Jean Stockdale...

Happy Birthday, Baby Love

Grayson turned ONE yesterday. We set up a "water park", bought some pizza, made some dip, had lots of bubbles to blow, and the fun ensued. We rented this water slide:

Dawson and Grayson gave it a try. Baby Gray was less than impressed.

Declan checked out the baby pool.

Grayson liked it better too.

And then came the cake!

Cake is good!

Happy Birthday, Grayson. 

JJ and Poppa love you. So do mom and dad.

Daws and Kathryn, you guys are doing a great job on "training up this little guy in the way he should go." God bless you all. And Happy Birthday, Baby Grayson. You are loved!

Wordful Wednesday

Declan (19 months)

A Baby Grand

If you could see my heart, this is what it would look it. 

For more Wordful Wednesday, click here and go there. Blessings.

Wordless Wednesday

Grayson (8 months)

Need I say more?

Need to see more. Thanks to the moms at 5 Minutes for Moms you can click here and not hear a word on Wordless Wednesday. Blessings.

Works For Me Wednesday

I am a grandmother, and frankly, I make no apologies. This Works For Me. 

When the baby grands visit, time stands still. Agendas are put on the back burner. Schedules are suspended. Phone calls are not taken. Twitters are ignored. Email sits in the inbox. Facebook spins in cyberspace without my input. For that time, I (and Craig, if he is home) am in the moment-lost in a world viewed from the floor.

My boys are grown up. Raised and released into the adult world. Married and raising babies of their own. Gentle mommy reader, may I encourage you to stop more often to sit in the floor and play. Enjoy these moments. Although it does not seem like it if you have little ones, mothering has a shelf-life. It is not a "forever job." It is a holy occupation, but it will come to an end when your children leave home. That day is coming . . . and sooner than you would believe. Don't let the moments of joyful play pass you by because of a long "to-do" list. These moments are evaporating and they cannot be regathered. My philosophy when my boys were young - "I am raising boys into men. I am not raising a house." A house can wait. A boy will not! 

I am not suggesting that you are slothful or careless with your home and other responsiblities. I AM saying that keeping a "perfect" house (or any other time consuming task) is a sad tradeoff for impacting your children with your faith and values. Faith is much more easily transferred to the next generation through the day to day moments - as we live out the reality of the life of Jesus Christ in us. When we walk by the way. When we rise up. When we lay down (See Deut 6). As we go. We share Jesus. Casually. Faithfully. Prayerfully. The window of time when children are teachable is short. Don't waste it. Play often. Pray always.

This Works For Me. Consider my words carefully and see if it Works For You too. For more Works For Me, click here to go to We Are That Family. Blessings.

Grandma, What Big Eyes Your Have!

Becoming a grandmother has increased our family tree and enlarged my heart's capacity to love. With the birth of each of my boys, I a grew a "mommy's heart." Unlike my previous model, my mommy''s heart grew to encompass 2 little boys. No one could have convinced me that my love could be further multiplied. When Patti married Jason, I proved myself wrong. Fresh growth allowed my heart to gladly receive the godly young woman God has prepared for him to marry. When Dawson became engaged to Kathryn, I was prepared. I knew what was coming as I praised the Lord for this godly young woman. And my heart's capacity was once again enlarged.

Contentment settled in on my soul as I watched my precious men begin to build their own households of faith. I assumed my heart and I were fully grown. And then the grands!!! Oh my heart. It ached with the joy Declan and Grayson brought. These boys are yummy!

The role of grandparent is a gracious love gift from the Lord. But, for all of us who are privileged to share in the the membership of this fraternity, there are responsibilities that accompany it. 

As grandparents we must NEVER undermine the parents. If mom (or dad) says NO, we are compelled to support them. We do not have the right to override their decision. We had our change to raise our children the way we thought was right. We need to give our children the same opportunity. Offer advice only when it is asked for, and even then....proceed with caution.

We need to take our cues from the parents. 

We need to be supportive of the parents' rules and help enforce them (unless there is a serious safety issue. That would need to be privately addressed with our child and that is a whole other issue). 

We do get to spoil our grandchildren...with unconditional love and uninterrupted time. We are not to deliberately violate mom and dad's rules and call it "grandparent's privilege." Let's do everything we can to help our children be successful parents and raise up the next generation for the Lord.