I know there are millions, billions, of grandchildren on this planet. I haven’t evaluated all of them, but I have had enough life experience to assess a bunch. In my humble opinion, I refined the potential pool to just ten exceptional grandchildren. This list is my opinion, but then, I don’t put as much stock in your opinions as I do in mine.
Of my top ten list of grandchildren, the one holding the number one position is the one I am within the “now.” If more than one is present, they share the distinction! Often, I had to navigate the troubling waters when one of the ten persisted in claiming the ”favorite of the favored” position exclusively.
Blake is the grandson who holds the number four in birth order. Last year, Blake celebrated his sixteenth birthday and claimed his role as a certified Tennessee driver. Not long after his seventh birthday, he skipped right over being seventeen by entering into “next year, I’ll be eighteen.” He wasn’t seventeen very long, but then, as best as I can remember, I did the same.
Blake and I meet up for supper occasionally. He asked me if I would let his mother call the school so he could get out to have lunch. It is interesting to me that he wants me to call his mom. The boy is shrewd! I like it. But I didn’t make the call. We met last Thursday at the McAlister’s on Indian Lake Boulevard in Hendersonville. He will be very busy with college, work, and a new set of mobile friends in another year or two. It will be harder for me to fit into his schedule. So, every moment I have with him is treasured.
From my perspective, this is my window of opportunity to infuse the values I value most in him. I understand that those values are born on the wings of our relationship. I don’t have a goal to tell him as much as to show him what holds and molds my life. That means Blake is of immense value to the quality of my life. My life is meaningful because He is in it.
I gave you all that information to find a starting point for telling you a story he told me. Last week, our area had a snowfall of four to five inches. The next day, the roads were clear enough for him to get out. Blake was invited over to a friend’s house. The friend’s drive starts downhill and then turns uphill until it reaches a flat where the house sits. The driveway was clear of snow and ice except for a patch of ice just as the uphill peaked at the flat. Try as he may, he could not get his truck past that patch of ice. Each time the drive wheels would start spinning, the forward momentum was exchanged for gravity momentum, taking him back down the hill.
Just another yard or two, and all would be well. But that couple of yards were impassable. After several attempts, he called his friend, who came and got him in a four-wheeler. We laughed as he articulated his adventure with facial expressions and hand gestures.
I enjoyed revisiting that time with Blake on the way home when his story resonated with my real life. I could identify with the frustration of getting close but not quite reaching a goal. You probably can, too. Everything you need to achieve the desired goal is under your control, at least in your power. The truck ran as it should. He had climbed that hill before and never had a problem. But those few feet of ice were just enough to be a barrier to arriving at his destination.
Blake’s desire to spend time with his buddy was strong enough to find a solution to his stifled mobility. He could have just called his friend and told him he could not make it. But he asked for help and got it! The experience was a light-hearted inconvenience and maybe a bit embarrassing, but he humbled himself to get where he wanted to go.
Here is where Blake’s icy adventure became an example, or reminder, to me and maybe you: Most successful accomplishments require humility. It’s hard to get from “go” to “goal” without the help of the people around us. Real life-changing strength requires humility. My point of need is the exact point of someone else’s point of service. A double point of glory is given to our Creator.
Someone you know is stuck in their life journey on a small patch of ice. Their wheels are spinning, but they are making zero progress. Just a few words of encouragement will get them on the traction side of their journey.
Maybe your supply of dispensable encouragement is depleted, or you are conserving it for the “special” people who deserve it. Don’t be stingy with your actions and words of encouragement. Generosity in spreading encouragement has a way of replenishing itself at the source.
I find a principle of generosity in Jesus’ explanation of why he taught in parables.
10 Then the disciples came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?
11 He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. 12 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. (Matthew 13:10-12 Christian Standard Bible)
Photo – I don’t remember when or where I took this picture. I’m not sure Blake would appreciate having his picture published.
Baldwin Heirlooms 