Initiate Time Together

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39, NLT)

John and I have a very simple vision for our family. It comes from the above verse. We want our kids and grandkids to love the Lord with all their hearts and to care for each other. Of course, there is much more we desire for them, but this is the first step.

When our grandkids started to arrive, we began to pray this verse over them as we had over their parents.

But then as more grands arrived, we asked ourselves, “how can they love one another when they don’t even know each other?” (Only one set of our grands lives in our town.)

We decided we needed to initiate a time for our grandkids to be together, a “Cousin Camp.”

At our first camp we had five cousins from three different families–ages ten, eight, five, five and four. Camp ran for three nights and four days, and parents were not allowed. Seeing the results of this first camp, we knew we had to do it again. Something special had begun. For eleven years we hosted Cousin Camp and the last three years we had twenty-one grands attend. We’ve made lots of mistakes, planned carefully and threw out plans, laughed uproariously, separated quarreling kids, cheered when kindness overcame selfishness, and fallen into bed exhausted, but above all we’ve had a blast. It has truly been one of the highlights of our life together.

Today our grands are teens to young adults, and we are amazed at the relationships God has built amongst these cousins.

How do we initiate time together?

Take a small first step.

You may have one or two grandkids. They may not have cousins. Start with what you have. Have one child come visit you by himself. Simply spending time with your grandchildren without their parents is special, a time of focusing just on them.

Utilize the “clue in principle.”

You may not know what a certain child likes or dislikes. Ask the parent to “clue you in.” What does this child like? Legos, crafts, ball games, coloring, cooking, reading? Does this child have any fears that I need to be aware of? Being “clued in” will help you know what plans will work and what will not work. If you play with your grands when they are little, they’ll be more likely to talk to you when they are teens.

Share your life and your faith.

At one of our camps, John invited the older boy cousins into his study. He shared with them that when he was in high school, he began to read the Bible, take notes in a journal, write his own prayers and Scripture references. Pulling old journals off his shelf, he showed the boys some old entries and mentioned that he was still doing this 50 years later. A few years later, one of the boys recalled this time and asked “Poppy” a question about his personal quiet times. We don’t know what our grandkids will latch on to!

A Promise and a Prayer

“One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty.” (Psalm 145:4-5, NIV)

Father, show us the best way to be with our grandkids in the coming months. Show us how to share with them in ways they will hear about your love for them and please give each child a hunger and a love for your word. Today, help us to take the initiative to put something on our calendar.