My Prayer For The Sixth Day Of Christmas: Six Godly GrandMen and Women

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"Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it."

Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)

Someone has said that what this oft-quoted "train up a child" text might really mean is that our teaching will never leave them. At any rate, most of us parents have one wish above all others, that we not fail to pass on to our children and grandchildren a strong faith and a good set of values.

But none of us is perfect, and even if we were, it would be no guarantee that our children would be. Every human being has the right, indeed the God-given  responsibility, to make personal choices. And even God's very first children didn't make all wise ones.

I once heard someone say that our real success as parents has less to do with what kind of children we produce as it does with what kind of grandchildren. At any rate, Alma Jean and I thank God every day for being blessed with three children and six grandchildren who are far, far better than we deserve. But we know they all face challenges and temptations greater than any of ours in previous generations.

For example, will constant access to virtual world entertainment rob them of good connections with the real world of nature and of people? Will increased wealth and an ever easier and comfortable life detract from their willingness to work and serve in self-giving ways? Will they form strong bonds with supportive communities of faith in which they will be able, if so led, to grow strong families of their own? And will they be able to live by the above six "family rules" in all their relationships?

Pray with me, on this sixth day of Christmas, that our future generations of grandmen and women will do far better than we in making this a truly God-blessed world.