Grandparenthood: Sweetness and Purpose in the Golden Years

To see my parents become grandparents and navigate grandparenthood has been one of the sweetest life transformations I have ever witnessed. Actually, it has been the sweet and unexpectedly wonderful side of seeing them grow old.

As gray hairs and wrinkles continue to appear, wisdom takes over their words and actions, a wisdom that only years of experience can bring into the human heart and mind. With loss in muscle mass and somewhat physical strength, sweetness and grace overflow, and love becomes even greater than before.

Imagine your kids having their own kids. It must be surreal. My mom describes becoming a grandmother as an inexplicable expansion of the heart. A renewed capacity to love. An extension of your own child. A new piece of your heart walking outside of you.

As years pass by, their knees might suffer, but their prayers and blessings increase. The kind of prayers that are answered in everyday life in ways we, the parents, and our children, will never get to really comprehend. Prayers and blessings of protection and provision that keep us going and take us through the hard days.

Grandparents Are Still Our Parents

Before diving into the incredible influencers grandparents become to their grandchildren, I want to highlight how powerful and important their presence is in our parenting years. Besides their wisdom to give advice, our own attitudes and behaviors (us becoming our moms or parents when we least expect it–for good or not, but it happens to all of us!) and their presence to care for our babies, I can’t begin to explain the power of their hugs, and even more, the impact and comfort of their tears.

I will never forget one of the most difficult seasons I experienced with my firstborn baby. I was diagnosed with post-partum depression. Life became hard. One evening, my mom was with me and the baby, and I started crying. She didn’t try to stop me or tell me how I had so many reasons to be grateful. She didn’t talk about how blessed I was. She just listened… and cried. She started crying with me. I don’t remember a better hug from her than that sincere, heartfelt hug she gave me that evening. And we cried together.

She was the baby’s grandma, but she never stopped being my mom. When I didn’t know what to do, what to say, or how to handle my overwhelming sadness, she just broke into tears. She was sad to see me going through such a hard season. This is motherhood at its pinnacle. The calling of parenting a child, even in their adult years, in parallel with grandparenting.

They Influence Our Kids

As my parents and my in-laws grow old and my children grow up, I see the increasing influence the four of them have over each one of my children. How their words are remembered in our home, their jokes, their stories, their hugs. The four of them live far away, but their presence in our family is constant and crucial.

An Oxford study found that grandparents play an important part in the emotional and behavioral development of children. Research shows that as many as 9 out of 10 adult grandchildren feel their grandparents influenced their values and behaviors.

My life was profoundly influenced by my four abuelos. My maternal grandpa influenced my career choice. My grandma lived a life of resilience and hope in God’s promises, and she became an example for me. My paternal grandma taught me, with actions not with words, what serving her family every single day looked like. To date, I vividly remember her morning routines (I spent tons of weekends in her house), the smell of fresh-brewed coffee (which today I brew exactly the same as her, with a strainer) and arepas for breakfast. My paternal grandfather taught me a love for reading and chocolate. The four of them marked my life. And although I only have my paternal abuelita on earth, I have deep loving memories with each one of them, and I’m so grateful for the time God gave me to enjoy them in my childhood and teenage years.

Grandparents Can Live With and on Purpose

Grandparents and grandparenthood are a very special part of God’s plan and family design. They have a calling that goes beyond what we see in this earthly life. A purpose that once discovered and understood brings peace and joy in the midst of their golden years.

Deuteronomy 4:9 says: “Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”

Grandparents Have a Calling, and Such Calling Gives Them a Purpose

Such purpose is rooted in the powerful influence they have on their grandchildren that can produce soul-saving fruit in them and play a huge part in their growth, development, and fulfillment of God’s plans in their lives. How amazing is this?

Proof of this is what Paul says to Timothy, his ministry disciple and partner, in 2 Timothy
1:5: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

Honoring Grandparents

I’m glad there’s a day to celebrate and honor grandparents and grandparenthood, but they should be celebrated year-round.

If your kids’ grandparents live abroad, plan regular FaceTime calls. Put them on calendars, set alarms and reminders. Life goes by too fast, and we want grandparents to be a part
of our children’s lives.

If a grandparent is no longer with us, honor them by sharing his/her stories with your
children. Anecdotes of when you were their child. Adventures, struggles, the good and
the not so good. Have your children get to know them through you.

Dear grandparents, Thank you for EVERYTHING you do. Being here for us and for your grandchildren goes beyond what your eyes can see today. I pray that you find purpose in your golden years by being a part of your grandkids’ lives. Your influence on them will become your legacy, so keep passing down your faith and the wonders God has done for you and your family. It will stay alive through generations. We love you!