We all know the best present of all is Jesus! But this Christmas we received the second best present we could ever receive; news our oldest daughter Alyse and her husband Jason were going to have a baby! To say we are excited about becoming grandparents is a little like saying technology has changed some since I was a kid. Let me describe the scene on Christmas morning. We had just opened presents as a family; all were present except Tavita (more on that in a future blog), though he was Skyped in (that technology thing). Sina had just finished opening the last present when Jason stood up and said he had one more gift for Alyse.  At this Alyse appeared to cop a little attitude with her husband, claiming they had an agreement about not buying each other gifts this year. Kelli considered scolding her first born but decided to wait it out (good thing!). At this Jason handed his wife a small package and said he also prepared a song for her. He plugged in the boom box (do you still call it that?) ready with the music cued up. The song will forever be special to our family; it was Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars. We all recognized the song and it was cute to hear him tell my daughter she’s amazing just the way she was! She opened her present, a sweet little necklace with a key pendant. It all seemed very nice.

When he got to the second verse however things changed. Kelli and I didn’t know the song well enough to realize the words were different. The kids however picked up immediately that Jason was taking liberty with the lyrics. He sang:

Our prayers, Our prayers, were heard by God so loud and clear
it's here, it's here, such an exciting year
and it's so wonderful, what I'm about to say
we know, we know, we know what you really want
it's hard for us to keep this from you, so we'll be up front
so if you ask us....
You know we'll saaaay

We just can't wait
because we know you're on the way
we're having a baby
yes, we really are

and when we smile
it's because we're having a child
we're having a baby
yes, we really are

Simultaneously Alyse handed us a framed picture of our first grandbaby (as the kids say – we had been “played”). Thankfully what happened next was caught on video tape for all time. Kelli began screaming, Sina started crying (men don’t cry so of course I didn’t J… no really I didn’t… ok maybe a little) and it was chaos. For those of you that have already experienced the thrill of the first grandbaby you understand what I am writing. I mentioned that Kelli began screaming – I’m not sure she ever stopped; eventually she just lost her voice!

Since then we’ve had time to reflect on that day and of course enjoy the journey Alyse is on. She is due June 21^st – Kelli and I have pregnancy apps on our phones tracking every step of the way. We’ve also been revisiting the vital role grandparents can play in children’s lives. We are thrilled to be entrusted with the opportunity to fill that role. For those of you reading this whose kids still have their grandparents alive – may I encourage you to not miss the opportunity. Often grandparents have the one commodity that today’s parents are sorely lacking – TIME! There are many reasons to be diligent in the parenting and disciplining of our children; perhaps none are bigger than for the sake of the relationship with the grandparents. You see, if we parent our kids well, then the grandparents can give them time – and what a gift. Too often we find grandparents picking up the slack for parents unwilling (or in some cases unable) to do the hard work of Deuteronomy 6:7. Let’s diligently train our kids (Alyse are you reading this !) so our parents can bless our kids and us.

The first picture of our grand baby! I think he looks like Alyse's side of the family.

Good or bad, Kelli and I had our shot with Alyse. It’s now Jason and her turn to parent their coming child. We get the God given privilege of supporting, encouraging, cheering, and maybe at times offering life experience and wisdom to our kids. And as Jason and Alyse train up their child in the way he should go, hopefully they’ll bless us with the opportunity to bless our grandchild with the one thing we have to offer – time.