Grandmas with Heart is here to equip, empower, encourage & engage grandmas (and grandpas & parents, too) to hand down a confident faith to the children they love.
Just a quote to think about. The idea of our prayers bothering God is a lie from Satan and we need to be careful not to believe it.
As our grandchildren grow older, they will experience and learn something we also experienced and learned as we grew older . . . there are times in our lives which are difficult, challenging, sad and even frightening. Oh, yes, there will be times of joy as well; these are the times when it is easy to trust God. But, there will be difficult times and the grandchildren we love - and our sons, daughters and in-laws we love as well - will experience those times throughout their lives.
If you are a grandparent who hands down the faith as a part of a strong team made up of the most influential people in the lives of your grandchildren - parents and grandparents - then please, take heart when you read this quote from David Jeremiah. If, however, you are not part of a "team" and find you are the only one handing down the faith to your grandchildren, then, please take heart as well. What you do matters. The legacy you leave for Jesus will endure forever!
As I sit here and write this post I'm listening to the morning news. The heart-breaking reports of anti-Semitism, terrorism, severe weather, shootings and fights in schools, election ads filled with anger which further divide us, and so many more reports which may leave us feeling sad, frustrated, angry and even afraid. The world in which we, and the ones we love, are living is filled with these types of reports every day. But, we do not have to be afraid. We do not have to despair. We are able to have God's perfect peace, even in the sad and frustrating things which are happening.
Aren't you so thankful for the truth in this quote from Charles Spurgeon? Even though our lives change, and they certainly do, God always remains the same. He always continues to love us. He is always trustworthy. He is always faithful.
The first time our grandchildren are placed into our arms, we know we will love them forever. We hold them tight and with each grandchild, we are completely convinced we are holding the most adorable grandchild ever!
When you think back on your grandparents, do you have memories of times spent with them? Are there aromas and tastes you recall? Are there things which once belonged to them and now are small bits of your heritage?
Heavenly Father,
Each Saturday I'll post a, "Saturday Promise" where I share a promise from God in regards to our descendants. Last Saturday was our first "Saturday Promise" and I said; "What better way is there to wrap up a week . . . being reminded of God's promises and love for our children and grandchildren."
What impossible situations are you depending upon God for today? Do you have a family member who is not walking with God? Are you, or someone you love facing a health crisis? Do you need a job? A home? A repaired relationship with family?
Last week I wrote about how three of the Grandmas with Heart are also Charter Members of the Legacy Coalition who were there from the beginning and who helped found it. Today I'm very happy to share with you a clip of a general session from one of these grandmas, Cathy Jacobs, as she taught at the first Grandparenting Conference where the Legacy Coalition provided speakers. Listen to what Cathy had to say about why it matters for churches to have a ministry which engages and equips grandparents to hand down the faith. (You will find it at this link.)
It dawned on me this morning, we are only 67 days from the end of 2018 and the start of a new year. Truly time does pass quickly and, like it or not, we are growing older, but there are many blessings which come with growing older; and certainly one of them is the blessing of knowing and handing faith to our grandchildren. While we certainly need to be focused and purposeful about doing this, we also need to be sure we take time to watch for how God answers our prayers and how our grandchildren are learning to grow in their own walk with God.
If you are like me you have many things which fill your days - time spent growing in our walk with God, time with family, things to keep us busy at home, possibly a job, volunteering at church and the list goes on. And, since the Holiday Season is nearly upon us and there are less than two months until Christmas, we are likely to become even more busy. While we may be busy, it is essential for us to make time for those things which matter the most - such as praying, growing in our own walk with God and in handing down the faith.
Childhood certainly has its wonderful times . . . those moments when our grandchildren are able to try and learn something new. The time they caught tadpoles and were able to watch them grow, or hold a baby bunny, or catch fireflies on summer evenings at their grandparents' home. The times when they just played with abandon. And, of course, the times when they snuggle with their grandma and enjoy a book together or help her bake cookies! Wonderful, memory creating times for sure!
Okay, yesterday I wrote about the "Dilemma of Halloween" and how we need to be wise. I wrote about how it gives us the opportunity to have a conversation with our grandchildren about who Jesus is and why the focus on evil and gore at Halloween is not something of which we want to be part. But, having said this, I do believe Halloween does offer us an unique opportunity to share the love of Jesus with our neighbors and all the children who knock on our doors on October 31st.
With "Lotto Fever" very much in the news the past week, there has been lots of talk about what people would do if they won more than a billion dollars. Some people have talked about buying expensive cars, or even their own island. But the thing I want the most can not be bought; not for a billion dollars or any amount of money. More than anything I want my daughter, son, daughter-in-law and grandsons to know, love and walk with God. 
When it comes to Halloween, I have always felt a bit of a dilemma. As a child it was harmless. I dressed up as princess, a Japanese girl in a kimono, etc . . . simple costumes with no focus on gore or evil. My siblings and I trick-or-treated to the neighbors' homes on our street and always felt like we really "scored" with our buckets of candy! After all, it was really all about the candy!!!
Today I want to share something with you once again, which I originally wrote three years ago and posted to the Legacy Coalition Facebook page/blog (legacycoalition.com), and then add a few more thoughts. I wrote . . .
Fall is a time when we are able to see God's amazing creation in it's colorful glory . . . at least here in West Michigan as the trees are ablaze with color! Isn't it comforting to know the God Who created everything loves our grandchildren (and adult children, too) - even more than we do and He wants them to love Him even more than we do? 
For far too many years, we were "sold" the idea of how our retirement years should be spent on us. We believed our retirement is time for us to travel, play golf and relax. But this is not the truth. None of these things are the things which truly matter. Handing down the faith is what truly matters and we do this by spending the time we have with our grandchildren.
I have very specific things I pray about throughout each day for the people I love. These prayers are on my heart and mind nearly all the time, so I depend upon the truth in this quote by Charles Spurgeon . . . the time I spend praying is NEVER time spent in vain. NEVER!
Don't you find strength and encouragement in knowing this is true - God knows the best way for us to reach our destination! This is true for our children and grandchildren, too.
Heavenly Father,
Don't you just love how the Bible is filled with promises from God about how He loves our descendants! I find it so encouraging to read in Scripture what God has to say about my grown children and grandsons - God does not and has not forgotten them. He loves them! He promises to teach them and bring blessings to their lives!
Four of the Grandmas with Heart are also part of the Legacy Coalition - three of us, Cathy Jacobs, Sherry Schumann and Lynda Freeman - are actually Charter Members, as we were there from the start of the Legacy Coalition. The very first Grandparenting Conference where the Legacy Coalition provided speakers was in May of 2016 in Minnesota and both Cathy and Lynda taught both general and breakout sessions. For the next few weeks I'm going to share short video clips of their general sessions - today we have a clip of Lynda speaking about why it matters for our grandchildren to have a faith of their own.
As we grandmas know, prayer is one of the most powerful - if not the most powerful thing we will ever do for our grandchildren - and children, too. Oh yes, we spend time with them, plan opportunities to go places together, talk, and invest in them in other ways which matter, too, but prayer is the most powerful thing we will do, because God has promised to hear, listen to and answer our prayers!
Last week I shared a link to an article by one of our Grandmas with Heart - Linda Ransom-Jacobs where she wrote about how grandparents are able to help their grandchildren when their parents get a divorce. (You will find it at this link.) 
In my previous post, I wrote about the two kinds of grandparents - those who are blessed to be part of a team made up of parents and grandparents who are focused upon handing down the faith to the children they love and those who are the only ones who hand down the faith to their loved grandchildren.
While a grandparent is a grandparent no matter where they live, there are two kinds of grandparents. There are the grandparents who have a strong family team which is focused upon handing down the faith to the children they love, and they are part of this team. Their team is comprised of the parents and grandparents - the first and second most influential people in the lives of their grandchildren - the people who love their grandchildren the most. The team members are intentional about sharing their faith history, prayer history and how God and His Word are completely trustworthy; they are focused upon handing down the faith to the children they love and they do it together, as a strong team.
Today I'm asking for your help. If you read Grandmas with Heart and find it to be a helpful, encouraging, equipping and empowering resource for you, please help us get the word out about this site and resource. It is our heart's desire to be a place where grandmas (and grandpas/parents) will be equipped, empowered, find information, ideas and resources which will help them hand down the faith to the children they love.
As our grandchildren grow up and live their lives they will run into people who extend grace to them; and those who do not. But, as their grandmas (and grandpas/parents, too) we have the wonderful opportunity to be the person who they think of when they think of the word "grace", by the way we live, the things we do and say and by how we are lavish in the way we show grace to them.
A few weeks back I wrote about how important it is for us to engage our grandchildren when we hand down the faith, so they are able to learn the way God created them to learn. (You will find this post at the following link.) I mentioned using "Mystery Bags" with your grandchildren and today I'm very happy to share with you another idea for a "Mystery Bag" you could use to hand down the faith to your grandchildren.
Cathy Jacobs is one of our Grandmas with Heart. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Pass the Legacy Ministries, a speaker, a founding member of the Legacy Coalition and a grandma who loves her grandchildren and is committed to passing the legacy.
One of the very important things we need to do as grandmas who are purposeful about handing down the faith, is to help give our grandchildren a true view of Who God truly is. The world around them will not do this; and sadly, even our churches may do not do an effective job when it comes to helping our grandchildren see the truth about God, if they leave them thinking God is boring, because their classes tend to be boring. 
Handing down the faith is all about remembering how God was faithful yesterday, seeing how He is faithful today and sharing how we are confident He will be faithful tomorrow!
I love this quote from D.L. Moody! Even better, I love reading God's promises in the Bible and being able to point to times in my life where He has kept His promises! 
This is a photo of my great-great grandparents and my great-grandma when she was a girl. Old family photos such as these typically are family "treasures", heirlooms which are handed down from one generation to the next. They are considered as "valuable" to the family and help give us a "connection" to those generations who came before us.
Heavenly Father,
As I write this post and look out my window I see the trees awash with color! Bright yellows, reds and oranges as Fall takes hold here in West Michigan. It will not be long before my yard looks like the yard in this photo - covered in leaves, as we have seven large maple trees in our yard - one is the most enormous maple tree I've ever seen, a very big sycamore tree, several birch trees and numerous pine trees - yes, we have trees and most leave millions of leaves in our yard . . . keeping my husband busy clearing the leaves before the snow falls each year!
Linda Ransom Jacobs is known around the world for the amazing work she does with Divorce Care 4 Kids. She has made a significant and lasting difference in the lives of countless children and parents with the ministry of DC4K and we are so honored to have her as one of our Grandmas with Heart!
I love this excerpt of a prayer from Clement of Rome. You may be wondering, "Who was Clement of Rome?" Great question. I wondered the same thing a few years ago when my church asked me to write a short story about Clement of Rome for a series on heroes of the faith for the children in our church. Please allow me to share with you what I learned and a few things for us to think about when it comes to handing down the faith to our grandchildren.
Whether you are grandparents who are able to team up with your grandchildren's parents to hand down the faith as a unified team, or you are the only ones who hand down the faith to your grandchildren, the important thing is for you to fully and enthusiastically take on the role given to you by God to hand down the faith. There is nothing more important for us to do with the time we have left; nothing which will leave a bigger impact on the lives of those we love the most.
I LOVE this quote! There are things I pray every day for my family and friends and I depend upon God to do as He has promised. I hold tightly to the truth, "It is God's nature to keep His promises."
We write a lot about praying for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. There is a reason for this; because God hears, listens to and answers our prayers, making prayer the most powerful thing we are able to do for ourselves and those we love.
On this day when we may be facing storms, I thought I'd share another wonderful, encouraging, powerful, true verse from the Bible and make it into a simple Scripture prayer which you may use as you face the storms which come your way - and into the lives of those you know and love. As the physical storm rages around you and/or those you love and/or the storms of life batter you physically and emotionally, please hold to the truth of God's Word.
As we all know, there are times in our lives, and in the lives of those we know and love, when we face storms. Sometimes the storms are actual storms, such as hurricane Michael and sometimes the storms are difficult and frightening times we face in our lives; such as when we, or someone we know and love has to deal with cancer, dementia, some other illness, death, job loss, children/grandchildren who wander from the faith, being hurt by people you trusted, divorce or any other storm we face.
Don't you just love this quote! It is so true! God has blessed me with His grace; His amazing, great grace. My life is filled with His joy and peace, because of His gift of grace.
I know there are solid reasons to be someone who no longer uses Facebook, but I find it is a tool which allows me to stay in touch with family and friends - especially those who live far from me. It is also a tool which allows me to share my faith with those I love. This morning I posted something on my facebook page for my family. I wrote;
As grandmas (and grandpas and parents, too) who are purposeful when it comes to handing down the faith, this truth is one which motivates and moves us. Our grandchildren are able to understand the truth about God, His love, grace, faithfulness and Word.
One of the best things you will ever do for your grandchildren is to help them learn God's Word. How do we do this? consider the following ideas . . . Welcome to "Grandmas with Heart"! We (Linda Ranson Jacobs, Debbie Guinn, Joani Schultz, Sherry Schumann, Nohemi Murray, Cathy Ja...
