Generational Family

When I was growing up, my grandmother lived with my aunt and uncle and their 3 children. My aunt and uncle spent a great many weekends at their cottage on Lake Huron. Often, they either invited me to go up with them, or my grandmother came to our house and stayed with us. I loved being part of generational family life.



When our youngest child was starting school my husband and I built our home on part of my fathers 70 acre farm. Right next door to us was my sister and her husband and their three daughters. Our children loved playing together and took pride in being part of a generational family. There was always a tree to climb together, a creek to wade in, and between ballgames and Barbies, there were a few feuds. But more importantly a bond was made. When the weekend came the brood would ride their bikes to grandma and grampa's to play in the barn, or to help grampa do chores. No visit was complete without sitting down to eat in the big farm kitchen and playing a game of cards with grandma.

In the blink of an eye our children grew up. Now there were grandbabies running out in the yard between our two houses. A new bond was building.

Now that I've moved, the extended family hardly gets together anymore. It's sad to lose that connection.
I want our family heritage to continue and I think it is important for generations to learn from each other.

I know how important my grandmother was to me. Even with having wonderful parents, she added so much to my life, and that is something I hope to keep doing so my grandsons get a true sense of generational family.



Having said that, I must confess that as much as I loved watching my 3 grandsons play football this fall, I am excited because the season is over and that means I can stay in my pj's until 6 p.m. tonight if I choose. No time crunch, no coordinating schedules, no logging on to mapquest for directions to the game.

I have some me time this weekend.

But with football practice over that means the boys won't be coming to my house after school anymore. And while that means my grocery bill will drop 75%, it also means the house will get pretty quiet once again.

I need my family around. I need the feeling of being connected to generations of love.
There's nothing I like better than to sit down to dinner with my three, rambunctious, grand boys. I love hearing them take turns praying before the meals. I love listening to their school stories, and it's interesting to see the way they are better able to resolve conflict as they mature.

I like the generational family we have become, they need me, and boy do I need them.

In the bible God tells his children how important he thinks it is to pass on what they have learned. Not only is it important to pass on stories of the generations that came before us so we have a sense of who we are and where we came from, but it is important for our families to learn about God and tesify of the small miracles that he shows us each day.

Be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Deuteronomy 4:9

I want to pass on our heritage, and pass on the faith that I learned from my grandmother and my mother and father, and I want to make sure that my grandsons know their heritage and our faith so well, and love it so deeply that their hearts desire will be to pass it on to their own generational families. For who knows but that I have come into the kingdom for such a time as this