No one told me that having grandchildren would bring me so much joy and happiness.  I suspected that I was going to love having “grands,” and I was sure that I’d be a good grandfather.  But I never thought I’d fall this hard.  I just flat out love my grands!  I’m blessed to see them almost everyday.  They all attend the daycare center of the church I pastor.

At the end of the day, I look forward to hearing the noise of their little feet as they race to come to my office.  Always bright and excited, they come for their hugs and kisses that I’m all too eager to give.  Of course, they soon start touching things on my desk.  They rearrange things on my shelves.  And they are always looking for some candy or other treats to eat.  Are they spoiled?  I answer unashamedly – Yes!  Leave all that discipline stuff to their parents.  Sure, I huff and puff every now and then, but they know they’ve got me wrapped.

Mama and I have two daughters who each gave me two grandchildren.  My oldest daughter, Leah, gave us two sons, and my “babygirl” Janelle gave us two daughters.  Khemberlyn, my oldest has me under her spell, and she put me there on the day she was born.  Nylah, my second, has a very strong will, but she is so full of love.  Her affection is like the juice of a sweet peach that bursts out when you bite into it and runs down your arm to your elbow.  Jayden, my third, whose name means the Lord has heard, is “My Man!”  He makes me feel like I’m his champion.  Whenever he sees me, no matter what he’s doing, I can count on him dropping that and come running to see me.  If I leave, he has a fit if he can’t go with me.  And then there’s Landon, my L.A.M. of God, my miracle fourth.  Now you know I’ve got videos – http://gallery.me.com/technorev#100071.  Indeed his birth is its own story, but suffice it to say here that it is our whole family’s miracle from God.

The point of this story is to say again just how much the grandchildren can bring love, joy, peace and happiness into your life.  The other day the whole family came over to help Mama and me clean the house.  We decided to do a major job of freshning up the homestead.  It was now quite late.  We all were winding down looking forward to going to bed.  Both grandsons had already left with their parents.  But my granddaughters were still with us.

They didn’t realize that it was late and that we were tired.  Frankly, they didn’t have a clue as to what late or tired meant.  They were still alive, active, energetic and wanting to help.  Well, it was help to them but to us it was getting into stuff.  Mama had enough and so changed her “stop that” into “you better sit down and be quite.”  The girls got the message and came downstairs to help me.  “Papa what can we do?”

I’ll admit I wasn’t at my best either, and so I ignored their initial offer.  Relentless, they asked again, “Papa, what can we do?”  Let me tell you that children don’t rephrase their questions.  They keep asking them exactly the same way.  I knew that sooner or later I had to respond.  But really, their help wasn’t helping.  They tried pushing the bucket with the now dirty water in it.  But, their technique was primitive.  The water splashed on the walls.  Ooh!  “Papa, what can we do?”

It dawned on me that I should give them a clever answer.  I paused, looked up at them ready to give them the answer that would stop them from asking the same question and keep them from giving the help that actually made more work for me.  “Papa, what can we do?”  I answered, “You can keep loving me.”  Instantly and without thinking, my Khemberlyn responded: “I like that job.”

Her love filled smile arrested me.  I lay back on the floor, as tears filled my eyes, and savored that moment.  It is those honest and innocent snipets of grandchildren love that makes life worth living.  There is nothing in this world I would accept in trade for the privilege of being the grandfather to my grandchildren.  “I like that job!” 

Tags: LovingGrandchildren, familyvalues, family, parenting, grandparenting, BattleForTheFamily, BishopFrazier, CliffordL.Frazier,