“God sets the lonely in families…”  Psalm 68:6 (NIV)

The police found Misha on the streets of St. Petersburg, Russia, at the age of seven. He was placed in an orphanage because he had no other family. The orphanage did its best to be a family for Misha, but it is hard when there are so many who need attention.

That did not stop Roy and Ann of Long Island, New York, from stepping in and becoming adoptive grandparents to Misha. They loved him and raised him as their own. Misha grew up knowing that he was deeply loved, that he was greatly valued, and that he would never again be alone. It was not always easy because of the deep scars from being an abandoned child, but thanks to adoptive parents who cared about him, Misha, now a young adult, knows he belongs to a loving family. 

From the beginning of Creation, God designed families as the foundational structure in which human beings find identity, a place of belonging, and where they learn what it means to be loved and to love. But family is more than just a mom and dad and their kids.

In its grandest design family is a tribe of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who each play a significant role in God’s plan for training, nurturing, counseling, supporting, and celebrating. In a family, the reality of belonging finds its most complete expression.

In contrast, the Enemy’s plan is to deliberately and methodically destroy family. He is doing everything he can to unravel the very fabric that defines family as God designed it for the health, stability and protection of individuals and the community. Too many are growing up in broken, highly dysfunctional families. Many grow up without a father, and sometimes without a mother as well. The enemy uses this pain to propose a counterfeit version of the real family, and our children pay the price.

God’s gift of family is a treasure parents and grandparents must protect and champion for the sake of present and future generations.

Here are six ways grandparents can champion God’s design for families today:

• Pray daily that God will protect your family members from the evil one, including all the lies swirling around about what a family is.
• Show by your actions and words what it means to honor your grandchildren’s parents. Your example is a powerful testament to the importance of parents and the wisdom of honoring and obeying your parents.
• Celebrate special family traditions and reunions that will build fond memories for your family for years to come, and reinforce the importance of every family member. Doing life together in a fun and memorable setting is a powerful thing.
• Talk about the importance of God’s design for a mom and a dad in the family. Ask them why they think a child ought to have both a mother and a father, and what it must be like for those who don’t.
• Discuss the idea of ‘adopting’ an orphan or needy child through organizations like Compassion or World Vision, or maybe a single mom and her family in your community.
• Work on a Family Tree and Family Album with your grandchildren. Gathering information from all the different family members can be fun and enlightening. Don’t be afraid to talk about the not so pleasant parts of your family history. This can be a great vehicle for starting the conversation about why repentance is important to break the chains of bondage in our family history. When that happens, there is definitely cause for celebration.

There are, of course, many more ways to celebrate and champion God’s design for families. Hopefully these few ideas will only fan into flame more creative ways to keep our families strong. I’d like to hear some of your ideas too.

GRANDPAUSE: “I don’t care how poor a man is, if he has family, he’s rich.” — Dan Wilcox