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To the other ten

A letter to the future spouses of our grandchildren.

If you are reading this, it means a couple of things have happened. First, my wife and I are in heaven. Second, you are either engaged or married to one of our remaining grandchildren.

As you know by now, God blessed us with 11 wonderful, God-fearing grandchildren. The oldest is now married. We have warmly welcomed Hannah’s husband, Abel, into our family. We pray that God will richly bless them with many happy and prosperous years together.

That brings us to you, one of the “Other Ten.” We want you to know how much we love you and care for you, even though we’ve never met. You have been in our prayers for many years. Let me explain . . .

You know that we are a Christian family closely bound together by our common faith in Jesus. He has blessed our family in so many ways. It’s just as Jesus promised, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). How true that is! God blessed us far more than we deserved with both spiritual and earthly blessings.

Thanks to God’s grace we had parents and grandparents who raised their children to know Jesus. They faithfully followed the Lord’s direction, “Start children off on the way they should go and even when they are old they will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6). We want you to know the Lord too. In Exodus 3:15, he says, “I am to be remembered from generation to generation” (Evangelical Heritage Version). Although we are gone, we want to pass on to you the treasure of God’s grace in Jesus. That is the reason for this letter to you.

Thanks to Jesus’ death and resurrection, our salvation has been accomplished. Because of God’s promise, my wife and I have received the crown of everlasting life. John 3:16 says it all. We cannot thank God enough for that! What an incredible, loving God we have!

Our sincere wish is for you to be in heaven with us and all believers. The “baton” of the Christian faith has been passed to you. Now it’s your turn. My wife and I encourage you to “fight the good fight of faith” and raise your children to know Jesus. Make regular use of the gospel in Word and sacrament to sustain your faith in Jesus.

If by chance you are not a Christian (that is, a believer in the Lord Jesus) or not a member of a church in fellowship with us, please consider going through a Bible information class. You can attend these classes with your spouse. Take a close look at what we believe. There is good reason why we believe the simple truth of God’s Word and God’s promises. After attending these classes and learning why we believe as we do, there is no pressure to join our church body. We don’t operate like that. It’s the Holy Spirit who works faith in our hearts. It’s simply our humble request that you learn what we believe; we trust the Holy Spirit to do the rest.

We sure are curious about you: what your name is, your occupation, your hobbies, your fortés, your sense of humor, and so many other things. But all that can wait. It’s just a matter of time, or should I say, eternity.

Until Jesus returns and raises us back to life, we wish you God’s richest blessings.

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Steve Staude wrote the above article in case he is taken to heaven before he meets the future spouses of his grandchildren. 

Author: Steve Staude
Volume 109, Number 07
Issue: July 2022

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