Psalm 78 says this: ⁵ He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, ⁶ so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

One of the great tragedies right now in our culture is the isolation of two generations. Research reveals that teenagers are developmentally at an age where they are literally wired for risk taking and yet brain development leaves them vulnerable based on their ability to link actions to consequences. This doesn’t give them an excuse for bad behavior but it certainly punctuates the need for strong parenting during this season of their life. But adolescents can often look messy, especially as seen through the eyes of older adults. Our solution in many instances is to isolate them – get them a youth building at church (with padded walls J). On the other end of the spectrum our most mature folks are being put (in some cases by their choosing and sometimes out of necessity) in retirement communities so the “experts” can care for them. In a sense we have bookends of isolation. One end that desperately needs guidance and wisdom but doesn’t even realize it. The other end filled with wisdom and experience but not always called upon or in some cases willing.

Our culture is isolating, our churches are isolating, and our families are isolating. Our kids miss out on stories about “the good old days”. I’m not naïve enough to think this is always easy. This is going to sound judgmental – it’s not meant to be. But what a tragedy for our grandparents to spend all their time in retirement homes with time to burn; meanwhile their grandkids, whose parents are scrambling to find time in a busy schedule, kill time playing X-Box and updating their status on Facebook. I know some seniors are spending a well earned retirement in warmer climates, but is there a correlation between how much we value our grandparents and how much time they spend in Arizona or Florida? If you want a reason to teach your kids to respect age and their elders here it is – so someday when grandparents are no longer high energy and they can’t keep up on the computer and they forget simple things during a conversation your kids will still honor and revere them. Even if they have issues, which many do, they still represent a part of your child’s history. But don’t let that cause us to miss out on grandparents that have time, can provide a rich backdrop for your child’s heritage, and hold a wealth of wisdom to pass on to the next generation.

Grandma Miller teaching knitting with my kids. (And yes she's taught ALL my kids to knit)

My mother-in-law (I will blog more about her later) is the last grandparent alive for my kids. How I wish the others were still around to see my kids play football and basketball – I wish they could be there for my son’s rite of passage or at church to hear me preach. But they’re gone, so I’m certainly not going to waste opportunities for my kids to be with their grandmother! I realize for some of you, grandparents aren’t an option or at least a good option. That’s when the church needs to step in as a “father to the fatherless”. It’s an opportunity for the seniors (in our church we call them the prime timers) to live out Psalm 78 and invest in the “next generation”. Of course the next generation must honor and respect their elders; which brings me back to how we train up our children. We must work hard as parents and as the church to bring the two bookends together so those with wisdom and time can invest into those who have the strength but so desperately need the experience. It’s not always easy, but it’s so worth the effort.