Forget Me Not: A Grandmother's Influence

[Music] join elizabeth elliott as passport video presents a gateway to joy special forget me not a grandmother's influence [Music] a godly grandmother what a blessing she can be she's a woman who sees the special joy that grandmothering brings and she's a treasure a precious jewel in a world which often sets aside the wisdom of its elderly [Music] i'm so grateful for the privilege of knowing both sets of grandparents how well i remember those sunday dinners that we used to have at my mother's parents it was always roast beef mashed potatoes and chocolate cake for dessert always beautifully served by a maid in a white uniform then on alternate sunday afternoons we would usually visit my father's parents his mother was badly crippled with arthritis and as we would come up the stairs and into the room she would always be sitting in the same chair and i can still remember the way in which she always put her little crippled hand on the arm of the chair and with great surprise and delight she would say to us well for pity's sake she was so happy to see us a few years ago i met a new york policeman who was a christian and as usual i wanted to hear stories i'm convinced that everybody has a story if you can just drag it out of them so my first question to him was have you ever had occasion to use your gun [Music] yes i have he said as a matter of fact i remember a gang rumble someplace in queens i found myself eyeball to eyeball with a young man put down your weapon i said there was a short pause he looked me in the eyes i looked him right back he dropped his gun when we got to the station house we had a conversation and i said to the boy somebody in your family's a christian right there was a silence he kind of looked down and then he said yeah my grandmother i got a grandmother who prays for me i said well you go home and you thank your grandmother for her prayers you could have been a dead man today [Music] do you have any idea can you calculate the power of your life and your example in the lives of your grandchildren we don't know do we and yet we do set an example which is important and i believe that through our prayers our children may remember that example and they may not remember a word we say but they are going to remember how we lived and they're going to remember our love the bible tells us that love suffers long many years of prayer may pass by before our human eyes actually see god's hand at work but it was a grandmother's influence that saved the life of that young boy and it was the faithfulness of a grandmother that moved the heart of the apostle paul i just love being a granny that's what my grandchildren call me and i'm thankful for gray hair i'm sure that must seem absurd to some of you but the bible says that gray hair is a crown of splendor it also says that grandchildren are the crown of old age you can find both of those verses in proverbs and i hope that i'm talking to hundreds of grandmothers and perhaps grandfathers too and i would like you to listen to what paul says in his second letter to timothy [Music] i thank god whom i serve as my forefathers did with a clear conscience as night and day i constantly remember you in my prayers recalling your tears i long to see you so that i may be filled with joy i have been reminded of your sincere faith which first lived in your grandmother lois and in your mother eunice and i am persuaded now lives in you also for this reason i remind you to fan into flame the gift of god which is in you through the laying on of my hands god did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power of love and of self-discipline i think it's interesting that both lois and eunice timothy's grandmother and mother are mentioned but there's no mention of his grandfather or his father perhaps we can infer from this that the grandfather and father were not christians but paul says to timothy this faith was alive in your grandmother and your mother and you must keep alive that faith paul is confident that this faith lives also in this young man timothy a beloved son for whom the apostle paul is praying i think timothy must have been worried about the possibility of suffering in the future and he was also anxious about paul himself who was his spiritual father so paul to allay these fears reminds him of his godly heritage as i've studied my own genealogy i've been awestruck to find that there are generations of christians in my background do i sound as though i'm bragging well i really didn't have one single thing to do with my background did i nothing at all i can only say thank you lord thank you for that godly heritage the book of proverbs tells us that a good name is more valuable than great wealth a heritage that is cherished is truly a gift from god we can pass on that blessing if we're faithful to him remembering daily our families in prayer i have only one child her name is valerie but she has made me a very rich grandmother i have seven grandchildren and i've been asking the lord to teach me about each child his characteristics his weaknesses his strengths his temperament his personality his needs his potential and each child i believe can be lifted up to something far better than his natural gifts might indicate perhaps some of you feel that your grandchildren are not being raised right we all have suggestions that we might like to offer and yet i think we need to talk to god not to our sons and daughters not to our in-laws but to god we're not here to lodge complaints but to be channels of prayer i can't think of a higher privilege or a more solemn responsibility to stand on god's side for these children some of these children we might call home children centered at home others are critics then there's that small group of children which one author speaks of children of privilege with heaven in their eyes and a little air of mystery about them meditative quiet friends of god these children are often friends of all loved and loving and asking very little from the outer world because they have more than enough within they're classed as dreamers they really are seers this author is describing a very rare class of child i love that thought perhaps you have a grandchild with heaven in his eyes sometimes people ask me what it is that i'm aiming at in my books and in my talks and on my broadcasts well it's one in the same as my aim in life which is to love god and to help other people to love him and to lay down my life for that end does this concept of loving god seem a little vague to you well i owe a great debt to amy carmichael an irish missionary to india who wrote about 40 books many of which have helped me to understand the practical aspect of loving god from her book if if i am afraid to speak the truth lest i lose affection or lest the one concerned should say you do not understand or because i fear to lose my reputation for kindness if i put my own good name before the other's highest good then i know nothing of calvary love and from the book his thoughts said which is just dialogues between amy carmichael and god his thoughts said i dreamt a distressing dream last night i was threatened with torture for christ's sake but i escaped it i did not endure his father said when did i promise to give strength and grace in a dream of the night my grace is for that which is not for that which may never be [Music] there is a battle being raged in the world today good against evil the power of god against the devices of satan we choose sides how great is the need to lift up one another in prayer how urgent it is that we pray for the children prayer is a high and serious business in which we are given the vastly important privilege of cooperating with god in his work here on earth he calls us to this cooperation do you pray about your children's friendships we've all heard children say but my friends all say or my friends all get to do this or that we know how profound the influence of friendship can be what about praying about the books that they read a very wise educator said their attitude toward books is an indication of their minds the very way in which they handle a book is a sign in itself of whether a child is a citizen born or an alien in the world of books i pray all the time that the lord will keep my grandchildren from the powers of evil and i think specifically when i pray for my grandsons that the lord will keep them from drugs and sex and alcohol and pornography and homosexuality and that he will give them godly wives in his time and when we pray that the lord will keep our children from the lust of the world from wanting worldly things don't we need to be careful about the gifts that we give them make very sure that we are not feeding their desire for too many worldly things in order that they might be accepted by their peers so let me make a practical suggestion and recommend some good books c.s lewis's narnia books full of spiritual lessons and good stories [Music] beatrix potter most of you know probably peter rabbit but do you know mr jeremy fisher jemima puddle duck mrs tiggy winkle the tailor of gloucester the fierce bad rabbit we children had those books memorized to the point where if my mother wasn't quick in turning the page we knew the line that came next and then there's a.a milne his lovely little poetry book now we are six children love the rhythm of those poems then there's eb white's beautiful books for children charlotte's webb and stuart little patricia mclaughlin's book sarah plain and tall a beautiful story and then a more recent one than some of those that i mentioned at first a book called babe the gallant pig a charming little story about a piglet that was raised by a sheepdog and he thought he was a sheepdog and behaved as such that's written by dick king smith babe the gallant pig we grandparents are probably not often asked for our opinions of television or nintendo if i were asked i would certainly recommend that neither thing be in a house where there are children growing up think of the books that could be read if television were never watched but we can pray over the negative influence of these things pray that the power of these media will not injure the minds in their most formative state if we're asked for advice that's a lovely position to be in and i think we should give it then tactfully and graciously if we're not asked for advice the best thing to do is to keep our mouth shut and talk to god one of the prayers that i often pray for my grandchildren was written by amy carmichael missionary to india she prayed father hear us we are praying hear the words our hearts are saying we are praying for our children keep them from the powers of evil from the secret hidden peril from the whirlpool that would suck them from the treacherous quicksand pluck them from the whirling's hollow gladness from the sting of faithless sadness holy father save our children through life's bitter battle cheer them through life's troubled waters steer them father father be thou near them hear the language of our longing hear the wordless pleadings thronging holy father for our children and wherever they may bide lead them home at even tide [Music] may i suggest that you write to your grandchildren i really can't overemphasize the importance of letters send them letters or cards pictures are you going to tell me well i can't write very well my hands shake my eyesight is poor well there are lots of sweet little cards that you can get christian cards some of them from the scriptorium in maryland and if you just buy government postcards did you know that you can buy a postcard at your post office for 19 cents you don't have to put a stamp on it you don't pay extra for stationery that way and it's just amazing how much you can get on a government postcard my little grandson jim came out to the mailbox with his mother and as she pulled the mail out of the box he looked up the most wistful look and he said anything for me and of course when she told me that it smote my heart i realized that i hadn't written to jim for a while so i always try to write to my grandchildren one time i saw a fox go across my lawn on the snow i write to them about things like that we have a great horned owl that comes and sits in the dead tree in front of our house very often in the full moon of october and april can you believe it it's true again and again we've seen that great horned owl one time i found a mouse in the bathtub my grandchildren love to hear things like that and i tell them that i love them once in a while i tell them a little bit about jesus tell them about funny things that happened on our trips but even two sentences make a big difference to a child right to them prayer is a revolutionary power alfred lord tennyson said more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of and in the book of james we read the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much the psalmist wrote in the morning you hear my voice in the morning i lay my requests before you and wait in expectation are your prayers regular constant earnest specific do you pray for each child by name and each child's special needs remember that god loves them far more than you do not only does he love them more than you but he knows far better than you do what's best for them there's an old saying paddle your own canoe and speaking of canoes i'm sure you see that i'm standing by the ocean this is the atlantic ocean out here i don't think you're going to see any canoes but you've probably seen some lobster boats and maybe a sailboat or two back to that old saying paddle your own canoe i think there's a sense in which none of us really can paddle our own canoe we need help there's another metaphor we belong to a flock where sheep and the members of the flock have to help each other the organs of the body are dependent on each other the need of one is met with the cooperation of the others if you ask for my prayers i ask for your prayers too a grandmother is called to pray and to be a fellow worker with her grandchildren a fellow soldier in the same battle in which they're engaged remember that our children the parents of our grandchildren are engaged in much more than a battle of flesh and blood we're wrestling as paul says in the book of ephesians all of us against organizations and powers that are spiritual we are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil in view of this spiritual battle the apostle paul says that we must wear the whole armor of god so that we may resist evil and stand your ground above all be sure that you take faith as your shield for it can quench every burning missile that the enemy hurls at you and pray at all times with every kind of spiritual prayer keeping alert and persistent as you pray for all christ's men and women and please pray for me too [Music] we are to bear one another's burdens how often have we heard that verse yet how often do we fail to support those closest to us it's all too easy to believe that god will take care of our loved ones but we are his hands we must do what we can when we can to really help lighten those burdens my step grandmother lived with us for eight years i think it was about in the second year or so that she decided that she really couldn't get down the steps anymore so this meant that we children we six children had to take turns carrying trays up to nana and we didn't enjoy that my poor nana she was a dear lady but she had had a very sad life and she wasn't a very cheerful person and i don't think she was terribly fond of her step-grandchildren so it was kind of an ordeal and i can remember my mother constantly saying to us you must go in and visit a little bit with nana you must go in and visit with nana and i would go in and try to talk to her about what went on in school and all that but it didn't seem to get a whole lot of response but i know one thing about that nana she did pray for us that dear nana to whom we paid so little attention i feel sorry about that now how many times have you heard retired people say that they're busier than they were when they were working and i actually hear retired people tell me that they don't have time to pray very much now to me that's really sad as older women i would hope that we do have time to pray that we're not like the grandmother described in this little poem in the dim and distant past when life's tempo wasn't fast grandma used to rock and knit crochet tat and babysit grandma now is at the gym exercising to keep slim now she's golfing with the bunch taking clients out to lunch going north to ski and curl and all her days are in a whirl nothing seems to stop or block her now that grandma's off her rocker [Music] what kind of practical help do you give your daughter or your son the mother or the father or those grandchildren does your daughter stay home if so do you encourage her to do that is your son the sole financial provider for a family that is a tough job for men and my heart goes out to men i meet men who are scared to death to marry because they are afraid that they wouldn't be able to support a family i had a wonderful letter from a wife whose husband is a seminary professor you know he doesn't make a lot of money but she said if only men could realize that we're not asking for material things what we want is love a stable home life the privilege of being mothers and able to stay home with our children if there's an emergency of course we're willing to sacrifice we'd be willing to pitch in and help but those men need all the help that they can get from us the grandmothers so often younger women ask me where are those older women who are being obedient to the word of god according to titus 2 older women who are just there to encourage comfort strengthen help teach younger women to love their husbands to love their children perhaps we should ask ourselves have i imbibed the spirit of the world that tells me do your own thing it's your turn instead of being a pillar of strength to my daughter or to perhaps some other younger woman am i a faithful prayer for my grandchildren in amy carmichael's little book if she wrote if by doing some work which the undiscerning consider not spiritual work i can best help others and i inwardly rebel thinking it is the spiritual for which i crave when in truth it is the interesting and the exciting then i know nothing of calvary love i'd like to repeat that if by doing some work which the undiscerning consider unspiritual work i can best help others and i inwardly rebel thinking it is the spiritual for which i crave when in truth it is the interesting and exciting then i know nothing of calvary love let's not get too high falutin in our old age let's be willing to do whatever needs to be done i always think of dear old mrs kershaw she was sort of a surrogate grandmother to us a dear old widow lady poor almost stoned deaf lived alone in a great big old rackety-packety house almost devoid of furniture hardly ever saw her son who paid no attention to her but my mother somehow found her and mrs kershaw needed us and we needed mrs kershaw and she used to come and work for us [Music] we would always have to go and pick her up in the morning and i was one of those who would go at times and we found a sign on the front door that would say please come in i am home. of course she couldn't hear a doorbell she couldn't hear a knock so we would open the door walk through the house until we found her usually she would be sitting there quietly in a rocking chair waiting for someone to pick her up if it was i she would look up with this sunny smile and she would say in her rather strange voice oh it's the daughter she always called me the daughter [Music] when we got into the car no matter what kind of weather it was she would say ow such a nice day gives folks a chance to do what they want when she came to our house she did spiritual work she ironed she made brown sugar cookies gallons of applesauce she washed she cooked do you question my term spiritual work it's important in the kingdom of god and i believe that mrs kershaw did that for his glory and she blessed our family [Music] we grandmothers have got all this wisdom and all this experience the great question is what are we supposed to do with it not very many people want to hear about it but my question a serious question is what does god want us to do with it i had a conversation with a lady who said i'm an available woman well i liked that term and i said what do you mean by that she said i'm available when people need me i have time to read my bible time to pray time to counsel with other people and i thought you know so often the retirement years present us with what i think are serious temptations the temptation to idleness to self-indulgence to pampering the world is constantly saying it's time for you to do your own thing time for you to do something for yourself maybe this is a colossal waste of god-given gifts god has given us wisdom strength experience and he is giving us the gift of old age do you think of it as a gift they're called the golden years and yet so many people dread them deplore them deny them insist that they're not old there's a hymn that says through every period of my life thy goodness i'll pursue that's one of my prayers and also the prayer of the psalmist so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom [Music] a grandmother's influence it can't be measured but someday it will be revealed [Music] we'd like to thank you for watching forget me not a grandmother's influence if you've been inspired by elizabeth elliott we'd like to invite you to join her each weekday for the radio program gateway to joy it's 15 minutes of biblical council designed to encourage you in your daily life [Music] do [Music] 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Channel: The Elisabeth Elliot Foundation

Views: 3,458

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Id: DpotcEc7fXQ

Length: 40min 23sec (2423 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 25 2020