Grandparents Day of Prayer September 8, 2019
Are you wondering when and what is Grandparents Day?
Well, my research shows that it’s actually been a National Holiday for forty-one years!
Congress passed the legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents’ Day and, on August 3, 1978, then-President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation. September was chosen to signify the “autumn” years of life.
[Tweet “The purpose of Grandparents Day, as stated is “to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children, and to help children become aware of the strength, information, and guidance older people can offer.””]
The purpose of the holiday, as stated in the preamble to the statute, is “to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children, and to help children become aware of the strength, information, and guidance older people can offer.”
Wow! That’s almost exactly what God told the generations to do in the Bible.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children.— Psalm 103:17
Hear this, you elders;
listen, all who live in the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell it to your children,
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.— Joel 1:2-3
[Tweet “Even though Grandparents Day is on your calendar, just like Mothers Day and Fathers Day, few families recognize it, or even know about it.”]
Even though you’ll find Grandparents Day is on your calendar, just like Mothers Day and Fathers Day, few families recognize it, or even know about it. Our young Minister of Education at church announced that it must be a real holiday because it’s on the calendar so they’re having a root beer float celebration after service on Grandparents Day September 8. Many of the grandmothers will be at our women’s retreat, but I thought it was so sweet that she planned a celebration for grandparents.
My friend, Lillian Penner is the founder of Grandparenting with Purpose, an organization that encourages grandparents to pray for their grandchildren and invest in their lives. They work hard to bring awareness of Grandparents Day to the public as a reminder of how valuable the older generation’s wisdom and perspective is to the younger generations. So often, I hear that the kids won’t listen or aren’t interested in spending time with their grandparents, but Dave and I haven’t found that to be the case as long as we make an effort to be relevant in our grandchildren’s lives.
And we can pray for them. Lillian has written a sweet book, Grandparenting with a Purpose: Effective Ways to Pray for your Grandchildren. In my quiet time, I pray for our eleven grandchildren. I have their pictures in my devotional and I journal a note to God about what’s happening in their lives. He knows what they need each day.
Last week, I wrote a guest blog, Brave Grandparenting, on Lillian Penner’s Grandparenting with a Purpose website. You might want to stop by and leave a comment and enter the drawing for a signed copy of Everyday Brave.
What are your thoughts on why a day as important as celebrating grandparents and their value to the family never got traction?
PS If you’re wondering why my Monday Morning Blog is coming to you on Tuesday, I was hoping you would all be spending time with family on Labor Day and not reading your email! Maybe you were even with grandparents or grandkids.
If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.
One more week until the release of Everyday Brave: Living Courageously As a Woman of Faith, but you can pre-order NOW.
I pray for our grandchildren daily!! They need to realize that God loves them, more than their parents do!! That Hod has plans to prosper them and not to harm them, but to give them hope and a future!!
So true Margaret! Our prayers will influence our grandchildren’s lives for eternity.