How to be an Intentional Grandparent?

The word is INTENTIONAL. How do we become intentional about passing a spiritual legacy onto future generations?

To satisfy my curiosity, I grabbed a dictionary and thesaurus from my shelf. The American Heritage Dictionary defines intentional as “done deliberately.” The Oxford American Thesaurus list the words—purposeful, deliberate, conscious, studied and preplanned—as synonyms.

I considered the synonyms; then, I asked myself some tough questions.

1. Purposeful… I want my grandchildren to know that God delights in them. Do the blessings I speak over them have a purpose (or are they empty words)?

2. Deliberate… I pray that my grandchildren become prayer warriors. Am I deliberate in showing them how to pray?

3. Conscious… Whether I want to or not, I continuously model behavior. Am I making a conscious effort to model Christ-like behavior?

4. Studied… I want my grandchildren to immerse themselves in the Word of God. Do I study and memorize Scripture, so that when I am afforded the opportunity, I can teach with accuracy?

5. Preplanned… I pray that my grandchildren have servants’ hearts. Do I create preplanned opportunities for them to serve others less fortunate than themselves?

God is calling us to be intentional, godly grandparents. An awareness of the meaning of INTENTIONAL is a great place to start.

Do you pray intentionally for your grandchildren and their parents?

Guest blog by Sherry Schuman, Member of the Christian Grandparenting Network Pray Team.