You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right.
123 Street Avenue, City Town, 99999
(123) 555-6789
email@address.com
You can set your address, phone number, email and site description in the settings tab. Link to read me page with more information.
After much prayer we launched our Senior Adult Ministry in August. Yes, right in the middle of the pandemic.
I hope this is helpful to someone out there. I was determined to think outside the box and get this thing going, not waiting until the pandemic was totally over.
Too much ebb, and we dry up. Too much flow without Sabbath rest, and we lose our moorings.
We like the middle ground that affirms God’s purpose through aging realities. Spiritual retirement is not His plan for us. Let both the ebb and flow of life continue through every season!
Respected professor Howie Hendricks knew that over time we can develop a “hardening of the categories.” It’s not just our arteries we need to worry about.
Let’s continue to learn from the perspective of others through these periods of historic crises. Let’s hold back from know-it-all arrogance and open wide the door of humility. Yes, our world needs changing, but let it start with us.
The Apostle Paul talked about finding contentment in whatever state he found himself, even in a no-go prison environment. But it wasn’t a passive, do-nothing state of contentment … he persevered in hugely significant ways during these times of confinement—writing powerful, world-impacting prison epistles that have helped bolster faith for two millennia.
It really bothers me that 50 million or more Americans are being painted with a single, pitiful brush stroke, no matter how well intentioned it may be.
Well, this is our senior moment! I want to replace that mantra with a challenge to all seniors: Be more than vulnerable, and do more than nothing.
Charlotte shared these devotional thoughts at a recent YES! board meeting. Gary & Charlotte are on a missionary assignment in Japan, and Gary serves on the YES! board of directors. With our shared global pandemic experiences, Japan suddenly seemed closer and less foreign on this last Zoom call … We’re in this together.
It’s amazing how certain phrases command our attention when life circumstances change. The Word hasn’t changed, but our conditions sure have.
While we’re in a season fraught with very real coronavirus fears, let’s keep our hearts open. We like how Matthew uses the word ‘great’ to describe the joy, and fear has no enhancing descriptor. God still wants to show up with great-joy surprises—greater than our fears.
We join with you in prayer during this very troubling season. Let not our hearts be troubled!
Yes, we’re all in this together, but what a broad swath of life experiences!
Yes, we who are older and more susceptible to this virus’ physical wrath must take special precautions. But younger generations are also experiencing extreme challenges that we’re not facing.
In spiritual and church realms, shortcuts should have a warning label attached. Sometimes they cut God, others, and ourselves short.
Our hearts grieve when we see churches snubbing older adults in their efforts to reach younger generations. We know spiritual health/impact and sustainable faith are diminished when we treat any living generation as irrelevant and dispensable.
… such a clean number to accompany countless invitations to fresh, new beginnings. An annual marker this symmetrical won’t come around again in our lifetime.
May this new decade bring out the best in all of us, and may God divinely lead us to something new!
Shani and I looked at each other but exchanged no words. I held her hand as Dr. Curran came in with a quiet ‘Good morning’—not his usual sunny greeting. He connected the new device and sat close for a listen.
God can use every detail of our lives for His glory if we will cooperate and lean into His plan. An out-of-place back and an old gospel song led to a series of unexpected miracles.
Some of God’s best work may occur during these unplanned sidewinders, on the road to our destination. Stay alert, and appreciate the journey!
We’re continually struck by the similarities of college graduation and retirement. Of course, it’s right to celebrate past educational and vocational achievements, but it’s incomplete if we don’t ask, “What’s next?”
Let’s do what we can to publicly champion and help shape the new frontiers ahead, for both early and later-life milestones.
One major drawback of circled-wagon age segmentation is a stifling of the Spirit. It can also spill over into racial and socio-economic segregation, where we mainly look out for the interests of others like ourselves.
We’ve discovered while working with adults over fifty that some dormant periods are common.
Where we get into trouble as leaders is mistaking temporary setbacks for signs of death, “the beginning of the end”. We move prematurely into thinking days of fruitfulness will never return.
Little did I know that just minutes after the above photo was taken that I would lose complete control of the left side of my body.
Like the leader of a local faith community who approached Jesus and confessed he was dealing with both faith and doubt, I am dealing with uncertainty as I am confessing my faith.
We don’t serve to wow others, but God can sure use willing hearts to help inspire.
Never underestimate the value of meaningfully engaging the very young and very old in serving. Don’t write them off … they have special capacity to motivate others.