Five Generations Blessed

My Granny will be ninety in October of this year, and she was able to hold her first great-great-grandchild earlier this week. I was the first grandchild of my maternal grandparents. When I was born, five generations of my mom’s family were living. Now that my daughter has a child, we have five generations again.

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Isaiah 46:4 NIV

https://isaiah.bible/isaiah-46-4

Granny was promoted to the title of GrannyBob by my firstborn. He told my late grandfather that he knew Granny was not her real name. Papa told him her entire given name, Bobbie Jean McCully Ashley, which became Granny Bobbie to him and then GrannyBob to all of her great grandchildren. My mother is Grammie to my children and I am now Lolly.

When God gave the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel through Moses, he revealed Himself as a God who “shows love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.” (Deuteronomy 5:10) We’re just getting started!

My Granny came to faith in Christ as an adult and I am confident that the legacy of blessing my family enjoys is a direct result of her daily decision to follow Jesus. The wall above her sofa is lined with photos of each of her great grandchildren, a visible reminder to pray throughout the day for each of them. Only in eternity where we will know even as we are known will the extent of these prayers be realized.

Granny and her sister were my first Sunday School teachers and I remember my Granny always singing as she washed the dishes. She sang songs like Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Do Lord, and I’ll Fly Away. She taught me to always give my best and that nothing is hidden from God. She raised my mother. My mother raised me. Now my daughter is raising a son. Five generations of blessing.

“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

Deuteronomy 11:18-19 NIV

https://deuteronomy.bible/deuteronomy-11-19

“Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:”

Psalms 102:18 NIV

https://psalm.bible/psalm-102-18

Thank You, God, for family and for the gift of children and grandchildren. Thank You for our five generations living but also for the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us. (Hebrews 12:1) Thank You for Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. You teach us to love as you love within these most basic relationships, first to love You and then to love those closest to us. Help me to love You, Lord, with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love my neighbor as myself so that Your blessing may continue to another thousand generations! I love you, Lord! Amen.