Raising a granddaughter

Here I set finding myself thinking how in the world at my age (57) am I raising my 7 year old granddaughter? Well, it comes as no surprise that my husband (Craig) and I are. After all, I did raise my two grow sons, ages 36 and 33 years old, plus we were foster parents a year after we got married. Craig and I have been married for 22 years. I was married before and my sons are the product of that marriage. When Craig and I married, it was in 1987, my sons were 9 and 11 years old. Craig, you see, has never been married and has had no children of his own. So we thought when we finished raising my two sons they would be out on their own, and we'd be that "honeymoon" couple starting like brand new without kids. NOPE...that was not to be. We did get about 6 years 'what we call "alone" time' while we were stationed in Germany. Then we came back to the states in August of 2001 and Austin, our granddaughter was born 20 Dec 2001. It came to be that her parents couldn't take care of her and we to court and won legal permanent guardianship over her at age 3. It was a long hard road to take on a young child at our ages, but we loved her so very much. We wanted to show her what it was like to grow up in a stable home and have two people around her all the time that love her so very much. So as you see, I'm 57 and Craig is 49, with a 7 year old granddaughter to raise. We do have a 13 year old grandson, Jesse. He lives with his mom and step dad in Maryland. He is the product of my oldest son and Austin is the product of my youngest son. Seems different, as I raised my sons to fulfill their responsibilities especially when they produce children. God wants them to raise their own children, enjoy the pain and joy of watching a child grow up to adult hood. But since some parents can't do that, that is the reason most grandparents, like us, step in and take over the responsibility. It is truly a pleasure to see her grow, but it is painfully to see how emotionally damaged she was during this whole thing with her parents. I know that God has so much in store for Craig and I. HE has so much in store for Austin too. She is a precious angle in disguise.