Topic: The Blessing of Grand-Parenting
Contributor: Aik Nam San
Date: July 2005

"All the way my Saviour leads me; What have I to ask beside?"

I want to thank the Lord for his tender mercy because throughout my life since I got to know Him, He has been my guide. When I first came to know the Lord in 1991, I was a father; 12 years down the road in 2003, I became a grandfather (in Hokkien it is called "Kong Kong"; in Indian, "Tata"").

During these 12 long years, I had walked through an undulating road and a winding path, but I know the Lord was always beside me helping and guiding me through the difficult times. If not for the Lord, I would not be here today. 1991 was the darkest year of my life due to the death of a dearly loved one. I still remember one cold December night that year, as I was walking alone along the beach at Sembawang Park, I looked around and realised that I could see no one. except the gentle sound of the sea-breeze, the lapping current of the wave and a few tiny crabs crawling on the beach-sand.

As I looked back I saw my two foot prints on the sand. I looked to the sky and asked the Lord, "Lord, you have said that you will always be with me throughout my life; but right now Lord, when I needed you the most, you have deserted me!". All of a sudden, a very huge wave splashed on to me, and then something which I had read somewhere about the footprints came to my mind. It said, "My dear son, when you saw the two footprints on the sand, they were not yours; it was I, the Lord carrying you in my arms right now walking on this beach". Yes Lord, gushing from the wave I saw in 1991, and now 14 years later in 2005, I could see the spring of joy. because now I am a grandfather! Our Lord Jesus has blessed me with 2 grandchildren. Praise the Lord!

When I became a grandfather, I thought my life will remain the same; that it will be just part and parcel of a life-cycle. But it was not to be, because my daily life time-table changes completely! Those who are right now a "Kong Kong", our brothers, Tang Meng and elder Dr Leong, will know what I mean.

When my first grand-daughter, Jolynn was born and added to the family, she brought us inexplicable joy. Till today, we can feel the joy and happiness of everyone in the family as we carry little Jolynn, passing her from one person to another and interacting with her after dinner-time. I want to thank the Lord once again for blessing me with two lovely grandchildren.

As parents and grandparents we should teach our little children to love our Lord Jesus Christ from young, so that when they grow up they will not only be Christ-like but also know who our Lord is. Since little Jolynn was born, we use to tell her to say grace before each meal. One day as I was taking my dinner, little Jolynn said at me, "Kong Kong, pray". I then realised, oh, yes I had started taking dinner without thanking God for the food. Yes, little children learn very fast; so we must teach them to love the Lord from young. Brothers and sisters, all of us love our children and grandchildren, but we must always remember that we must also continue to love our Lord Jesus Christ. While we spend time with them, we must also spend time daily with our Lord. We can be with things of this world but we must not cling to them because everything is temporal. This world is not our home, we are just passing through; our permanent home is with the Lord Jesus Christ. While we are still in this world, we must made full use of our lives, making use of our gifts that the Lord has given to each of us to serve Him, worship Him, glorify His name and to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Praise the Lord! Amen!

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