There are many ways that you can serve the Lord in retirement. One way is to pour yourself into your grandchildren. My wife Tammy and I were not blessed with children. However, over the years we have had a special relationship with nieces, nephews and now grand nieces and nephews.
In his book An Uncommon Guide to Retirement, Jeff Haanen writes that reconnecting with family is a genuine joy of retirement. He tells us that for many, serving kids, grandkids, and aging parents is central to a sense of vocation in this season of life. In his book Retiring Well, John Dunlop tells us that we must talk to our grandchildren about God frequently. God can use us as a means for them to come to faith, learn to fear him, and do what is right. He adds that involvement with family may be the greatest way we can glorify God in retirement.
One of our joys of the past five years has been spending time with our triplet grand nephews. They love when their grandfather reads books to them. When they were just three years old, I enjoyed reading Jordan Raynor’s children’s book The Creator in You to them, and I’m looking forward to reading Sinclair Ferguson’s new children’s book to them soon. Ferguson, a respected theologian and grandfather, has written Jesus, Strong and Kind, a children’s book recommended for children 5-11 years of age. He uses the lyrics of the CityAlight song “Jesus, Strong and Kind”, to teach children about Jesus. The author uses one word from each verse of the song – Thirst, Weak, Fear and Lost – and then uses stories from the Gospels to illustrate that aspect of Jesus. The book is beautifully illustrated by Angelo Ruta.
The song “Jesus, Strong and Kind” was written by Rich Thompson, Jonny Robinson, Michael Farren and Colin Buchanan. Buchanan writes the Foreword to the book. There is a code you can scan with your phone to watch CityAlight singing the song, which children and grandchildren will get to sing throughout the book.
This is just one example of a book that you could read to your grandchildren to teach them about Jesus, something that could pay eternal dividends.
What other ways do you pour yourself into your grandchildren?
