The Blessing by Gary Smalley and John Trent (published by Thomas Nelson Inc. in 1985) explains the need that children of all ages have for the approval of their parents and how they can suffer by not receiving this. It explains how we can bestow this blessing on anyone we come in contact with, but especially our own beloved children and grandchildren.

The blessing is based on five elements building one upon the other and is backed by examples in Scripture such as Isaac blessing Jacob and Jesus blessing the little children.

Meaningful touch. The symbolic meaning of touch even in today's society is expressed by our granddaughters when they proclaim that they want Grandma to hold them.

Spoken words. A great way for grandparents to do this and to also tie it into the third element, expressing high value, is in bestowing your grandchild with a special name, such as "Grandma's Bundle of Joy" or "Grandma's Ray of Sunshine." Both of my little granddaughters know their own special name and call themselves by it quite often.

Picturing a special future. Thankfully we can point our children to God's Kingdom throughout the year and especially at Feast time.

Active commitment. This includes committing our children to God and committing our lives to their best interest. This means being willing to learn their unique needs, talents, abilities and interests and seeing to it that they are able to develop these as fully as possible. Many examples abound of parents who sacrifice for years so that their children can be figure skating champions like Tara Lipinski or Todd Eldredge, for example.