At the end of the book of Ruth is a marvelous passage that speaks deeply to my heart - and perhaps also to yours, if you have the blessing of grandchildren in your life:
"So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, 'Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! And may he be to you a restorer of life and nourisher of your old age..."
This little boy, Naomi's grandson, became Jesse's father and King David's grandfather. And we know that King David's line would eventually include Messiah Yeshua. What a blessing indeed!
I was pondering all that as I stayed with three of my grandchildren for the past four days and nights while their parents were away. They are restorers of life to me. They are sweet and funny and fill my heart with joy. I spent some one-on-one time with my nine-year-old grandson Jackson last Friday because he was sick. We had the day together, snuggling and talking. At one point he was telling me, "Nana, when I grow up I'm going to live on a big ranch out in the country." I marveled, "Wow, if you do, and you let me live with you on your ranch, I'll clean your mansion and cook your meals!" His huge, deep brown eyes looked up at me with such honor and he said, "Oh no. You will always be my Nana - not my maid."
The next day he felt better and we went to the Family Dollar Store before picking up his sisters. I spotted a little tabletop charcoal grill for $14.00 and bought it to replace the old rusted-out yucky one sitting on my back deck. When we got back home, Jackson brought the grill in and immediately began to assemble it, using his dad's screwdriver and figuring out all the assembly instructions himself. I was amazed - I can't do that! But he said, "I wanted to put your new grill together for you, and then if you'll give me the old one I can scrub it up and use it in my back yard." Wow. I'm his Nana, not his maid.
My grandchildren restore life to me and it seems I can look forward to them nourishing me in my old age. Blessed be the LORD who has not left me without a close relative - in fact, blessed be the LORD who has graced my life with ELEVEN grandchildren!
I wonder if one day one of them may be famous in Israel? Smile.
