Good morning…
Life phases joined hands in the church hallway. A few weeks back, we hosted our United Methodist Women’s Baby Celebration, a touching event honoring the babies born annually into our faith community. This was a particularly special celebration as five or six of the very active UMW members were new grandmothers at the gathering. These faithful friends had diligently raised their children in the church, and now their grown children were offering their 2018-born infants as the next generation to be raised to walk in the ways our LORD. I felt honored to pray a genuine blessing over three generations of faithful followers.
After picture taking, mingling and chatting, I walked out into the hallway to go up to the third floor to check on our “Living Fully – Dying Well” gathering. The opposite end of the lifespan was being celebrated upstairs, women learning how best to support their aging loved ones in the evening of their lives, as they patiently prepare to be birthed from earth back to heaven. Women came down the stairwell from this discussion-oriented class as a small group and I were coming out of the Baby Celebration in the Chapel.
It was fun for me to connect these young moms and their moms with women coming down from receiving caregiving counsel as they help parent their aging parents. For five precious minutes the stories of four generations of Spirit-strengthened women bonded heart-to-heart, hand-in-hand in the church hallway.
When God tapped me to become the Women’s Ministry Director at Northside Church in 2008, I remember saying to a friend: “I feel like this is a job I can grow into forever. There will always be older, wise women mentoring me and at the same time there will always be younger, wise women in need of my mentoring.” In the church hallway a few weeks back, I glimpsed again the great blessing of God’s full circle, intergenerational ministry.
Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given…keep that dusted off and in use (1 Timothy 4:12-14, MSG).
…Sue…
P.S. Please join us for the final “Living Fully – Dying Well” gathering tomorrow from 9:30 to 11:00 am in room 308 at Northside Church.
Joyful and Creative Ways to Remember, Honor, and Celebrate Our Loved Ones
Susan Spratt, Ginna McFarling, and Betsy Walker will round out our six-week series with an energizing discussion about special ways to celebrate our loved ones. Please bring a memento that reminds you of someone special who has died. If you feel that you can share a little bit about your symbol and the person connected to it, that would be lovely. Those who are interested will head to lunch together afterward.
