who prayed and called and sent cards and letters. You really find out who your friends are when you are at your lowest and I was blessed to have so many respond and show their support and love.

I learned a few lessons over the last few months:

• Don’t take a single minute for granted
• Don’t be too proud to ask for help when you need it
• Prayer really does work and changes lives
• God is still in the business of working miracles
• Family means everything
• True friends show their true colors during difficult times

I’m looking forward to many more years with E and with my family. I’m grateful that God saw fit to give me my life back and that he saved my daughter’s through early detection.

As E would say, “Tank you”!

Being in the workshop and E’s namesake

I’m home for a few days and one of the things on my to-do list was to make a Lego table for E. After a visit to the Lego store a few weekends ago and noticing how much he enjoyed fiddling with theirs, we (or I) decided he needed one of his own. Legos are his new and only obsession these days and his collection keeps growing (yes, I can’t help myself!).

They sell tables designed for Legos, but since I had the lumber and my dad’s workshop with tools, why not attempt to build one just for E? I admit I’m not as meticulous as my son-in-law with measuring and making everything square, but I do enjoy the process and things comes out relatively functional. And with this item, functional is key.

Working in my dad’s workshop always brings back memories; and this time I recalled the time he and I built a rocking bassett hound for my son when he was a baby. Of course, my dad always used the finest of woods (oak) and sanded it to perfection. My goal was to use the materials I had on hand and tailor it to E’s Lego pallets, with a basket to hold the lose Legos.

My dad spent hours tinkering around in his workshop, making small projects, working with wood, and designed all kinds of organization compartments for his apartment. I miss seeing him out there and I know he was smiling as he looked down from heaven and watched me make something for my grandson named after him with his tools. It may not be perfect, square, or polished, but it was put together with just as much love as my dad had years ago when he built that rocking bassett hound.

The “witching” hour

I hesitate to use that term but it’s the only words I know to describe that hour in the early evening when all toddlers find just about everything in the world to be cranky about. E is no exception.

Everything he wants to do is answered with a “no”, which means everything he wants to do is harmful, dangerous or destructive. And unfortunately it falls right around dinner prep time which also means that he wants on the kitchen counter where there are all kinds of dangerous objects right at his fingertips: the toaster oven, the KitchenAid mixer, the stove, the can opener, the coffepot and an assortment of knives at any given time. Wrangling him during this time is a feat of great dexterity and perseverance.

The “witching” hour is right about the time when E’s mommy comes home from work and wants to be greeted by a happy child. Mind you, just a few minutes before she walked in he was laughing and playing with me at the park after I picked him up from daycare. But when 6 o’clock rolls along, he is done. Everything, and I mean everything, bothers him.

Interestingly enough, once the clock strikes 7pm, he gets his mojo back and has a most enjoyable time before heading off to bed. I suppose he’s not much different than the rest of us. At the end of the day we are spent. All we want to do is relax and unwind. He just doesn’t know how to communicate that to us yet. Right now he whines, moans and cries. He’s probably just as frustrated as we are.

What can I say? It’s a learning process all over again. It’s amazing to me how much I forgot in 30 years time. Or perhaps I just had selective amnesia. <grin>

Teaching a child to pray

We forget about how important prayer is in our lives until we find ourselves helpless. When that happens, I don’t care who you are, you turn to God because He put that desire in us to look to Him for help.

E’s mom and I are making it a point to pray for E’s daddy with little E at meals and at bedtime. Does he understand what we are doing? Probably not. But last night during the mealtime prayer he sat there quietly, holding our hands and when we finished he had a huge smile on his face. You can interpret that reaction in several ways but I choose to believe he understands on some level. After all, Jesus told us to have the faith of a child because it’s simple, and pure, and not corrupted by the plethora of rules and regulations that “religion” likes to add on.

Teaching a child to pray is the beginning of teaching him about God and the simple need to talk to his Creator. We (E’s mommy, daddy and his grandparents) believe that E’s spiritual growth is just as important as his physical and mental growth. Reading him books about Jesus, God and faith; teaching him simple songs about God; and exposing him to videos like Veggie Tales are ways to feed his spirit and help him grow spiritually.

There’s a beautiful sidenote to this: teaching E to pray reinforces our prayer lives as well and draws us closer to God. Children and grandchildren tend to do that. I guess because the miracle of life makes us remember that “all good and perfect gifts come from the Father.”

Shopping–is it just for girls?

This past weekend little E’s mom and I spent Saturday afternoon shopping, and E came along for the fun. I have to say, he was a trooper in IKEA when we had to go up and down and around looking for one specific thing that we couldn’t find. I heard so many kids (much older than him) having temper tantrums in that store, but E just rode in the cart, talked a blue streak and took in all the excitement. That’s not to say that he wasn’t exhausted at the end of the day, but so were we. We had a brilliant idea to go eat at Cheesecake Factory (thanks to reading a Facebook post by my friends in Boston) on a Saturday night. When E and I were waiting for his mom to check the wait, I snapped this picture. Clearly he was done.

E’s dad thinks his mom and I are going to turn him into a shoe loving, shopaholic in six months. I highly doubt we will have that much influence over him; especially since shoes are NOT his favorite items of clothing. We could, however, influence him to enjoy shopping; or at least be able to accompany us without complaining. This is something very few males are able to do and even fewer actually enjoy it. I have a feeling E might be one of the few.

E loves being around people and activity; and of course, he loves being with his mommy. My son, a macho ex-Marine, actually loves shopping too (or he used to). After working in retail for several years, he tries to stay away from any mall or shopping area during his off hours. But before that, he always enjoyed accompanying his sister and me on our outings. He never complained and actually enjoyed himself. He even went with me several years on Black Friday just for the fun of going.

Is shopping just for girls? Not in this family and not for little E. Who knows; in a few years he may be accompanying his mom and me on our usual Black Friday adventures. Until then, we’ll be working on training him to locate the sale items and NOT steer toward the designer labels like his mother (except for PUMA!).