Perhaps you have heard our new great news! Patty and I are going to be grandparents for the very first time. Our daughter Sarah and her husband Nate are expecting their daughter, and we are so excited. From the moment they told us, we have had a building anticipation.
We have been so blessed by God giving us each other, then our four children one by one blessed us in new ways. Then, three of our four have found and married their life partners, and each of them add such blessing to our lives. Now this little blessing is coming. We can’t wait.
This child was an especially prayed-for child (Sarah shared publicly in a message), and so there was an extra element of joy added as well. I guess all of this is enough to tell you there’s much joy and anticipation in the whole Mason family!
Some feel a bit different about a new child coming into our world. They ask, “Look at all the chaos and unrest. I get that you are excited – but aren’t you worried about the world she is entering?”
I certainly understand that the world is not the friendliest environment, but I am not experiencing worry. Jesus said we would have trouble in this world but to not be afraid – He has overcome the world! So, while I don’t feel worried, I do feel a sense of responsibility to help Sarah and Nate as they train their little one, helping her develop an understanding of what it means to follow Jesus and an accompanying desire to do so.
We are already praying for this little one. We pray that she will come to Jesus early and will walk in the days that God has ordained for her (Psalm139). We pray that she will delight in the purposes for which she was born. We pray that she will find friends and influences that will draw her close to Jesus and help her discover and fulfill her potential.
We pray for Nate and Sarah. They have the biggest task they will ever have in life – showing the reality and love of Jesus to this little soul who will live forever. They will be the primary shapers of her view of God and the realities of life here and forever.
And I pray for Patty and for myself. Our lives, our character, our influence, our belief and behavior, our values and example will have a profound impact on her and any other grandchildren we will be blessed to have. The health of our entire extended family relationships will impact them all. They will pick up how to love, how to do authentic, considerate, and consistent relationships, and it will never happen through lectures. It will be transmitted through our daily lives, words, and how we prove by action what and who is most important to us.
When Patty and I leave this life, we will not be given a final account of our lives until all time ceases to exist because our influence, our choices, and our decisions reverberate in our descendants. Our lives live on through those who come behind us.
So, I am asking God to help us live out only the things that we want to follow us into eternity. This new responsibility is helping me already. God, help me live for the things that will matter 100 years from now and more.