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Reading to our grandkids is multitasking with extra blessings, isn't it? 🙂 It's of the many excellent ways of teaching a child to read. It's a terrific way of teaching them about God and the wonderful world He has made, through Bible stories, history and science books, and even fact-filled fiction. It's excellent brain exercise for them not to mention us! Talk about healthy mental exercise for seniors as well as the young'ns! It's easy to squish in between the various Sandwich Generation duties we are often involved in and it's even something we can occasionally do with our long distance grandkids. Best of all, it's wonderfully wrapped up with lots of love, not to mention plenty of hugs, cuddles, and kisses! No wonder it's one of my favorite activities with my grandchildren!
My grandkids and I often combine our Bible memory verses practice with our nap and bedtime story time. So when I can find a book that goes hand in hand with our Scripture practice, it's definitely a hit with me. Such was the case last week when I opened the box from Amazon containing one of the Randy Alcorn books I had ordered, Wait Until Then. I started reading the book right out of the box and didn't put it down until I had finished it. It is such a sweet book!
Basically, it tells the story of Nathan and his relationship with his beloved Gramps. Both share a tremendous love for baseball. Neither can play it the way they want to. The grandson, because he is in a wheelchair due to Spina Bifida. The grandfather, due to his failing health from cancer. But they love to talk about baseball AND they love to talk about what life will be like when they are in heaven. There are plenty of fun baseball facts and a lot of great info shared about Jesus, His love, and the home in heaven He is preparing for us. The book ends with Gramps going into the hospital, dying, and the funeral – followed by the lovely picture Nathan must have had in his mind – of him running free and being cheered on by his whole family, including his Gramps. Yes, I get choked up with tears of joy just typing this. 🙂
I really appreciated the fact that this book is a great way to not only talk about heaven, but also to help us engage our grandkids in a positive talk about some of the more difficult facts of life here on earth – including death. A while back, I reviewed the book, Hugging Grandma, and loved it as well. Reading it to our grandkids helps us to talk about aging parents and grandparents who develop Alzheimers Disease and other memory disorders. Both of these books are especially useful for those of us in the Sandwich Generation as we often have to deal with these tough life subjects in our multigenerational families. What a blessing when we can find great tools, like these books, to help us with that. And what a blessing to enjoy precious cuddle time with our grandkids as we read to them. Then, when we are no longer here, our hope and prayer is that all these special moments of reading together will have the wonderful result of leaving a sweet legacy of love in their hearts that will last til they have their own beloved grandchildren to read to.
