Ownership

As my children have begun having children of their own, I have enjoyed returning some of their once-treasured childhood belongings for them to share with their kids: books, blankets, toys, and clothes. We moved often, so I didn’t keep much, but I love seeing items my kids enjoyed show up in the hands of their kids.

On my most recent visit to their house, two of my grandchildren handed me such a book. My heart hugged the memory of what was as I anticipated what I hoped would be. I opened the book.

Inside the front cover, we discovered a bookplate with my son’s name on it. My grandmother had given me the bookplates when my son was still a toddler. My grandkids are going to love this!

“What’s that say, Memaw?” asked my granddaughter.

“It says this book belongs to your daddy. Isn’t that fun?”

“No,” she said. “This book belongs to us.”

What?

“Let’s take the sticker off!” said my grandson.

No!

Just that fast, four little hands grabbed for the book. But I slipped my two slightly larger hands under theirs to cover the bookplate. We all froze in place.

“We’re not taking the sticker off the book,” I said, looking one then the other grandchild in the eye.

“But it’s not Daddy’s book. It’s ours,” my granddaughter said. My grandson nodded, kept nodding, face scrunched tight.

I looked from one to the other again. Like the hyenas in The Lion King, my sweet grandkids wanted blood. I took a deep breath. “Someday I’ll find you some stickers with your names on them to put beside your daddy’s sticker. Then the page will show the book belongs to all of you.”

My granddaughter opened her mouth to object, but I turned the page and started reading the story. Distracted, my grandchildren settled down to listen. They snuggled in, bookplate forgotten. I sighed relief inside.

Later that day, I told my husband the story. “There’s a sermon illustration there,” he said. But on reflection, it’s more than a lesson for the church. Whether we’re handing down a ministry, a business, an estate, or anything else—one generation to another, we must take our hands off and let the next generation make it their own. For if we don’t, how can they treasure it? Ideally, they’ll take ownership, not function as caretakers.

I can’t say I don’t hope that bookplate will still be in that book next time I visit, but if it’s not, I’ll understand. And I’ll make good on my promise to take the grandkids some bookplates of their own.