Grandpa ~ His stories. His words.

Grandpa ~ His stories, His words.

    Recently I was asked, “Grandpa, what was it like to start a family?”
Because it is the Christmas Season, naturally I thought of an important family. No, it’s not my family; but the family of Joseph, Mary and their child, the Christ child, Jesus. My family today? We share gifts just like God shared an incredible gift with us, His only son.
    This season for the first time I considered what it must have been like for Joseph looking for lodging for his soon to deliver wife. The more I thought about it the more I considered Joseph a hero. Under incredible stress from not only the trip they just endured, but about his marriage to his young wife. Refresh your memory by reading Matthew 1:18-25.
    Joseph accepted the fact that there was no room in any of the normal places where travelers stay. He is a hero because he went to the only place they were offered to stay, a stable. Now a stable is a messy place. Messy, but he made it ready somehow for Mary to give birth to the son that was promised to them. They were to call him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”). 
    I’m not going to share with you my picture of what it must have been like to turn a stable into a place where they could sleep for the night. Or how he must have made the feeding trough where animals eat, the place to put their newborn child to sleep. He did it. He stepped up in a time of incredible need. He faced the challenge. 
    So when I was asked, “Grandpa, what was it like to start a family?”, I wanted to say the right thing at this, the right time so I focused on marriage. This is my answer for my precious grandchildren. I want to be a hero like Joseph was when his action was needed most. A hero to point my grandkids in the right direction as they date and consider marriage.  
    “First of all marriage is a lifetime commitment so that naturally is where ‘family’ begins. It is ordained by God so read Genesis 1:26-28 in The Message translation of the Bible. The Message is not a good study version, but with passages like this, clarity makes it an easier read. So, God created us in His image as man and woman. He blesses us and instructs us to reproduce (as man and woman) and fill the earth and manage everything He created. Now read I Corinthians chapter seven. DO NOT READ more of this book NOW! Read these Bible passages first. Starting a family is first marriage, then sexual relationship to reproduce children. Do not date a non Christian. If you are not a Christian yet, prayerfully consider if now is the time to get right with God and be set for the rest of your life ~ and all eternity.”
Questions to consider:  Does this strike a cord with you? Are you a grandparent or a parent? Are you a Christian? Are you dating? Are you dating the right person? Are you a dad? Do you desire to do the right thing at the right time?