Impress Your Kids » Blog Archive » Extend Your Family {Day 31: Day 16}

October 16, 2011 | Filed in: 31 Days | by Amanda

Both sets of my grandparents are divorced and remarried (some of them several times!). I never had that big-family, loving-grandparent thing in my life. My children, on the other hand are beyond blessed with two sets of grandparents who both love Jesus and are still married to each other! I totally consider this a miracle!

My parents and my in-laws are devoted to their grand-children, spoiling them mercilessly with gifts and candy. But also with love and direction to the Lord. What a blessing they have been to us and to our children! When I really think about the fact that my kids have two sets of God-honoring, loving grandparents, I am just overwhelmed with thankfulness!

grandparents

My niece, Lydia and Asa at Camp Primo last month

A few weeks ago, my parents took my children and my niece to Camp Primo. That’s their yearly cousin-grandparent camp. They have Camp T-shirts, a parent program at the end of the weekend and even a camp theme song! It’s the real deal. And every minute the kids spend with their grandparents, they are being loved on and pointed to the Lord. It’s such a strong tether my parents are tying between themselves and my children!

grandparents

The kids in a wheelbarrow at the pumpkin farm today!

Today we spent the day with the other set of grandparents. We went to a pumpkin farm and to an apple orchard! We ate good food, went on a hayride and just enjoyed each other’s company. The kids love being with their grandparents–snuggling with them, laughing and talking. I love that they have a huge group of godly role models in their lives!

If you don’t have grandparents or family members around you to encourage you in parenting, or your kids in loving God, seek out some older adults in your church. Find some people who would be willing to eat dinner at your house every once in awhile, or come to your kid’s ballet recital or just go to lunch after church on Sunday. It will be a blessing for everyone involved!

Sometimes it’s hard to give up control of your kids to grandparents, family members or other people in your life. But when you find God-fearing people who love your kids as much as you do, let them pour into your children! Let your kids learn from them and receive their love, too. It will only enhance the picture of God’s love in your kids’ hearts and minds!

After our pumpkin farm adventure tonight, Asa and I read a new book for bedtime called, A Pumpkin Prayer. It’s a short little board book with little mice going through fall activities and praying a thankful prayer to God. Asa loves reading this book because the mice in it are so cute and seem to be having a fun adventure on every page! Plus, the front is kinda fuzzy, so he loves to rub it! It’s a sweet little book that’s perfect for this time of year.

I’m giving ONE Pumpkin Prayer book away today to one of you! Maybe you could win it (or pick one up for yourself) and pass it on to the grandparents in your life. It might be a fun book for them to share with your kids!

If you’d like to win A Pumpkin Prayer, just leave me a comment about the grandparents in your life! I’ll pick a winner on Friday!

disclosure: Tommy Nelson provided this book for review and giveaway.

We love the grandparents in our lives. I have two wonderful sets ofgrandparents. My parents ands my in laws make awesome grandparents. They go out of their way to play with my son or to do for him. We are so blessed!

My kids have the best grandparents… My wonderful inlaws. We just had our 2nd baby and to give me a break they take my son once per week and go to Musikgarten and other fun activities (chuck e cheese, pumpkin patch , etc) and bring him back for nap. We also have family dinner once per week at their house. Then we put the kids to bed and the adults watch Surviver. They also serve in the children’s areas at our church so they can see the grandkids then too!

Amanda, my 10 yr old just got back from Alaska on a BIG adventure with my parents! it was hard for me to let him go (I don’t even send him to school) but, it was an adventure of a life time with two of the most important people in his life!! we are so blessed that he was able to have the experience.

The grandparents camp sounds FABULOUS! I may suggest it to my parents sometime- they have 6 grandsons!!!!!:) (that ought to make it interesting)
kelli-AdventurezInChildRearing´s last [type] ..HS Mother’s Journal- The Pledge – and the 52 Photos Project

I don’t want to be put into the drawing since my grandparent story is that my grandmother sent us the book for my daughter We have two great sets of grandparents and the great-grandparents love spending time with my daughter as well. Growing up, my sister and I took yearly trips with my grandparents and I know our parents will do the same for our children.
Dani´s last [type] ..3rd Quarter 11 – Top 5 Photos

I only have one living grandparent andshe is great! She loves amazingly, independent but dependent on the lord and calls my daughter the “sunshine of her day”. She is a great example of a wise older woman!
lauren´s last [type] ..Occupation

I am REALLY blessed to be able to say the same: my parents and Mr. V’s parents are all still married, after 30+ years. They are all godly mentors who love their grandkids so much! And only one set of great-grandparents were ever divorced, which is pretty amazing. On top of that, we have the wonderful couple in their 70s who have been our neighbors for the last two years. They have truly shown me what it means to love your neighbor in the most literal sense!
Vanderbilt Wife´s last [type] ..31 Days of Reading Well: Day 16

My grandmother took all us kids to the beach every summer for several years- it was so much fun!
I’m so glad that my kids have great grandparents and great grandparents to love on them and help guide and shape their lives.
Ashley´s last [type] ..Matt’s Birthday

My two children have been blessed to have a set of God fearing grandparents that help out tremendously by watching them while my husband and I go to work. They’ve recently moved in with us for various reasons and I love to see the bonds that my children already have with them. The help that they give us by watching them but also guiding them spiritually – I can’t thank them enough.

I had wonderful Godly grandparents, but my sisters and I were the youngest of a long line of grandchildren, so my grandparents were too old to be really active in my life. My children have been blessed with precious grandparents as well, with the bonus of having them so hands on, despite living two states away! However, a year ago my mom was diagnosed with cancer…so advanced we weren’t sure she’d make it through her first treatment. It was hard to see my “young” mom age so quickly and lose the ability to hold my children and play with them. I was afraid my youngest wouldn’t know all the wonderful-ness my mom has to offer that my oldest knows full well! The Lord has been so faithful this year! My mom has been through a lot, but is now able to do things we never thought would be possible again…like her favorite thing – have her grandchildren sit in her lap while she reads to them! During this thankful time of year, my siblings and I are overwhelmed with the blessing of having our mom back!

I feel very fortunate that my son has wonderful, godly grandparents. I was not so blessed with this, so it is a blessing to see how it impacts his life!

My girls are blessed with wonderful grandparents. My parents were just visiting this weekend and we had so much fun with them. They are great examples of sharing God’s love, they have taught preschool Sunday School classes for as long as I can remember.

I don’t know where I would be without my christian grandmother! So thankful that my mom is now a christian is there for my kids!

I would like to comment on a grandparent of mine….I am a 65 year old grandmother myself…but when I read your blog..I immediately thought of MY grandad…Ding…he always had time for us grandkids…he showed his love of us and the Lord everyday by example…that is who I attempt to live live like now. K.

My mom’s dad was the only grandparent I knew and he has been gone 10 years. My children only have my parents for grandparents. They get to see them once a month or so, but they aren’t able to really do the things grandparents can do with them like take them places. They will come to our home, watch their sporting events, or we will go to their home to hang out. But, we appreciate each and every moment with them as we know it won’t last forever.
Stacie Gorkow´s last [type] ..Scenes From Our Week – Week 2

Granny & Papa were just here for the weekend. it warms my heart to watch them spend time with my kids. probably bc i didn’t get to spend a lot of time w my Grandparents when i was younger. i love the bond between them, and cherish the memories they’re making!
Eryn {mamahall}´s last [type] ..it gets me every time…

It’s funny that this sweet post was in my in-box today as my son and I just got back from a magical day with his grandparents. Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop are like celebrities to our little buddy. He often calls them on his ‘phone’ just to tell them that he spilled his juice or had a messy diaper. Mom-Mom was the one who introduced our son to M&M’s – let’s just say things have never been the same since! And then there’s Grammie and Pop-Pop B., my in-laws. They are precious examples of Jesus to our family. They watch our son most Friday nights so that my hubby and I can have a date. I love knowing that he is in their watchful, godly care – learning what true servants of Him look like (and getting to eat 3,576 graham crackers!). I am so grateful that each are just 10 minutes from our home – and our son gets to experience their precious love and relationship!

All we have left (between my husband and I) are grandmas, and one just found out she had cancer. I hope to be able to preserve some really good memories of hers before she’s gone. You never can do enough of that.
Lindsey Whitney´s last [type] ..Breaking News in Israel!

My grandparents on both sides are in another country, but I’ve been blessed to be living with my husband’s grandmother. My children are so lucky to have both grandparents and a great-grandmother to interact with and learn from on a daily basis. It’s something I missed growing up.

my kids have amazing gradnparents. My parents live about 20 minutes away and are very involved in all aspects of my boys lives…including their spiritual development. My in-laws are about 600 miles away but are also a great example and very much of my kids live. We are so blessed.

I’m lucky because my parents live nearby and my mom watches my kids two days a week when I work…so I lucked out and my kids get to spend lots of quality time with my parents.
Krissa´s last [type] ..32 Before 32

We are blessed with two sets of amazing grandparents. I thank God for them often!

We feel so blessed to have wonderful grandparents that love us and our children amazingly and graciously.

We are so blessed to have two sets of grandparents who love the Lord. Both sets live far away, but we work to keep in touch in between visits with skype video calls and phone chats. I’m so grateful for their influence in our kids’ lives!

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