An Open Letter to Our First Grandchild
Our Dear and Cherished Granddaughter,
Welcome to the world, my child. You are beautifully and wonderfully made by God. God has blessed you with a family legacy of parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents that have been Christians for years. While imperfect, they show a continual pattern of love towards one another and their children. Your family legacy includes Pastors, Lawyers, Business leaders, Deacons, Accountants, Teachers, and loving Moms and Dads. Your family believes that God should be the most important thing in your life and understands that we have a wonderful standard to follow as well. Here are our prayers for you:
May the Lord guide each and every step of your life. As you grow each day, may you seek your very best in all you say and accomplish. As our family has always said, “the standard is always the standard,” meaning, your very best is always what God expects of you. In life there are no short-cuts. The things that are important or matter the most always take hard work and dedication. Remember that you are a representative of not only your family but the God that loves you. We are to show love and charity to everyone when we can. Be an ear to the hurting, hope for the hopeless, and help for the stranger or outcast. All of us make mistakes and there is no weakness in showing grace when others stumble.
As you grow up, our prayer for you is that you will embrace spiritually healthy habits. Having a daily prayer time is invaluable as you grow and live your life. Find a time to read Scripture and learn to pray intently to God for your life and for others. Learn and grow your faith. Be a student of Scripture. It is the lifeblood of believers and has the answers for life. Be prepared to be challenged in life about everything, especially your belief system. I Peter says, “always be prepared to give a defense for the hope that is within you.” It is always permissible to question, research, and verify everything that Christianity says and teaches. The older we get, the more we are convinced by the overwhelming evidence of its truthfulness. However, we all must individually give an account for our belief systems. Lastly, be a bright shining light into other people’s lives. Jesus always sought out the marginalized in society. You may be the only Jesus people see.
At the end of the day we come to one conclusion…only Jesus satisfies. He satisfies the longing of our soul since He is our Creator and Savior.
Our promises to you as you start your life – We want you to know that we will love you unconditionally. No matter what you do, where you go, or how tough it may get in life, you always have a safe haven with us to come and feel loved. We will commit to pray daily for your health, your life, and your path. We will commit to holding you up to God that He may guide you daily. We will also make sure to demand the best of you in all you do and accomplish. You can always count on us to be available to you. We will make sure to provide for your needs when necessary and encourage you to be everything that God has planned for you.
You will come into this world in a few days. We are excited! That will be the day of your physical birth. One day we will rejoice with you in your spiritual birth as Colossians 3:10 says, “having put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.” Once you have your spiritual birth you can claim Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” See, God has already prepared great things for you to accomplish in this world. Your job is to follow His lead and accomplish what He already has set and ready for you to do. This will be your greatest achievement in life – to follow God’s will for you. Your Mom and Dad and grandparents can teach you the right things to do, but if you learn to call on the Lord for yourself throughout your life you will be fulfilled indeed. You have every tool you need to succeed in this life. At the end of the day, we come to one conclusion…only Jesus satisfies. He satisfies the longing of our soul since He is our Creator and Savior. We are made to fellowship with Him.
We remember the day we went to the hospital to have our first child. It was a boy. It was your father. The joy cannot be expressed at the delight of having your own child, the joining of two people that love each other so much that created another human being to call their own. And then we saw that he had chocolate brown eyes, a trait handed down through the Moms of the family. He grew to be smart and giving and protective. All good traits from both sides of the family. He grew up and met your mother, a beautiful, young lady who also had chocolate brown eyes. They prayed and longed for you together because they wanted to create a legacy of their love. God granted them this blessing. It was you. We can’t wait to meet you!
And, I bet you’ll have those chocolate brown eyes…
S. and A. Montgomery “Coach and Jojo”