Dear Kaylee,
You went to the doctor on Monday. Guess what? You are a growing girl after two months! You gained about five pounds and you grew about three inches! Since you were a little over seven pounds when you were born, that means your weight went up over 70%! If Grandpa did that in the last two months, I would have gained over 150 pounds! I don’t care how much I like pizza, cherry pie, and donuts, I don’t think I could ever be an eating dynamo like you!
I would have to start wearing a muumuu like a favorite cartoon character for your mommy and me-
Homer Simpson.The good news is, you are supposed to gain as much weight as you want now, because all you are eating is your mommy’s milk. It’s good for you! And one invention I really love is the bottle. This way your daddy can feed you with your mommy’s milk, too. He get’s to see you tucked close and staring right in his eyes while you eat.
Grandpa gets to feed you, too. I find it fascinating that you know just when you have had enough. You wiggle your tongue around and move your head back and forth because you don’t want to suck the bottle anymore. If you do happen to eat more than you need, you take care off that, too. You spit up on my black shirt because I forget to put a cloth over my shoulder when I am holding you!
OK, I guess I have to make sure I have a cloth at all times after you eat. There is no way I am going to miss my post-meal “hugging, burping, squeezing” love time.
Or…
Maybe I am going to have to start wearing more white shirts.
Come on, Kaylee, I’m partial to black! I find it quite slimming. Are you going to be the source of a clothing shift for me? My granddaughter is already working on my ensemble?
O well, I guess I should have seen this coming. You see your mommy has always been my fashionista over the years. My “What to wear or not wear/ What to buy or not buy,” personal valet.
Your Nana always says, “Kristina, you go with dad,” whenever I go clothes shopping so your mommy can be Nana’s eyes while we are picking out clothes.
“Not thaaat shirt, dad!”
or-
“I think those shoes are really cool, dad, but mom’s not going to like them.”
O, that’s another thing, Kaylee, I’ll let you in on a little secret.
Your mommy has learned a lot from me because I am her daddy. How much Jesus loves us. How daddy’s love their daughters lots and lots and lots. How daddy’s love mommys lots and lots and lots. But, one thing I taught her that isn’t always a daddy thing?
Shoes and bags. I “love” shoes and bags.
So, guess what? Two of the favorite things your mommy likes to shop for?
Shoes and bags!
Hmmm, who knows, Kaylee? I can see a little shopping trio being formed sometime in our future…
Can hardly wait!
Love,
Grandpa
How To Be A Christian Without Being A Jerk
Faith in real life
Category Archives: Grandpa Diary
Grandpa Diary #19
Dear Kaylee,
What a special day you had yesterday! You are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. You are now a new child in God’s glorious Kingdom!You are my granddaughter, and now, you are my sister! When you get a little older we’ll talk about how that can be…
Something happened yesterday, Kaylee, that will have significance for eternity. When water was poured out over you, and God’s Word was spoken over you, God’s Spirit touched you with a kiss of new life, and you made sure everyone knew you were joining the rest of us in our battle against the spiritual forces of darkness. Your cry is our battle cry!
Some of our Christian brothers and sisters have a hard time using “warfare” type language when it comes to our faith, and I respect that. Yet, Grandpa is fond of looking at things from a slightly different angle, as you will certainly learn. So, here is what I think you have become part of, through Holy Baptism.
As Christians we aren’t fighting with bullets or bombs. We attack much deeper. We use love as our greatest weapon. Bullets and bombs may defeat and protect, but only love can pierce the soul. Until Jesus brings in God’s rule for good, Kaylee, I’m afraid there will be “wars and rumors of wars,” but, eventually, nothing is going to stop God’s love from winning.
You see, Kaylee, through Jesus, the victory is already complete. Now we are simply mopping up by taking no prisoners. By that I mean, we won’t leave anyone alone without experiencing the love of God. Not if we can help it. There isn’t a person you will ever meet whom God doesn’t love just as much as you. That’s why spreading God’s love and joy, bringing freedom and new life, is the greatest cause in the galaxies! If people want that new life, they get it. No matter who they are, and Kaylee, you need to know, we are God’s secret arsenal.
The way God reaches people is through us using God’s weapons of choice: love, joy, and forgiveness. I already know you are going to be a 5-star general in the “love” and “joy” category. You are already showing your expertise at that!
As far as the forgiveness part is concerned, this is going to have to be something you learn as you watch your mommy and daddy, as you watch me and Nana and all your other relatives; as you watch your brothers and sisters in the Christian Community. It’s up to us to teach you the forgiveness part.We will teach you about Jesus and how he makes forgiveness possible and we will teach you by modeling forgiveness given, and forgiveness received.
So, Kaylee, you let out your battle cry anytime you want. It sounds like victory to me…
Love,
Grandpa
Grandpa Diary #18
Dear Kaylee,
Well, your Nana’s mommy is visiting. Your mommy calls her, “Nana,” and that’s how your Nana got that name. Your mommy’s Nana loves you so much. Just like the rest of us. Uncle Greg is home for a couple of weeks before he starts school again. He wants to hold you and poke you and imitate you with your, “Eh, Eh,” sounds.
You will need to get use to Uncle Greg and Uncle David. They like to make a lot of sounds around the house. They like to caw like crows. They are very foolish sometimes and your Nana says it drives her crazy. I don’t know where your uncles learned to make such sounds…
So, Kaylee, now I have two more people in the house. That should make me happy, and it does, but it also means I am having to share my holding and hugging with everyone else. That’s all right, though, I suppose. There is enough loving to go around.
Here is what is fun. I get to see four generations of strong and beautiful women together.
Nana (sr.
)
Nana (jr.
Mommy
KayleeI love all of these women in my life. They are a part of who I am. I’m glad you are catching up, Kaylee. You are changing my life, too. Even physically. You are expanding my heart and you are making my face hurt-
So many smiles…
Love,
Grandpa
Grandpa Diary #17
Dear Kaylee,
Guess what? I get to see you a lot now! Your mommy is back at work and Nanna is taking care of you during the day. That means I get to see you, too! We spend about an hour together before I leave for work. Also, one day a week, I am going to take care of you, too. I get to watch you grow, grow, grow. At least after finishing three bottles on Friday- it looks like it!
Your mommy is glad to be back teaching her students, but she is sad because she isn’t with you all the time. It’s alright, though, because Nanna knows all about mommy stuff. After all, she is your mommy’s mommy. She is a math teacher like your mommy, too, so I guess you could say they are similar in many ways.
Your mommy teaches mainly 8th and 9th graders how to do math. These kids don’t usually like math because it is hard for them. Your mommy is a really good teacher and she gets along with the students, even if she is a little tough on them. They even asked her to give the graduation speech last year! They think she is fun to talk with, and they like to talk to her about things other than math. I know they are especially excited to talk about you! You visited your mommy at school on her first day back. So, now they know that Kaylee is a real, live baby!
Some day you will start going to school, too. In the meantime, you are in the school of life and you are learning what it means to be our little Kaylee. That’s my favorite subject!
Love,
Grandpa
Grandpa Diary #16
Dear Kaylee,
I just got back from a weekend spending time with young men who are in prison. This was a wonderful time to share God’s love. I made sure everyone had a chance to see a picture of how precious you are! I told them how much your mommy and your daddy and the rest of us love you. I used you as an example of what a gift it is for God to give me such a beautiful granddaughter!
A lot happened over the weekend. What a joy it was to see these men transformed right before our very eyes into people of hope! They couldn’t resist God’s love that kept pouring out from us, and his love was pouring out from them towards us and towards each other.
It was a sad weekend, too. It would be hard for you to understand how mommies and daddies might hurt their children. But, it happens. It would be impossible for you to understand how mommies and daddies might not want their children in their lives. But, it happens.
If you can imagine the worst things for a child to experience, that’s what what most of these young men experienced growing up. For some, no daddies in their life. For some, daddies who hit mommies and hit their children. For some, no mommies or daddies to take care of them. For some, they had to take care of themselves when they were 10 or 11…
No birthday parties.
Never hearing, “I love you.”
What must that be like??
You won’t know what that will be like, Kaylee. This will be something you will never experience. You are our own precious Kaylee, and we will protect, provide for, and love you with all of our hearts.
And that’s what is so amazing about God’s love! Growing up in that kind of love, makes it possible for you to share this love and watch it pour out to others.
Who knows, maybe some day you will join me, reaching out to young men or young women in prison, letting them know that God is their Heavenly “Daddy”- who will never let them go. Maybe someday, you will be God’s messenger who declares,
“There is freedom in Jesus!”
Love,
Grandpa
Grandpa Diary #15
Dear Kaylee,
We spent much time together this weekend. I saw you Friday, Saturday, and Monday. One interesting thing that happened is your eyes changed in only a few days! It seems all of a sudden, they are much bluer. I could look into those eyes all day.
I wonder what goes on behind those eyes? You are taking in so much of the world and processing it for the first time. Every time you see something for the first time, it creates a new world for you. Same with sound, same with touch, same with smell; you are a living, learning human being.
For example, your backyard is being changed at your house. New landscaping, electrical wiring being put in, lights being put up, even a whole cement slab was torn out. When all this is going on, there is a lot of noise. It doesn’t seem to bother you, but I wonder what happens when the work is done? Will the quiet be different for you? I guess we could could hook you up to some instruments and measure your stress level, but I don’t think that is necessary.
Babies go with the flow. What you are learning quickly is you can’t control what is happening around you, but you can work on how you respond. You seem to be doing well. You sleep when you are tired and you eat when you are hungry. Mommys and daddys, grandmas and grandpas, we don’t always do so well on those two simple things. We don’t always sleep well, even though we are tired, and we don’t eat so well; we skip meals, grab easy, but not-good-for-you meals, we might even not have an appetite, or we eat way too much!
A lot of this has to do with worry. It does us well to stop and think about babies like you, Kaylee. You don’t worry about things like sleep or what you eat. You just do it because you know the people who love you will take care of what you need.
You expect it.
The one who takes care of all of us is God. What if we live our lives like you, expecting that the one who loves us will give us what we need?
Sleeping and eating? No, problem…
Love,
Grandpa
Grandpa Diary #14
Dear Kaylee,
I saw you twice this weekend! We’re getting more and more acquainted to this granddaughter/grandpa routine. I’m loving it. How about you?
Also, something else special is happening. It is always a treat to get to see your mommy, too, of course, but what is fun for me is I get to see your daddy a lot, too!
You see, Kaylee, I know your mommy as well as anyone, except your Nana (that’s what you’ll call your Grandma Hanson), and your daddy. You are going to be one who knows your mommy as much as anyone, too! Yet, when it comes to your daddy, I don’t know him as well. So, the more I see him, the more I get to know him.
Your daddy is a hard worker. He is getting lots of things done with the new house. He also is figuring out what this daddy stuff is all about. He loves being around you, but just like me and the rest of the daddys who have their first child, he is trying to measure what it means to be a daddy, too.
Your daddy does well at measuring. I have watched him with the tape measure several times, hooking up a washer, dryer, and stove, but that’s measuring in inches. When it comes to being a daddy, the unit of measurement is love.
Kaylee, guess what? They don’t have a tape measure long enough for your daddy to measure how much he loves you! He is figuring that one out quickly…
Love,
Grandpa
Grandpa Diary #13
Dear Kaylee,
You are over a month old now! I got to celebrate that special day in the usual way. Going to see you and then holding you for a long, long time. Had to change your diaper twice though, so what’s up with that? I guess I need to time my visits better. I don’t mind though, as I am seeing how quickly I can change you. Need to get a stopwatch…
Kaylee, I notice when I set you up on my knee now, you look over at your mommy. She is becoming your Sun and you are a planet orbiting around her. It’s just how it should be. God designs us so that our moms and dads become anchors in our lives from the beginning.
The first and most important lesson you need to learn is that you are totally safe and secure in God’s loving arms. Now, since you can’t see God you will think that doesn’t make sense. That’s one of the reasons Jesus came to earth. When he was living in our world, he didn’t see God, either. But, he lived like God was right there and he spoke with God like he was right there. Well, where do you think he learned that?
From watching his mommy and daddy. Jesus learned about God through spending time with his mommy and daddy. The Bible says this about Jesus as a boy.
“Then he returned to Nazareth with his mommy and daddy and learned from them deeply (Luke 2:51).”
This is why it says “Don’t be afraid” in the Bible so many times. Living in God’s Kingdom we are totally and completely safe no matter what. We figure this out from the very beginning in the loving arms of our mommy and daddy…
…or even the loving hands of our hyperspeed diaper-changing machine Grandpa!
Love,
Grandpa
Grandpa Diary #12
Dear Kaylee,
I visited you last night, with your Uncle David. We only stopped by for 10 minutes as we “happened to be in the neighborhood” (though you are 27 miles away). Uncle David started laughing and said,
“Gees, dad. ‘Kaylee this and Kaylee that.’”
Then we got into a discussion with your mommy about why I get such a kick being around you, and did Uncle David feel the same way? Obviously, you are my granddaughter, so it isn’t a tough to figure out for my part, but what about Uncle David?
You are his first niece or nephew. Being an uncle has been exciting for him and your Uncle Greg. But, then your mommy said something very insightful.
“Dad, you are so excited because you have already had kids and you know how much you love them. David is excited, too, but once he has kids of his own, then he will be thrilled, but probably less excited with other nieces/ nephews that come along.”
This makes so much sense. Although I love my nieces and nephews very much, and love the children of my extended family, there is just something about being a grandpa that goes way deeper than that.
My baby girl has a baby girl.
The chance to experience what other grandparents have taught me over the years.
A focus for your grandma and me that really brings out pure joy and makes us appreciate more what we have together.
I know we are parents, and adore your mommy and your uncles, but that isn’t always a joyous occasion We are growing to love and appreciate your daddy, too. We share friends together and ministry together and all the rest, but, with you there is just smiles that almost hurt because they are stretching our faces so much! I think about it this way.
We are growing to love and appreciate your daddy, too. We share friends together and ministry together and all the rest, but, with you there is just smiles that almost hurt because they are stretching our faces so much! I think about it this way.When daddy’s and mommy’s have babies, it doesn’t automatically strengthen their marriage. Having children is amazing, but it is also super tough and God’s grace goes a long way!
Yet, when mommy’s and daddy’s kids grow up and they start having children, it does seem to really build up grandmas and grandpas in their own marriage, if they let it. It brings a surprising amount of joy.
Kaylee, you are a fountain of joy pouring over your grandma and me right now.
Not a shock. God is really good with fountains…
Love,
Grandpa
God loves babies Dana Hanson Show #35
Why does God love babies so much? Maybe, like us, it’s the little things…
