What brings me hope

Grandparents can make a tremendous
difference in the lives of their grandchildren

As I prepared for a Hope Immersion Workshop for the  Grandparents as Parents (GaP) group, I thought about the many grandparents that I met during the crack cocaine epidemic in the nineties. Many of those grandparents were taking care of their children’s children because of the parents’ addictions. 

Through Mothers In Crisis, we would come along side of the grandparents and help them with programs for the kids and case management services for the families. 

I am delighted when one of the children who attended Mothers In Crisis’ Kids In Partnership Project calls and tells me how well they are doing, and I am saddened to hear about those who have fallen on hard times. As a grandmother, I am honored to be able to spend time with my grandchildren and help their parents because as the African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child.”

Grandparents can make a tremendous difference in the lives of their grandchildren. During a community outreach I had a hope chat with 26-year-old Davon Clark the grandson of Pastor Minnie Ford of Wings of a Dove Ministries and realized that he is a prime example of someone who has been positively impacted by their grandmother. 

Davon told me that he is a living miracle because he was born with crack-cocaine in his system and the doctors told his family that he would never be able to talk and that he would have health problems all of his life. Well, he is not only talking but he is also preaching the gospel.

Pastor Minnie said, “They said he wouldn’t talk but they never said he wouldn’t preach.”

She took him under her wings and Davon said that he would go to church with her all the time. He accepted the Lord and his call to preach at the early age of 12. Davon stated that he was ordained by his grandmother and has been preaching ever since and desires to be a pastor one day.

Right now Davon is attending TCC majoring in Criminal Justice and preparing to work in Law Enforcement. He also works as a mentor to help youth at Kingdom Life School and at the FSU library. He is a very humble, respectable, and positive young man. When I asked him what brings him hope he stated, “Knowing that God is always going to be there. Having an assurance is my insurance.”

To receive hope today please listen to “Think Hope Podcast” at www.blogtalkradio.com/thinkhope, Apple Podcast, Audible, and Amazon Radio.

Rosalind Tompkins, Ph.D. is author of “As Long As There Is Breath In Your Body, There Is Still Hope,” and other inspirational books. Tompkins is also founder of Turning Point International Church, the Chapel of Mothers In Crisis. She’s also founder of Turning Point International Alliance with ministries and churches in Pakistan, Nepal, Eswatini, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, and St. Vincent in the West Indies.