“I like your necklace, GG. Is it the one Mom gave you for your birthday?”
My seven-year-old granddaughter asks me this question as our faces come live on the computer screens for our weekly meeting.
“Thanks, Sweetie, yes, it is! How are you today?” I respond with a big smile noting her special attention to details, one of her many giftings.
We then move easily to her reporting of her “quiet times” since we last met. She opens her notebook and reads off the Scripture verses she selected. They are usually a handful of Proverbs or Psalms containing the same number as the day, like May 7 she reads Proverbs 7:1 and Psalm 119:17. She LOVES numbers!
“What do you think that verse means? How does God want us to show this in our lives?”
I ask her questions to expand her thoughts and understandings from the readings. Often this leads into a life lesson from her own experiences. Or a story that I recall about myself or her mother growing up. She listens with rapt attention to those anecdotes, of course, to envision her grandmother or mom as a young girl.
“And I prayed for my teacher, my older sister, my Iowa grandmother, and you and Papa, and Sri Lanka, and myself! That was 28 minutes.”
She looks at me over the screen with a beaming smile of accomplishment and moves to the next day’s log of verses and prayer points. When all the newest notebook entries have been reviewed, we read a large section of Scripture together from her book, My Time with God (2000, Focus on the Family) and discuss the questions and applications, then pray together before clicking off.
Character Development Through Reflection
A couple years ago, I offered to assist my daughter in her homeschool efforts. As a career educator, experienced with kindergartners to teens, I thought I could share my teaching skills and love for the Bible with my own budding legacies.
Online options (like Google Hangouts, Facetime, or Skype) helped span the distance from Kansas to Colorado and we selected books together for the two oldest granddaughters. With the restrictions of COVID-19, these options fill in the gaps when we can’t be together in-person.
In our “GG Meetings” I thought perhaps we might employ a Bible curriculum, similar to what I used in my Christian school classrooms. Surprisingly my academic-loving, pastor son-in-law had a different direction in mind.
“Mom, truly these kids have more Bible knowledge than many adults I know. I am hoping for more application, more living out of what is already in their heads. That would be a great blessing for you to speak into their lives.”
My daughter found a book For Girls Only (2009, Carolyn Larsen) that leads my ten-year old granddaughter into realistic tween life challenges with a short story in each lesson. Then she assesses her current handling of the character trait or behavior highlighted such as jealousy, fear, forgiveness, anger, or gossiping on a 1-5 scale. The conversation is rich in her explanation of the chosen number and leads to new awareness of present actions and needed changes.
“I think I am about four for sharing what bothers me, like with a teacher or my parents. I don’t think anyone could get a five for always, do you, GG?”
The author offers four suggestions for “things to do” to further growth and understanding of the desired godly attribute. My granddaughter chooses one for “homework” to report on next week. Sometimes it is a Scripture memory exercise, hand-written notes of encouragement to others, or lists of things for prayer or gratitude. Additional verses and quotes from famous people on the chosen topic are included for more discussion.
Just like the time spent with her younger sister, I share pertinent true-life stories from her life, my life, or family members she knows to illustrate the point of the lesson. From her wealth of reading, she often contributes examples and the hour passes quickly by with laughter, sometimes tears, but always with the warmth of connecting over valuable conversation content. We pray for each other before saying goodbye.
Lifelong Learning
Even at young ages, my current “students” have taught me new levels of honesty and humility as they confess, pray, and articulate faith in God to care for them in challenging, uncertain times like the recent pandemic. Often they acknowledge they have not had many big problems in their lives like the characters in the Bible or modern-day stories we read.
“And that is a precious gift to you, having wonderful parents who provide a caring, secure home for you. They don’t have rules and chores for you to make you miserable, right? They want to help you grow into a wise, healthy Jesus-follower, a good friend and sister, and responsible person who shows respect to others. You are blessed.”
These statements are always met with a nod of acceptance, but maybe not a cheerful ascent if they have been reporting a complaint or recent trouble with parents. My job is to listen, gently nudge these dear girls to God’s ways in handling normal family disagreements. I send them back into the daily challenges with new ideas, encouragement, and hope.
“Look for God everywhere and spend time with Him. He wants to speak to you and lead you into peace and right behaviors. He loves you so much. I do too.”
I often wipe away tears of emotion at our closing prayers and see big, innocent eyes looking at me from the computer screen. We blow kisses and sign off. I take my own list of prayer points to increase my Christ-likeness from our conversations and time spent digging into God’s Word.
Learning happens on both sides of the computer screen. God is faithful.
