Contact: Tracy Nordyke, Legacy Project Coordinator, Christian Grandparenting Network, 503-641-1637, tnordyke@dotheword.org; Krystal Collazo, WDC Media PR, 877-862-3600, 786-566-2452, KrystalCollazo@wdcmedia.com
COLORADO SPRINGS, Dec. 15 /Christian Newswire/ -- Over the course of the last two generations, the number of families headed by grandparents has exploded – increasing by 76% from 1970 to 1997, according the US Census Bureau. The Bureau report cites factors such as parental drug abuse, teen pregnancy, divorce, single parent households, illness, neglect, crime and imprisonment as among the reasons that parents are abandoning the care of the children. These virtual orphans are often rescued from the foster care system by grandparents, who take their grandchildren into the home – essentially writing one generation out of the parenting picture.
Many children who undergo a family disintegration – even a disintegration into a relatively safe landing at grandma's house – experience serious negative consequences from the disruption in their physical, emotional and spiritual lives. Grandparents facing the unexpected challenge of raising children in their advanced years often find themselves having to scramble to keep up. There is one area, however, where grandparents raising their grandchildren have an advantage. The age and mature wisdom of the senior generation is of real spiritual benefit to the grandchild – when the grandparent is able to communicate these traditions and spiritual strengths across the generational gap. Christian Grandparenting Network, the nation's leading Christian ministry focused on reclaiming the unique role of grandparents within the Christian family, is promoting this transmission by giving away free copies of its popular "Legacy Journal" to any grandparent who needs tools and support to provide their grandchildren with a strong spiritual foundation.
Each copy of the Journal is a handsomely bound 40-page volume (usually retailing for $10.99) that grandparents complete for their grandchildren or together with their grandchildren – sharing family traditions, rebuilding bonds that may have been damaged when the original nuclear family fell apart, rediscovering family history and a sense of family as a special and protected place. The Legacy Journal is designed to spotlight the unique contributions that the Bible calls Christian grandparents to make in their families.
CGN founder Rev. Cavin Harper says "It's a tragedy when a family falls apart. When through God's grace a grandparent is there to catch the children, that grandparent-grandchild relationship and bond will become through necessity a foundation stone of the child's spiritual life. We created the Legacy Journal as a tool to strengthen that foundation – to start a foundation for those whose relationships are rocky, and to strengthen those relationships that are already firm."
Rev. Harper continues, "Dietrich Bonnhoeffer famously said that the righteous man lives for the next generation. But sometimes that next generation has left the picture, whether through accident or bad choices, and the righteous man must then look even further ahead. CGN is committed to helping Christian grandparents to create and expand the relational bond, and to share the knowledge and spiritual power that only a generational elder can transmit to the youngest Christians."
To encourage grandparents who are struggling to create these bonds, and to assist them in the quest to mold the youngest generation in a Godly path built on solid moral values, CGN is giving a "Legacy Journal" to any grandparent who wants to complete the Journal with their grandchildren. "The 'Legacy Journal' is more than an activity that grandparents and grandchildren do on a rainy Sunday afternoon," says Harper. "It can stand as a new foundation for a family's commitment to transmitting generational wisdom through the years."
CGN encourages families to get their copy of "The Legacy Journal" immediately, and to make it a priority to complete them together. Grandparents desiring a copy can request one online at www.legacyjournal.org or by contacting CGN at 719-522-1404. Supplies of "The Legacy Journal" are limited, so inquire soon to reserve your copy of this vital family resource.
Cavin Harper created ElderQuest Ministries (now called Christian Grandparenting Network) when his own parents and others expressed to him their own dissatisfaction with retirement. Rev. Harper realized that the role of idle retiree was not part of God's intention for family elders and founded CGN in order to help grandparents reclaim their rightful role and place in the family. Grandparents are a key element in proclaiming the goodness of God to the youngest members of each family, and their upright example and righteous living set paths for grandchildren that lead to positive and healthy outcomes. CGN provides free resources and events like its annual Grand Camps to assist the older generation in fulfilling their biblical role in the family, and in fulfilling God's plan for family structure.
