Genesis 48:9 "They are the sons God has given me here," Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, "Bring them to me so I may bless them."
Years ago I read a book by Gary Smalley and John Trent called The Gift of the Blessing. It was all about passing down unconditional love and acceptance in the form of a blessing to our children and grandchildren. It left an impact on the way that we parented and on the gifts of love and acceptance that we pass on to our grands.
Hanging out with all of our grandchildren is always an enjoyable thing for us to do, but once in a while we like to get them just one at a time for a weekend. They love the attention and the ability to make the decisions about what their favorite meals are and what activities to do. They don't have to race for the best spot to fish from or who gets to swing on the rope first. It's their choice of the breakfast cartoon and we get to see so much of their individuality. It's a great weekend for both the kids and for us.
Last weekend it was Oliver's turn. One of his favorite things to do is to go out in the boat and just fish. He doesn't enjoy eating them, so it's a catch and release kind of thing. I tagged along and decided that I'd make this the subject of my 30 minutes in the life.
He's growing up so fast and we're seeing little glimpses of who he's becoming and we want to be a part of that, and along with that, we encourage him to be respectful and loving to others. His parents are doing a great job with him and his siblings and we're thankful to be able to sow seeds of love right along with them.
Be sure to follow along our blog circle and see what Kristina Dominianni has for this month. You won't be disappointed!