In this heartfelt episode of the Grandparenthood Podcast, Ben and Ian tackle the emotional and often painful issue of being blocked from seeing your grandchildren. They explore the complex family dynamics that can lead to such situations, offering empathy, insight, and hope. With a focus on self-reflection and healing, the episode introduces three key approaches—prayer, process, and perseverance—to help grandparents navigate these challenging times.

Key Takeaways:

• Grandparents are often faced with being blocked from seeing their grandchildren due to complex relational issues, which can lead to profound anguish.
• Ian Barnett introduces three strategies to address such challenges: prayer, valuing the process, and perseverance.
• The episode encourages self-reflection, the need for patience, and maintaining open channels of communication, even if only through letters or texts.
• The importance of grandparents understanding their role and accepting that they do not have all the answers.
• Listeners are encouraged to reach out to support networks and resources to help process their emotions and find pathways to reconciliation.

Notable Quotes

• "With all the things that I've seen over many years and through conferences and the podcast, being blocked from your grandkids is the hardest one to deal with."
• "Perseverance means that you actually get time yourself to grow because you may need to grow in understanding, in acceptance that you're not always right."
• "You can't determine the response of others. They will make their own decision about what they're going to do with what you do."

Click here for more on Ian Barnett, National Grandparent Movement and extra resources.

Episodes hosted by Ben McEachen from Hope 1032 in Sydney, Australia.

Listen to more from our Hope Podcasts collection at hopepodcasts.com.au. And send the team a message (Message the GrandParenthood Team) or via Hope 103.2’s app, Facebook or Instagram.

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