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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
I have been trying to put this whole grandparent thing in perspective. Right now my wife and I are moving into our late fifties. Our grandchildren are soon to be two years old. I am struggling to remember how my parents enjoyed (or was that endured) the visits of our children. My dad was born in 1921 and my mom in 1923. So when my parents were the same ages my wife and I are now would have been someplace around 1978. Dad would have been fifty-seven and mom fifty-five. That's pretty close to what my wife and I are now.
Our children would have been five (John), two (Sean) and one (Kara). That's not too much different than what my wife and I are going through right now, especially considering that our two youngest would have still been in diapers at that time just like our own grandchildren are right now. Our children would have been flying through mom and dad's house getting into everything and leaving my parents asking, "Where's the third one at?", quite a bit. That question comes from a mixture of concern for the safety of the child missing and also the sanctity of certain household items.
Keeping up with wandering children is not a piece of cake. It requires patience and devotion and I remember my parents always had a good time with the kids and likewise the kids with my parents. My wife and I cannot believe the fun we have with the kids from tickle fests to reading books to bouncing balls to bath time. We have a blast. One thing that bothers me. Once the kids are picked up by my son and daughter-in-law I am confronted with a mixture of measured relief and sorrow. Patrick and Grace are such a joy to have around and to be around. They are also a lot of work.
We always have the opportunity to share a meal with them. Eating with grandchildren that aren't quite two is a trip but it is a lot more easily done than when they were not even six months old and everything had to be spooned in, scooped and respooned. They are getting remarkably conditioned to what they can and cannot do although there are still the temptations that get the best of them; the curiosities that just won't die. That's when I see it. The reason we have grandchildren is to remind us just how much like still maturing children we are in the sight of an almighty loving heavenly Father.
Jesus, in a very poignant observation of the condition of man, while addressing the multitudes and His disciples, said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" Matthew 23:37 Just like rambunctious children who are ready to play at grandma's house the children of Israel were ready to play religious. How about us? Are we ready to sit on our father's knee and listen to His love?
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...He was the Minister of the Minorsville Christian Church located near Stamping Ground, KY.
...Becky and Tom have three children; John, single and in worship ministry in Nicholasville, Kentucky; Sean, married (Jennifer, elementary school teacher) with twins (Grace and Patrick, b.d. 10/31/04) and regional director of Papa John's Pizza in Central KY; Kara, married (Vince Taylor, prison guard) and working with Hospice East in Winchester, KY.
...Tom went to be with the Lord on November 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer. If you have been touched by Tom's writings please send an email to Tom's son at jkelley@catalystchristian.net
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