The window in my dining room is smeared with handprints that my grandson left this morning. He was looking at the Blue Spruce tree my husband and I planted in our garden the month he was born. We named the tree in his honor. I noted his handprints were much higher that the ones he left the first time he crawled to the window as a baby and pulled himself up to peek outside – or even when he pressed his face against the window six months ago. Both he and the tree have grown at a surprising rate.
The tip-top of his tree was eye level to me when it first found a home in our garden. Now it is about twice as tall as I am. And that’s not because I’m shrinking, well, maybe a little. The real reason this tree is growing is because it gets the optimal blend of sun, water, and fertile soil. I thought about that a few weeks ago while I was spreading fertilizer around the base of the tree.
All living things need to be nourished, trees and children alike. But unlike trees, children need nourishment beyond what will help them grow physically. As beings created in the image of God, we each have a soul that needs spiritual nourishment to reach fullness of life in Christ. All who have placed their faith in Christ are children of God. And we all need the Word of God, the only food that offers more than the best balanced diet can hope to provide: everlasting life. As grandparents, it is our assigned duty to nourish our children’s children in this way.
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
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