Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

When do you know? When do you decide? The last time you rearrange your furniture and never move it again? The last time you paint or wallpaper? The last time you buy new clothes? You know your grandparents have had the same furniture arrangement for 20 or more years.  They refuse to buy new clothes when the old ones will do.  When food is brought, it is just enough. Our current church population is made up of mostly World War II retirees.  Some also experienced the Great Depression.  Those periods of their lives shaped who they are as older adults.  And how they spend.  And how they think.  Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. My husband and I were discussing recently how some members of the church have been concerned about spending and the church's budget.  Sometimes, to renew a place, you have to put some money into it.  For 25 years, they have been coasting.  Carpet is over 40 years old, all the interi...

In high school, I had a friend who was a foreign exchange student from Germany.  She told me that church in Germany was only for the very young or the very old.  Many churches were empty, abandoned.  She even told me of a church that had been turned into a climbing center for fitness enthusiasts.  I couldn't believe it!  That sounded so unreal, and that was in the 1990's.  Sadly, this is becoming the norm for many churches in our part of the country.  So many churches are dying and closing their doors. During the summer just before our move, we visited one of the churches my husband went to ask a boy.  It was a tiny country church that his dad pastored when he was young.  Counting our family, I think there were 9 people in attendance.  I had never been to a church that had so few in the pews! After the service, we visited with my husband's old friends, and the wife of the couple pulled us aside.  Tearfully, she explained how...

This part of our story began in the fall of 2014, when we traveled to see this small town church.  We were to take a tour of the building and meet the head of the staff-parish relations committee.  We didn't know what we were walking into, but we had been told that this church had stagnated and was "dying," but the members want it to become a growing, prosperous church again. It was interesting that we took a tour of the church, guided by one man, and we were to make a decision on whether or not my husband would take on the challenge of pastoring this church...before we met anyone else who attended it. I don't know about you, but typically, when deciding whether or not to make a church my home, I need to meet the people who go there.  Call me crazy, but I want to know if I can get along with them.  To make a home with them.  To make friends! We left the kids with their grandparents and braved the tour together. First impression:  Lift chairs ins...