Thoughts on grandparenthood...

Some of you, Gentle Readers, may be thinking that this has become a blog all about our Emma.  Not so, really- it is still a blog about my life and family.  But one very significant part of that currently is the new world of being a grandparent.  I have been wondering what makes this new aspect of my world so sweet and fascinating.  It is not that Emma is beautiful and cuddly-- though she is both.  It is not even really just about Emma. I find it difficult to put this into words, but as you know, Gentle Reader, that never stops me from trying!

Being a grandparent is really about delighting anew in God's faithfulness.  All the good things that come with babies-- seeing the world in fresh ways as they do, receiving and giving love, caring for the helpless-- are somehow magnified when the baby belongs to your baby.  Maybe I was too sleep-deprived with my own children to realize in the same way God's inter-generational faithfulness.  Yes, I rejoiced in God's blessing of my children, and delighted in them.  But now we are reaching out another generation. God is graciously continuing a line and fulfilling a promise to bless me and my children and my children's children.  I was moved when my children were baptized, and it was even more so to stand with my son as he baptized his daughter.  There it was: the fulfillment of a promise that God would be my faithful God.  I can't help but think of that every time I look in Emma's little face.

I still didn't say it well.  But those of you who are grandparents know what I mean.  It is a big, expansive kind of blessing.