When I’m here, I miss the ones who are there. And when I’m there, I miss the ones who are here.
Having grandchildren on opposite sides of the country just stinks.
Yes, here it comes—another obnoxious grandparent column. I can’t help myself—I have learned so very much about the heart of God through these grandtykes He’s given me.And it’s all exploding inside me right now because I recently got to spend some time with my California son, his wife and their two little ones (cue trumpet fanfare): Levi, born just a month ago, and adorable, feisty, 18-month-old Lucy.
Joe and I feel very blessed to have two grandchildren here in Greenwood to snuggle and spoil on a regular basis. What a joy it is to be part of their lives. I love the way Edda and Walty come bounding through our front door like they own the joint (because they know they do). They know where the snacks, the toys, and Gram and Pappy’s soft spots are.
But sadly, I only get to see our West Coast grandcuties a couple of times a year.
Thanks to technology, I can video chat with our son and his family, and I get to see lots of cute pictures, but the truth is, Lucy and Levi don’t know me. At their ages, out of sight is out of mind, and it’s hard to stay in sight when I’m thousands of miles and three time zones away.
It’s kind of weird to think about these little ones being so intensely loved by someone they really don’t know. Our lives are joined together by an unbreakable cord, but they don’t know that. The truth is, I want to be so much more to them than a face on a screen or in a photo. I want to be a consistent, living picture, however inadequate, of the unconditional, generous, over-the-moon love of God.
Grandparents get to extravagantly express love in ways that parents can’t. Let’s face it, if parents acted like grandparents, kids would all turn out to be egocentric, narcissistic sociopaths. In fact, parents usually have the unenviable task of bringing kids back to reality after a visit to the grandparental “Land of Yes.”
I sure do love pouring out grandparent love on these little ones. And I sure do long to pour it out up close and more often upon my two California grandchildren.
And it sure does remind me that I have a God with the heart of a perfect parent and grandparent whose love for each one of us is infinitely stronger and deeper than we can imagine.
As I was recently reading the New Testament book of Titus, some verses in chapter three blew me away when I paused to really think about them. Here’s some of what I read: “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us …”
When I parked right there and thought about God’s kindness and incomprehensible love for mankind, and how much He wants to rescue us, I gained a deeper awareness of how His heart must ache for everyone who chooses to live far away from Him.
God wants to lavish so much love upon us, but so many never draw near Him to receive it.
If you’ll pardon such an inadequate earthly word picture for so profound a heavenly mystery, I believe God longs for us to come joyfully bounding through His door and into His arms.
Knowing how much I miss my loved ones who, at least for now, live so far away, I think I better understand God’s heart.
We all want the ones we love to be near.
Even, and maybe especially, God.