A+ha.

Holy Now.

Everything is holy now.

 

The secret to living a happy life???

I've been preaching the benefits of daily sharing your highs and lows (and hearing someone else's highs and lows) for years now. It's ritual. It's communication. It's relational. 

And now...in case you needed a different reason...it's also a tool for living a more satisfied, full, happy life. 

Check it out:

 

Come gather 'round people wherever you roam...

The 7th graders and their parents got together tonight @ Plymouth UCC to talk about life--specifically how things have changed in the world since the parents were in 7th grade. 

Every year when I teach this class, the kids are surprised (horrified?) to know that their parents only had access to four TV stations, no computer in the house, a telephone that was attached to the wall with a cord that would sooner or later turn into a knotted mess, and had to wear "good clothes" to church (in other words: no jeans allowed). 

Every year when I teach this class, adults are surprised (encouraged?) to remember all of the advantages our kids have, too: kids have access to technology that will allow them to connect with other kids all over the world, and more often then not kids have access to media at home that will allow them access to all kinds of information (when we were kids, we only had a dictionary and an incomplete set of the Encyclopedia Brittanica--and even that was pretty old). Church (or at least Plymouth) is now a place where kids can talk about relationships and stresses and pressures, too--there is a recognition that God is present in and through all of life (not just "church-y things"). People are free to ask questions and enter into conversation here about who God is and what God wants us to do (in other words: the minister doesn't have the only say about all of this). And church is a place where "no matter who you are, no matter where you are on life's journey you are welcome here." Very cool.

Every year when I teach this class, I am reminded (surprised? amazed? incredibly grateful...) that God is here in the midst of it all: in the sharing of our stories, in the highs and lows of life, in our questions, our laughter, our tears, and in our relationships. We are called into relationship to share all of life--and by doing so we are reminded over and over and over again that we belong to one another. We belong to God. 

Every year when I teach this class, I grow further in my knowledge and belief that what we do and say and how we share our time and our talents, our stories and our live, matters. It really matters.

There's an app for that.

Laugh if you want, but I use my iPhone to meditate. Evidently I'm not the only one. Check out these great meditation apps...

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/07/meditation-theres-an-app-for-that/

Borrowed Material

http://dartmed.dartmouth.edu/winter03/html/vs_connect.shtml

Here is a website for an article about the importance of community, connection, and relationship when raising kids--both for the kids' sake and the parent's.  Dartmouth Medical School ran this article in their alumni magazine "Dartmouth Medicine" a few years ago.

An interesting tidbit from the article: "scientific evidence demonstrates that children are 'hardwired to connect' on a biochemical level, first with their immediate family and then with the broader community. If that connection isn't there, then 'the brain may not develop as it is supposed to...You can't change genes, but you can change how they are translated, and a nurturing environment can make a world of difference."

What we do and say, how we interact with and support one another, is critical. Change happens in the world one relationship at a time.

(thanks, Rich, for sharing these thoughts!)

And they grow up...

I realized yesterday how quickly time flies: one of our kids is in college, one is a senior in high school, the other is a junior. At this point in life, we can sit down and have conversations about things--the tug of wars are starting to go away (they aren't gone yet...but are less frequent, anyway). The best part of our conversations: sharing our highs and lows. The ritual of sharing our highs and lows has become, well, a ritual. Not just a way to get into conversation. A real ritual.

We started with highs and lows just a year or two ago, when Faith Stepping Stones became a part of our lives. It would have been great to have started our rituals of blessing and prayer and reflection when the kids were little, but we didn't. Instead, we started when we learned the tools: when our kids were in high school. Not ideal, not exactly embraced with open arms by everyone, but we stuck with it. And you know what? It worked. It works.

It's never too late to start a ritual in your life, especially when that ritual involves prayer and relationships with others and with God.

One more thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend.

Grandparents and the Stones

The note in my box this morning:

Angie,

I love the way Stepping Stones is affecting our church community. Families are taking time to talk about faith, ask questions, and get involved in the life of the church. Everyone is having so much fun! I wish that this program would have been around when my kids were young--it would have made a huge difference. Is there any way that my husband and I (as grandparents) can get involved in this program now?

Blessings!

My response:

Grandparents involved in Stepping Stones? Great idea! This program would provide an opportunity not only for grandparents and grandchildren to develop a special bond, it would also strengthen the bond between the grandparents and their children. It's never too late to start talking with your kids about faith and life and love and hopes and dreams! So here's a challenge to all of you grandparents out there: get involved! Bring your children and grandchildren to Stepping Stone events. Start talking! Or, if you can't bring your own family, then adopt one--there are many families involved in Stepping Stones who have grandparents that for one reason or another can't participate in this amazing program. They would love to have surrogate grandparents to share their highs and lows! Give me a call and we'll get you started.

Blessings to you, too. And thanks for asking.

Angie

Surviving Adolescence

Wednesday night was the last session of this year's "Surviving Adolescence" Stone. It's the 6th Stepping Stone in a series of 8 and is intended to help parents and their 7th graders (12-13 year olds) build communication skills that will help them survive and thrive in the adolescent years. Impossible? Not at all. By sharing highs and lows every night, plus reading a scripture verse, and looking for God's presence, and saying "I'm sorry" as well as praying for and blessing one another, parents and kids can share very special, intimate moments. Moments that money just can't buy. Priceless.

At the end of the evening's events, two parents approached me with tears in their eyes to say 'thanks'. One wanted to thank me for "putting on the program" and the other wanted to thank me for pushing to make parents and kids talk. At the beginning of the first session, both of them thought that this might be wasted time. At the end of the third session, both of them were ready to change their habits and practices in order to build stronger relationship with their kids.

Awesome.

10-15 minutes a night. Every night. In every home. It works.

It's a Stepping Stones Day

Actually, it's a Stepping Stones week. Back at work half-time, I spent my week designing a brochure for the Stones program, leading Stone 6 (Surviving Adolescence), making a video of Stones at Plymouth, and working with the Stones Coordinating Team to give out information at this morning's ministries fair.

All Stones, all the time. Not a bad way to spend the week.

What did I learn? That 7th graders and their parents have an awful lot in common. They are both excited, scared, trying to get their point across, having problems with hormones (teenagers have too many, adults are losing theirs), and wondering what they will be when they grow up. Stone 6 had kids and parents both laughing and crying together. It was awesome.

What else did I learn? That making videos is a lot of fun, that working too hard isn't fun, that people are hungry for tools to help them grow closer to God and other people, and that I really do have a pretty cool job.

A good week.

Learning about the Stones

We've been in Stillwater for two days--Lisa, Michelle, Shana, and me--to earn all there is to know about Stepping Stones. So far, we haven't learned anything we didn't already know--and that's OK. Instead, we've been able to share our lives with each other: what do we wish for our children? What are some of our successes as parents? What kinds of memories do we want our kids to have about us when they have kids of their own? What kinds of stories do we want our children to tell as they stand at our graveside? Good questions.

As we engage in remembering, sharing, and dreaming we develop a common language and create a bond that will help us work together when the going gets tough and people resist this great new program because "it's new", "it's different" and because "we've never done it this way before". Churches helping families create memories? Churches helping families grow in faith? Crazy. Wonderfully crazy.

Today, the going gets tough. The rubber hits the road. We're getting to work, putting these dreams on paper, creating a plan, writing up a vision. How do we implement these crazy, wonderful dreams? Stay tuned...