--- id: 20150401_blessings_of_grandchildren title: BLOG - The Blessings of Grandchildren category: Biblical Life Counsel predicted_narrative_arc: family-memory-to-gods-sovereign-plan sentiment: Grateful emotions: - Tender - Grateful - Worshipful keypoints: - Dean spends time with grandson Morgan at an air-museum birthday in Dallas - An O-2A FAC aircraft from Dean's Vietnam squadron becomes a living history lesson - Morgan's comment — glad grandpa flew that plane because others crashed — captures the day - Dean credits God, not only the airplane, with keeping him alive - Jeremiah 29:11 frames God's good plans, future, and hope summary: > Dean Rush recounts a grandson's air-museum birthday where an O-2A from his Vietnam FAC squadron becomes a shared moment with Morgan. He thanks God for preserving his life and cites Jeremiah 29:11 — plans for good, a future and a hope — as the frame for rough seasons and gentle reminders of divine care. tags: - blog - invention - grandchildren - family - aviation - vietnam - jeremiah-29 - providence - hope - dean-rush sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 8 entropy: 3 sample: false consent: owner_approved agent: blog created: '2015-04-01' updated: '2026-09-09T00:00:00Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: BLOG prefix: BLOG enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: manual pipeline_filename: BLOG_2015-04-01_the-blessings-of-grandchildren.md source_kind: blog_article proposed_topic: Wisdom lane: Wisdom voice: desk active_voice: desk voices: - desk routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: Wisdom content_status: active date: '2015-04-01' share_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/the-blessings-of-grandchildren source_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/the-blessings-of-grandchildren site_category: Invention archive_month: 2015-04 description: > Dean shares a grandson's air-museum birthday, an O-2A from his Vietnam unit, and Jeremiah 29:11 as proof that God's plan carried him into present blessings. --- # The Blessings of Grandchildren **Author:** Dean Rush **Original post:** [deanrush.net/blog/the-blessings-of-grandchildren](https://deanrush.net/blog/the-blessings-of-grandchildren) **Archive month:** April 2015 · **Site category:** Invention > Voice note: Everything under **Dean's article** is Dean's original prose (lightly cleaned of HTML/image artifacts only). Sections marked **Biblical foundations**, **Scholar sidebar**, **Takeaways**, and **First-time learner** are enrichment for Asker / first readers — not Dean speaking. --- ## Biblical foundations (preface) Dean receives a grandson's birthday as living proof that God oversaw dangerous years and still holds a good plan (Jeremiah 29:11). The enrichment below does not replace his story; it shows the wider biblical frame for providence, children, and hope. | Dean's claim | Scriptural undercarriage | | --- | --- | | Grandchildren are a blessing worth savoring | Children's children are a crown (Proverbs 17:6); children are a heritage from the Lord (Psalm 127:3–5) | | God managed survival through tenuous wartime years | Our times are in His hand (Psalm 31:15); He delivers from death (Psalm 68:20) | | God has plans for good, future, and hope | Jeremiah 29:11–12; all things work together for good for those who love God (Romans 8:28) | | Rough seasons do not cancel His care | Weeping may last for the night (Psalm 30:5); He will never leave you (Hebrews 13:5) | --- ## Dean's article ### A birthday at the air museum ![Dean and Morgan at the O-2A from Dean's original post](https://deanrush.net/Portals/0/images/article/Morgan%20and%20I%20at%20O%40A.jpg) Over the past few days I have had the pleasure of spending time with our 6 year old grandson and attending his birthday party in Dallas. When our kids were growing up thier birthday parties consisted of a cake, sometimes ice cream , one gift, and a few friends. This party was held at an air museum at Addison Airport in Dallas, attended by 16 friends of our grandson, and all the parents. It may sound like an extravagant birthday party for a 6 year old and it was, however, our daughter had won the event at a benefit. There were airplanes on display from nearly every era of flight from the early 1900's to the present. It was not only fun for the kids , but also for me to reminisce about some of the old airplanes I had flown, seen, or been around during my time in the Air Force. They even had an O-2A Forward Air Control ( FAC) aircraft that had served in the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron, my outfit in Vietnam. I was able to show Morgan, my grandson, the airplane , the instruments we used for flying, and have him stand inside the bird so I could allow him to experience some of the environment I have described. I told him how the plane always seemed to bring me home alive from missions.. His only comment was, "grandpa I am glad you flew this kind of plane because some others crashed". Simply put, that was the comment of the day because he said it all. That little twin engine airplane somehow helped keep me alive for a very trying time in my past. I also recognize that it was not just the airplane but also the fact that God was in charge of the entire experience. > **Scholar sidebar — Heritage and providence** > Proverbs 17:6 calls grandchildren a crown of the aged; Psalm 127 treats children as the Lord's heritage. Dean's museum moment is that theology in khaki and aluminum: a boy standing in the aircraft that once carried his grandfather through Vietnam. Psalm 31:15 — "My times are in your hand" — underwrites Dean's insistence that God, not only the airframe, governed the outcome. ### Plans for good — Jeremiah 29:11 God does manage and oversee everything we experience. I love Jeremiah 29:11 in the bible that says: **"For the Lord has great plans for you,"says the Lord. " Plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. "** God has a way of making us appreciate life and His plans that make it so special. Seeing that old airplane with a grandson who I might never have seen had that bird not been so reliable was well worth the time spent at that museum. God used the airplane to make it possible for me to enjoy a simple birthday with my grandson and a reminder of how He never relented from engaging His plan for my life. I was able to endure very tenuous times in the past because God planned the outcome in advance. There may have been some rough times in your life, but the fact that God is there to keep us in His plan, reinforces His love and confidence He has for our future. I pray that you will understand God's plan for your life."Thank you Lord for gentle reminders of your love and care throughout life." Amen! > **Scholar sidebar — Jeremiah 29:11 in context** > Jeremiah 29 addresses exiles in Babylon — people in a hard place — with a letter that forbids false shortcuts and promises God's long-range good (29:4–14). Verse 11's "plans for welfare and not for evil" is not a guarantee of easy birthdays; it is covenant hope for a people who must wait and pray (v. 12). Dean applies it personally: wartime survival and a grandson's laugh become evidence that God did not abandon the plan. Romans 8:28 and Psalm 30:5 sing the same tune — present roughness does not cancel future joy under God's hand. --- ## Takeaways 1. **Grandchildren as living blessing.** Time with Morgan is not filler; it is treasure Dean wants named as gift. 2. **History shared, not hoarded.** The O-2A becomes a bridge between Vietnam memory and a six-year-old's wonder. 3. **Child's theology.** Morgan's line — glad you flew that plane because others crashed — says what adults overcomplicate. 4. **God over the airplane.** Dean refuses to credit hardware alone; God was in charge of the whole experience. 5. **Jeremiah 29:11 for rough seasons.** God's plans for good, future, and hope are offered to readers still in tenuous times. --- ## First-time learner ### What is Dean saying in one sentence? A grandson's birthday beside an old warplane is God's gentle reminder that He planned your survival and still holds a future and a hope. ### Why does he quote Jeremiah 29:11? Because the museum joy only makes sense if God oversaw the dangerous years that made a grandfather possible — and Jeremiah names that oversight as purposeful love, not luck. ### Key verses to read with this post - **Jeremiah 29:11–12** — Plans for good, a future and a hope; He listens when you pray. - **Proverbs 17:6** — Grandchildren are a crown. - **Psalm 127:3–5** — Children are a heritage from the Lord. - **Psalm 31:15** — My times are in Your hand. - **Romans 8:28** — God works all things for good for those who love Him. - **Hebrews 13:5** — He will never leave you nor forsake you. ### A simple practice (Dean's challenge made concrete) This week: (1) thank God for one person whose life proves His past care, (2) tell a younger family member one true story of how God carried you, (3) pray Jeremiah 29:11–12 over a rough place you still face. ### How this feeds Ask Dean This post is seed material for questions such as: *How do I see God's plan after hard years? What does Jeremiah 29:11 really mean? How should grandparents share faith stories?* Answers should keep Dean's voice primary and use the scholar notes only as supporting biblical scaffolding.