Special time with grandchildren

A conversation in 1988 planted a mustard seed that blessed our family. 

As a result of a story told by Grover Hastings, Gail and I’ve taken each grandchild on a special trip when they turned twelve years old. 

Every destination, every restaurant choice, every adventure revealed something unique about that grandchild—and taught us lessons we never expected to learn. 

In this episode, I'll tell the story of these unforgettable trips, the rule inspired by a request to visit Jerusalem, and why some of our family's most treasured memories began with one simple idea from a friend.

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When you find a "mustard seed," please share the address of this podcast with a friend:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2369804

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113 Special time with grandchildren

A conversation in 1988 planted a mustard seed that blessed our family. 

As a result of a story told by Grover Hastings, Gail and I’ve taken each grandchild on a special trip when they turned twelve years old. 

Every destination, every restaurant choice, every adventure revealed something unique about that grandchild—and taught us lessons we never expected to learn. 

In this episode, I'll tell the story of these unforgettable trips, the rule inspired by a request to visit Jerusalem, and why some of our family's most treasured memories began with one simple idea from a friend.

This mustard seed was planted more than 35 years ago. Grover Hastings, the preacher for the Northside church in Nashville, told me about a practice he and his wife had of taking their grandchildren on a 12-year-old trip.

When each grandchild reached that age, they planned a trip with that special grandchild.

It’d be more than a decade until Gail and I were ready to implement the idea.

I decided we needed some rules so we could treat each grandchild in a similar way.

1. The grandchild would select the destination. Gail and I would choose the motel.
2. The grandchild would choose where we ate and the activities we did on his or her trip.
3. We gave each grandchild $100. They could spend $50 on themselves and use the remaining $50 to buy gifts for others.

Two years before Elizabeth was to go on her trip, we discussed it during our family vacation in the Smoky Mountains. We asked her where she’d like to go.

She paused and said, "I've always thought…I’d like to go to…Jerusalem." That inspired another rule.

The trip will be within 300 miles of Nashville.

Elisabeth heard her dad tell about trips that Gail and I took Jerrie Wayne and Christi on when they were about that age. She wanted to go to the Mammoth Cave area of Kentucky. We stayed at the Wigwam Village #2 in Cave City. 

We took the half-day tour of Mammoth Cave, rode the alpine slide, and visited Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Hodgenville, Kentucky. We toured my old Kentucky home in Bardstown and saw the outdoor musical, the Stephen Foster Story.

The next four grandchildren, Whitney, Brittan, Braden, and Dalton, chose the Smoky Mountains as their destination. For 32 years, we've taken a family vacation in that area.

We stayed in different motels. We did different activities based on each grandchild's choices:  Clingman's Dome, Dollywood, Ripley’s Aquarium, miniature golf, Gatlinburg Sky Lift, Parrot Mountain and Gardens, Cades Cove, Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, Cherokee, North Carolina, and Christus Gardens.

Because of a friend's generosity, we were able to stay with one grandchild at the house on the grounds of Cristus Gardens. It was built in the mid-1800s. One of the most enjoyable activities of that trip was playing in the creek near that cabin.

Wyatt Huston, the last to take the trip, wanted to go to Memphis. We went to Graceland, the Memphis Zoo, Sky Zone Trampoline Park, the Pink Palace (Museum of Science & History), and a Red Birds ballgame.

Observations

• Not everyone has to do it the way we did it or to do it at all.
• Our trips were four days, three nights
• We planned each trip during summer vacation or school fall break.
• We enjoyed worship and/or Wednesday Bible study on each trip.
• Each grandchild was different and had different preferences.
• One selected Captain D’s as the favorite place for meals.
• Another didn’t care. Gail told her that we wouldn’t eat until she made the choice. She gladly chose good places for the rest of the trip.
• Our favorite places to go and restaurants to eat aren’t our grandchildren’s favorite places.
• I’m thankful to Grover Hastings for planting this "mustard seed” in 1988. It’s blessed our family repeatedly since that time.
• What "mustard seed” will I plant, discover, or produce today?