Welcome to a place where we can share ideas about grandparenting, especially ways to pass spiritual values and family stories to the next generation.

Mary is the co-author of The Grandparent Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your Grandchild's Heart.
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Co-author of The Grandparent Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your Grandchild's Heart

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Perspective


Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought


I was looking out of a third-story office window, noticing the trees below. They were various shades of green—light and dark, bright and subdued, emerald and mint.

Although I had seen the trees when I drove into work on a windy road, it took some height to get a panoramic view. Only then did I begin to grasp a smidgen of the creative genius of God as the strokes of His brush had once again transformed a barren winter landscape into a spring scene filled with new life.

Looking out of that window reminded me of grandparenting. I can imagine you shaking your head thinking, "Mary, that's a stretch."

Well, maybe it won't seem like such a stretch when I explain why.

One of my mother's favorite sayings is "Things have a way of working out." It used to frustrate me when she'd say this, but over time I've learned that she's really right. Most things somehow do work out, despite the ups and downs of everyday living.

Mom was a grandmother when I first remember her saying over and over again, "Things work out." And now, as a grandmother myself, I'm starting to not only repeat her favorite saying, but also to believe its message in my heart. Knowing that God is ultimately working all things for His good purposes frees me from being trapped by yesterday and gives me great hope for tomorrow.

Mom is the matriarch of our family. She represents values ... and faith ... and loved ones who pull together. As she has gotten older, it's as though she is looking at life from an "upper-story window." Like Mom, we grandparents can offer our legacy a priceless gift that comes with age: perspective.

We can rest knowing that God is sovereign, even in the toughest things of life. His perspective is indeed perfect. And for those dark times when we don't understand, we can trust His heart.
 
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
          —Isaiah 46:4

How do you get through the tough situations in life? How do you help your grandchildren understand that things really do work out?

He is able,
Mary
Mary May Larmoyeux
co-author of The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your Grandchild's Heart

Article and picture © Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Mary, your grandmother sounds like a wise women, and her saying really is true. Things do work out and fortunately as God's children we know all things work for our good.

Mary May Larmoyeux said...

Hi, Sharon. I sure agree with what you said. The older I get the more I understand that everything really does eventually work together for good when we trust God and follow His ways.

Anonymous said...

Mary, how did you know? I really needed that ...”I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Thank you. Blessings, Rita