Championship Grandfathering: How to Build a Winning Legacy by Casey Carey

Author:Casey, Carey [Casey, Carey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781624057779
Publisher: Focus on the Family
Published: 2017-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

Loving Kids and Grandkids

Once I asked a grandfather, “What have you found to be the biggest difference between being a dad and a granddad?

He answered almost instantly, “I love my grandkids more.” I think he saw a look of shock on my face because he added, “Oh, I love my kids a lot, and I wouldn’t trade any of them in for a better model, but my grandkids have opened up an outlet of love I didn’t know I had in me.”

I think I know what he means. That’s the truth behind the tongue-in-cheek story about the grandfather who declared, “If I’d know how much fun grandkids were going to be, I would have skipped the kids and gone right to them!”

In fact, in Championship Fathering I wrote, “My bride and I have four children, and each gets maximum love. I’ve been amazed how my capacity to love has grown now that three of my children are married and I have even more ‘kids’ to love. Now that my grandchildren are arriving, I’ve got this love thing on a roll —so bring on my grandkids!”

That was six or seven grandkids ago, and it’s still true. Parent and grandparent love, energized by God’s love, has no bounds. It expands to hold all those under its care.

I have often thought about the unique season I’ve found myself in —a season that is coming to an end. I’ve been a grandfather during most of my son Chance’s adolescent years. He has enjoyed being Uncle Chance as a teenager (most of the time), but he also wants to keep that father-son “thing” going with me and so do I.

I encourage you, Grandpa, not to give up any of your fathering opportunities as grandfathering becomes a bigger part of your life.

When I’m speaking with fathers, it doesn’t surprise me anymore how often I hear: “I don’t understand it, Case. My dad says all these amazing things to my children that he never said to me —like ‘I love you.’”

Your son might tell me this, Grandpa, but he probably won’t tell you. It’s too hard, and he doesn’t know how —just like you didn’t know how to say certain things to him when he was growing up.

Someone has to step up and open the line of communication. One of you has to go where you haven’t gone before and talk about your importance to each other. And as Dad, you should lead the way.

Treating your son like a man is important, and he needs that too, but he still needs to hear statements from you that begin with the word son . He wants you to affirm what he is doing as a man, but he also doesn’t want you to forget you are his father.

Of course, I’m not leaving daughters and granddaughters out of this picture. As you watch your son(s) and grandson(s) grow up to be men like you, you’re also watching your daughter(s) and granddaughter(s) grow up into someone not like you. That doesn’t matter; they still need you as their father and grandfather.

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