Location: Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, Apple Valley, MN
Link out: Click here
Description: Grandparenting is high, holy work. Scripture affirms grandparents as vital to transmitting faith to the next generations, and research agrees. We are called to love our grandchildren with the love of Christ, discover delight and laugh joyfully with these children and to pass on a legacy of faith, sharing time, stories and prayer. This conference is for all who are grandparents, grandparent-wanna-bes, and “faith grandparents”—all of us Christian adults “of a certain age” who are called by God to nurture faith for children in the congregation and community.
Start Time: 8:15 a.m.
Date: 2010-10-09
End Time: 12:15 p.m.
Location: Crossview Lutheran Church
Link out: Click here
Description: This series (come and go as you need to) will explore the major “turning points” in the history of the Church and will also take a stab at looking at what the trends might be for the future. How do these events impact the day to day life of the Christian person? What does this all begin to mean. The study will be based upon a book entitled, “Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity” by Mark Noll. Purchase of the book is optional.
Start Date: 2010-09-15
Start Time: 6:30 P.M.
End Date: 2011-03-11
End Time: 8:00 P.M.
Location: Home of Marilyn Sharpe
Description: Spiritual formatiom with children and youth begins with the end in mind. How do we equip them as disciples in order to live successfully through the lifespan?
Start Time: 5:00 p.m.
Date: October 6, 2010
End Time: 9:00 p.m.
Location: Camp Okoboji, Spirit Lake, Iowa
Link out: Click here
Description: This retreat is for boomers and beyond. The retreat experience will be a stay-cation as a time for relaxation and renewal. The topic leads participants to understand what is important in their faith journey and helps them find practical ways to pass this legacy of faith to the young people in their lives.
Start Date: 2010-09-24
Start Time: 7:00 p.m.
End Date: 2010-09-26
End Time: 1:00 p.m.
My wife and I took grandchildren to see Toy Story 3. I went expecting a children’s movie. I was curious, though, because I had read an article in the paper that said that Toy Story 3 made men cry. I thought that sounded strange. Well, I didn’t sob but I certainly got a bit teary-eyed as I watched the life journey unfold through this movie. Toy Story 3, like the movie UP, strike me as being very sensitive to the life journey and the issues that take place for adults as we move along. Toy Story 3 is all about transitions.
Toy Story 3 struck me because I felt a strong connection to Andy Davis, the young boy/man in the movie. I am retiring from one career and moving into another one. For 24 years I lived and worked in higher education and now I move into health care chaplaincy. The decisions that Andy had to make are decisions that I am now having to make. What do I put in the attic and what do I pass on for others to use. I am particularly struggling with my books; what do I keep and what do I give away.
Life transitions involve a rhythm of letting go and embracing. Fascinating, exciting, scary, peaceful. God is in the midst of the decisions.