The Cookie Grandma

“And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’” Exodus 3:14-15 (NKJV)

My daughter has just graduated from college. I am not quite sure how that happened as I am convinced it was only last year we started homeschooling kindergarten and I was teaching her how to read.  And yet, I have visual proof that my memory in this regard is somewhat faulty.

Part of the Worldview Curriculum at Belhaven University was the capstone course of “Kingdom Life.” In this course, they teach seniors how to prepare for the adult life that waits for them after graduation. While the other Worldview courses were more academic (showing how a Biblical worldview is threaded through every academic discipline), the “Kingdom Life” course is more practical. They cover such subjects as relationships, marriage, money matters, and the like.

I am grateful that Belhaven requires this course as I am not aware that other universities do (although it is quite possible that I am wrong). It is an unfortunate fact that so many parents today either forget to include this in their children’s education or don’t really believe it is necessary.

My daughter and I have had many conversations about her move into adulthood and the requirements there of.  We have talked about relationships, marriage, money, and other practical matters. We have talked about the possibility that God would bless her in the future with a husband and children. We have had conversations about grandchildren which led to conversations about grandparents.

I was fortunate to have the steady influence of grandparents in my life. Both sets of grandparents lived in the same city where I grew up and I saw them often.  They played an important role in my emotional and spiritual development that impacts me to this day.

My daughter has not been so fortunate. Due to a number of circumstances, she has not had this same influence in her life. My own mother died before Hannah was born and my mother-in-law suffered a massive stroke when Hannah was quite young.  If you were to ask my daughter what some of the greatest regrets of her childhood were, she would likely tell you that they are two-fold: she did not have any siblings and she did not have a “cookie grandma.”

When she first told me about this second regret, I was a bit taken aback.  I had expected the first, but not the second. As I began to think about what she had said, a great sadness washed over me. I realized that she had not had the same level of influence from godly grandmothers in her life that I had. Therefore, I have made Hannah several promises which I intend to keep:

I will be the kind of grandmother to her children that I was so blessed to have.

I will, to the best of my ability, and with the help of Almighty God, pass down to them the spiritual heritage which I have been given.

And, I promise that I will bake them cookies. . .

“And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day? Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’” Deuteronomy 4:8-10 (NKJV)

Copyright © 2012 by Susan E. Johnson
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