Sandy and Denny Freeman
Hey, my friend, what will your family and friends remember you for? What will be your legacy? Have you ever wondered about that?
A longtime friend of mine has decided exactly what he wants to do. He wants to share what he has learned about dealing with life with his grandchildren (and others).
“Parents and grandparents hold a special position in the lives of their children, grandchildren,’ says Denny Freeman.
“Grandparents have a privelage to speak to grandkids in a way parents don‘t. As grandparents there’s a lot of knowledge we can pass on.”
Denny has gained a lifetime of unique experiences over the years. He has been an executive for a Northern Michigan grocery store chain (Glen’s Markets), helped to found and pastored a church in Johannesburg, Michigan and been in a position to advise various groups and organizations over the years. He and his wife, Sandy, have been married for 60 years.
In fact, Denny and Sandy wrote a book together in 2015 , “Just Because ... Two People Fell in Love,” about their love story and what keeps them together.
It was just after this, Denny was given the idea of writing a newsletter to his grandchildren to encourage them in their life now and their life ahead. Denny and Sandy have six children and 17 grandchildren.
So, he began sending out monthly newsletters to his various grand-children. He does the writing and
Sandy is editor. Denny notes more than once Sandy has nixed his articles for being too complicated and sent him back to his computer to try again.
After seven years, Denny decided to collect many of these into a book which could benefit others.
His newsletters cover a variety of topics: faith; leadership and identity; marriage; parenting; grandparenting;and even business. And his website, www.farmerd1.com, contains even more like communication, relationships, work ethic, persistence and more.
And with 17 grandchildren, he really has to make his message simple enough for the younger grandchildren but wise enough with good advice for the older ones, as well.
In the book, most articles vary from about two to three pages. This makes it both a simple read and short enough to not go beyond most kids’ attention spans.
Here is an excerpt from the chapter, “Eight Steps to Discovering Your Unique God-given Talents”:
I use the acronym CREATIVE to provide eight tips on embracing your uniqueness.
Creation: Realize God created you, and you’ll find your purpose in life through knowing and serving Him.
Relationships: Strengthen your friendships. It’s important to have good friends, but you also need one or two close friends who really believe in you and are honest with you.
Eliminate: Stop worrying about what others say or might be thinking about you. Most of the time people aren’t thinking about you like you think they are. If you are friends with toxic people who pull you down, I recommend you develop new friends who have positive values and healthy attitudes.
Appreciate: Celebrate your positive qualities instead of focusing on your shortcomings. Learn to take pride in what you do well, instead of punishing yourself for what you can’t do.
Talents and Abilities: Realize your gifts and develop them. The key is to use your talents and abilities once you’ve found them.
Invest: Cultivate your spiritual life. Going to church is a great way to find friends, but your spiritual life is more than that.Much more! It’s about getting to know the One who created you [through prayer and reading the Bible].
Value: Engage in positive self-talk. Realize you could be your biggest critic. When you look in the mirror say one or two of your unique qualities out loud. (Do this exercise whenever you are feeling
down about yourself) Realize you’re one of a kind, created by God who loves you and already knows your future.
Embrace: Appreciate your uniqueness. Don’t be something you aren’t. Many times,we admire someone else’s talents, so we try to be like them. You may not have their abilities, so be you with your unique gifts. You bring the reality of God and His Son to each day.
Since God designed you, He knows what you need to be happy, healthy and fulfilled.
Denny does not believe in forcing anything on anyone. Especially not faith.
“You can’t force someone to get saved. They have to make that choice.”
However, he does believe Grandparents are in a unique position to share their wisdom in many areas of their life with their grandchildren. Grandparents have the years of experience to look back on their lives and see where they made their own mistakes with greater clarity. They also know when they made their best decisions.
Denny now offers his newsletters to the general public, as well as his grandkids. You can subscribe at www.farmerd1.com and also read more articles there.
His book is available at local bookstores.
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