Generation to Generation

“One generation commends your works to another…they tell of your mighty works.”
Psalm 145:4 ESV

Forty-five years ago I moved to Oswego, New York where my husband, Dan, was a pastor. I had three little boys at the time and my mother had died a few years prior to our arriving. I was lonely. One day I asked God for a friend and, as He sometimes does, He answered in an unexpected and special way through several remarkable circumstances. My youngest son, Doug, who was about to turn three, fell in love with the church pianist. In preparation for his birthday party, I asked who he would like to invite, and he replied, “Kathie.” It took a little probing, but I eventually realized Kathie was not a little girl, but the beautiful, young church pianist. This made some sense since we had not lived in New York long enough for him to have close friends, but it was still quite an unusual request. I told Kathie and how could she and her husband turn him down? They came to the party. That was the beginning of a decades-long friendship that continues even today. God always does things beautifully. 

Kathie’s parents became like adopted grandparents to my sons. Mary, her mother, was the type of mature example of a woman of grace and love that I needed in my life. She influenced me to grow spiritually. “The older women must train the younger women…” Titus 2:4a. The story continues “generation to another generation.” Mary’s influence continues with her family and wonderful grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and with women all over the country. 

Kathie and I love women and have served women wherever we go, encouraging them to love Jesus. Today Kathie ministers to women in her church and is the art director and administrator of the Solution for Life website.

Her daughter, Kristen, is a mother and volunteers in the Solution for Life ministry. She edits the newsletter and contributes articles for younger women.

To close this blog, I’d like to share an article Kristen has written about wisdom and influence through generations.

“Several times recently I’ve heard the statement made that you are the average of the people you spend the most time with. Some will say it’s the average of your closest five people, some will say ten, but whatever the number, this idea that you become like the people you’re with has been taking up a good amount of my brain space lately. There are a lot of conclusions that can be reached from this statement, but the one I’ve been thinking about the most is how much of my life I’ve spent surrounded by people who are just like me. Or at least as close as I could find. And while it’s natural to be drawn to people who feel familiar, I feel as though God has been drawing my attention to the beauty of others’ perspectives. Especially on things like faith, doubt, prayer, etc. As I’ve been finding friends who are older than me, younger than me, who have lived different faith stories and survived different struggles, I’m noticing my view of God deepening and expanding. I don’t mean to say that the things I’ve always believed are necessarily wrong, just that they might have been limited to the little stream I’ve been swimming in. Living in friendship with people who add new colors to my landscape feels like a little foreshadowing of what it might be like to live in forever community with people “from every tribe and tongue,” all reflecting their own facet of God’s beauty.”  Kristen Alewine

Thank you Mary, Kathie, and Kristen for the wonderful part you have had in my life.

Mom's Mindfulness

When I was a young girl, I observed a simple plaque on my mother’s bedroom wall that read “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” I wondered what it meant. There were times when my mother would quietly slip away to her room and shut the door. I knew she couldn’t be taking a nap because she wasn’t in there long enough for that. I knew she wasn’t on the phone because, being the nosey kid that I was, I listened at the door. As I watched her come back out and go about her day, I wondered what she’d been doing in there. One day I learned what her mysterious trips to her room were all about. I had come home from school and was extremely upset about having failed something due to my dyslexia. Kids had laughed at me and called me a dummy. It happened often. In my mother’s wisdom, she acknowledged this was cruel and hurtful. After tears and hugs she took me into her room and read the plaque to me. Her gentle words were so comforting. She told me, “There are times in our lives when we will be hurt and disappointed by the unkindness of other people. There are lots of things we cannot control in life, like peoples’ behaviors, the weather, or unmet expectations. However, there is one thing we can control and that is how we handle and respond to hurtful things.” She pointed to the plaque on the wall and said, “God loves us and wants to help us through our difficulties. He teaches us to talk and quietly listen to Him. Through quietness He calms us.” He says, ‘In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.’” She explained her pattern to me. When she was hurting, frustrated or upset, even tempted to speak in anger or react in a hurtful way, she would come to her room and get still. Sometimes she’d have a good cry. She told me, “The wonderful thing is we can talk to God all about the situation and ask Him to help.” With sparkling eyes, she looked into my face and took my hands and said, “It is amazing how getting quiet and turning to God for comfort settles us down, and strengthens us as we sense peace, courage, and confidence.” Today, people may call this mindfulness, or meditation. But the key is to face our difficulty head on and get quiet with God, let go, and allow Him to heal. He is faithful, and He will do it.