[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fall-she-does":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fall-she-does-surround":85},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":10,"columnName":67,"date":68,"description":5,"extension":69,"image":70,"meta":71,"minRead":72,"navigation":73,"path":74,"postType":75,"publication":76,"publicationUrl":70,"seo":77,"stem":78,"topics":79,"__hash__":84},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fall-she-does.md","All She Does",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9],"",{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":64},"minimark",[13,16,19,22,25,28,31,34,37,40,43,46,49,52,55,58,61],[14,15,5],"p",{},[14,17,18],{},"Publication: The Lookout",[14,20,21],{},"Date: January 19, 2003",[14,23,24],{},"Column: First Look",[14,26,27],{},"Category: Family; Babies; Grandparents",[14,29,30],{},"All she does is expect people to wait on her hand and foot. At least that's how it seems. She depends completely on others for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.",[14,32,33],{},"She can't talk, walk, read a book, or write a letter.",[14,35,36],{},"She doesn't hold down a job, earn a salary, pay taxes, or contribute anything to the nation's economy.",[14,38,39],{},"She doesn't even contribute to the care of the household. She doesn't clean her room, mow the lawn, or wash the dishes.",[14,41,42],{},"She doesn't help out at church. She doesn't teach a Sunday school class, sing with the worship team, or volunteer to help with Vacation Bible School. She doesn't tithe; in fact, she has never personally given the church a dime.",[14,44,45],{},"She has no diploma on her wall. For that matter, she has never gone to school a day in her life.",[14,47,48],{},"She doesn't own a cell phone, a computer, or a car. Her wardrobe is utterly uncomplicated.",[14,50,51],{},"But then, that's what you'd expect from someone who is only four months old. Abigail Mae Webster is my granddaughter—my first grandchild. Most of the time, all she does is eat, sleep, and cry. But for such a little person, Abbie has had a big impact on a lot of people since she entered the world at a petite five pounds, 12 ounces. For one thing, she makes her parents (my daughter and son-in-law) get a lot less sleep. And whenever they drive somewhere, they lug along diaper bags, bottles, car seats, blankets, and stacks of other paraphernalia that didn't exist back in the good old days.",[14,53,54],{},"I'm still adjusting to my role as a grandfather. So far I've been able to avoid changing her, but in a different way, Abbie already has changed me. She brightens my day just to think about her. She makes dignified grownups act silly—cooing, making funny faces, talking baby talk. Suddenly, my wife and I have joined the ranks of all those other grandparents who show photos to anyone who will look at them. Abbie also causes me to think differently about the future. What will the world be like when she goes to college in 2020? Abbie was born on September 11. I interpret her birthday as a sign of joy and hope on an otherwise melancholy day.",[14,56,57],{},"Actually, lots of people depend on others for some or all of their care. Some of them have mental disabilities; some are very sick; some are experiencing the debilitating effects of old age. From a purely utilitarian point of view, people like these don't contribute much to society. Or do they? As someone has said, we aren't \"human doings,\" we're human beings. And even those who can't do much are still someone's son or daughter, someone's father or mother, someone's brother or sister, someone's friend. Most of all, they are God's creations, formed in his image, profoundly loved by the Father in Heaven.",[14,59,60],{},"My little granddaughter can't really \"do\" anything, and that's OK. About all she does is lie there in my arms, breathing quietly, sleeping peacefully.",[14,62,63],{},"And for now at least, that's all she needs to do.",{"title":9,"searchDepth":65,"depth":65,"links":66},2,[],"First Look","2003-01-19","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fall-she-does","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":5},"articles\u002Fall-she-does",[80,81,82,83],"Intergenerational Ministry","Church Leadership","Biblical Theology","Discipleship","WhBN61sMkSOkiw_ps5hR0BKcHeO3lJ9c97-Q18R9r-s",[86,91],{"title":87,"path":88,"stem":89,"description":90,"children":-1},"Aging Gracefully","\u002Farticles\u002Faging-gracefully","articles\u002Faging-gracefully","One day my daughter asked me matter-of-factly, \"Dad, when you were a boy, did you dress like the Pilgrims?\" I assured her that I wasn't quite that old. (I'm 42.) But her question did make me ponder the way we view aging.",{"title":92,"path":93,"stem":94,"description":95,"children":-1},"All Sufficient Grace for Even Me","\u002Farticles\u002Fall-sufficient-grace-for-even-me","articles\u002Fall-sufficient-grace-for-even-me","On an arid Arabian mountainside, a shepherd took a hard look at himself and asked, \"Who am I to be a leader?\" After all, he wasn't a good public speaker, and his hot temper sometimes got him into trouble—including one time in the past when he killed a man who was mistreating one of his countrymen. Was God's grace sufficient for Moses?"]