To the Editor:
September 10 is Grandparents Day. In 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed a proclamation making the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. However, every day we should respect and be thankful for our grandparents and all the senior adults who have blessed our lives.
Because so many parents are messed up on drugs and have committed suicide more grandparents are raising their grandchildren than ever.
The Bible says children are a gift to parents from God and Christians are to bring them up in “the nurture and admonition of the Lord God.” World Magazine, a Christian magazine, said, “No one – no teacher, administrator, school board member, or politician – has more of a vested interest in a young person’s mental health, physical safety, and holistic success than that child’s mother, father, grandparents or guardian. This fact is not just practical, but Biblical: the primary responsibility of stewardship of a child’s mind and heart was given by God to parents, not any other individual or entity, and certainly not to any agent of the state.”
Indeed, the “first commandment with a promise” contains within it both God’s design for the family and the importance of honoring its hierarchy: “honor your father and mother…that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land” (Ephesians 6:2). “Any policy that usurps the God-given role of a parent and thus hinders a child’s ability to honor their mom and dad is evil, and it will always, without exception, lead to adverse outcomes, both individually for students and for students and for the society they have already begun to shape. Concerned parents should take heart that despite the many cultural and political powers standing against them, their dedication to the well-being of their own children is God ordained, righteous, and well worth the cost. The future literally depends on it!”
In the Bible, Timothy was one of the first second-generation Christians. Timothy became a Christian not because an evangelist preached a powerful sermon, but because his mother and grandmother taught him the Holy Bible when he was a small child. The evangelist’s work is important, but the parent’s and grandparent’s work is just as important. At home and in church, we should see teaching small children as both an opportunity and a responsibility. Jesus wanted little children to come to him and know he loves them. Paul praised Timothy’s mother and grandmother for teaching Timothy the Bible and that Jesus loves him. Like Timothy’s mother and grandmother, Eunice and Lois, do your part in leading them to Jesus.
The Bible doesn’t allow retirement from doing God’s work which includes making sure your children and grandchildren know and love Jesus.
Smart churches are utilizing the skills of older members. Senior church ministries include visiting the sick, visiting nursing homes, assisting with food banks, teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, working at the welcome center or being a people greeter, taking up the offering, construction projects and more. The Bible in Psalm 71:18 says, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.” The Bible in Job proclaims, “wisdom belongs to the aged and understanding to the old.” Senior adults are less likely to quit and more likely to show up. Senior adults offer the wisdom of years of experience and have more time to spare. When older adults are allowed to contribute, they feel needed, successful and wanted. It gives purpose to their lives. Mentorship is the new wave of training. Who better to mentor than older adults who have years of life to fall back on? Respect and use the wisdom of senior adults to bless your lives and Christian ministries and employ them in the workforce!

D.D. Nave
Elizabethton