Day 3 | A Grandfather’s Love

Command:

Read:

We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 (ESV)

Reflect:

My dad lost his father to alcoholism and his mother to pneumonia. Yet he went on to create a stable, loving home, to enjoy 62 years of marriage and to raise 5 happy children on an elementary school teacher’s salary. Quite an accomplishment for someone who had experienced so much loss. 

Though never wealthy, my family was rich in love and in family experiences that cost little, but created strong bonds and indelible memories. We backpacked through the mountains of Oregon and took long summer road trips that involved setting up our canvas tent at the end of every day, gathering wood to cook dinner over a campfire, and playing games by the hiss and sparkle of a propane lantern.

Several years ago I took a trip to Minnesota to walk in my parents footsteps and reconnect with my extended family. On this trip it became more clear to me how my dad was able to move beyond his grief and into his future with strength and confidence.

My dad was separated from his father through an early divorce, so when his mother passed away he was taken in by his maternal grandparents. Amazingly, the “grandfather” who took him in was not even blood related. He had married my great-grandmother later in life and had no children of his own. He worked as a carpenter and for the railroad. My dad moved in with them when he was just 12 years old and recounts a simple and idyllic life on a Minnesota lake that included long hot summers and freezing cold winters. When my dad was a teenager his aunt and cousins also moved in after the death of their father. Once again my great grandparents opened their hearts and home to family members in need of love and provision.

My memories of my great grandfather are of a kind and loving man who spoke with a strong Swedish accent, smoked a fragrant wooden pipe, built beautiful things with his hands, and spoke of his strong faith in the goodness of God. No wonder my dad was able to move through the trauma of his childhood to build a beautiful family of his own. He saw the love of his Heavenly Father through the kindness of his grandfather.

React:

Reach out and say thank you to your father, your grandfather—or someone who has been like a father in your life. 

Pray:

Father God, thank you for loving me with perfect faithfulness every day of my life. My journey hasn’t been easy or perfect, but your love upholds me.