11.17-How to make disciples of you children and grandchildren.

11.17-


How to make disciples of you children and grandchildren.

Memories of my two grandmothers and my grandad.

12 things I learned from noticing the example of my grandparents.

Momma Wishard was a widow all of my life and had lost her husband when he was only 57 so I didn’t get to know him.  She would tell stories and say fun things when I would sit near her or in her lap as she visited in our farm home.
Wire, briar, limber-lock,
Three geese in a flock;
One flew east, one flew west,
And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.
 “Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people.”

Momma Woods,
She wore an apron all the time it seemed to me.  She was working in the kitchen prepaing fried apple pies.

Papa Woods.
Sitting in a padded rocking chair in constant peace.  He would let me comb his beautiful gray hair. 
On Sunday I would see them at church where we learned about Jesus Christ.  We would sing hymns of praise, Amazing Grace and The Old Rugged Cross. 
  
Today I looked over a prayer list from some of my friends from church and several of them relate to praying for our children and grandchildren to grow in their faith in Jesus Christ. 

 I read a chapter of Jesus life in Mark nine.  It about Jesus helping a father who needed help with his son who was experiencing serious problems.  I noticed here some lessons that my grandparents had lived out before me and others.  Things that Jesus taught in Mark 9 and other places.

1.      Contentment and optimism in the face of limited resources. 

2.      They had trust in the Scriptures where Jesus taught that everything is possible with God.

3.      Jesus Christ is the power to help us get up when we fall down.

4.      The importance of prayer.  Before we ate we prayed.

5.      Humble trust in God is the best kind of life.

6.      Servants are the favorite of God.

7.      Children are to be cherished and enjoyed.

8.      Look for the best in people and often you will find it.

9.      Compassion to others in need and meeting those needs will be rewarded by God.

10.  Never harm children.

11.  Hell is real and to be avoided at all costs.

12.  Choices have consequences.

Today I am a grandparent to a couple of boys who have both graduated from high school and moved on into their work life.  They have had an intensive learning experience from their mother, Amy and a more relaxed learning experiences with Sheila and I.  We hope to be the kind of influence on them that our grandparents were for us.

We have come to the conclusion that teaching at this phase must be by example.  We have many friends who are the same age we are who show us the way of how to build bridges and keep down the walls.  We will not give up on prayer as important to accomplishing our best goals for our family.  These prayers must focused on teaching by example their things we want taught.  This will call for much humility.  We aren’t God.  We are servants of God we don’t know what is best all the time.  We don’t know God’s timing for their lives or our own.

Larry Wishard
11.6.19

Mark 9.

¹⁴ When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him. ¹⁶ And He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?” ¹⁷ And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; ¹⁸ and ^[k]whenever it seizes him, it ^[l]slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and ^[m]stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” ¹⁹ And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” ²⁰ They brought ^[n]the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. ²¹ And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” ²³ And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” ²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was ^[o]rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I ^[p]command you, come out of him and do not enter him ^[q]again.” ²⁶ After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up. ²⁸ When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?” ²⁹ And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”