FEBRUARY 2019 EDITION
THE WOODLANDS UMC
POINT Author Missy Buchanan to Speak at the Shepherd Care Meeting this Month!
experiences came as I helped care for my own elderly parents in their final years. Today I find fresh inspiration in the lives of older adults who graciously invite me to pull up a chair and listen to both their joys and concerns about growing old. I hope to see you on Thursday, February 14 at the Shepherd Care gathering.
Sometimes you just know when you’ve experienced a holy nudge: a stirring of your soul that moves you in a certain direction. For me, the nudge has moved me to reach out to older adults, especially those who are struggling to find purpose and who need a dose of spiritual encouragement.
Grace, Missy
As a writer and speaker, I find my inspiration in real-life situations involving older adults. Initially those
WHY MARRIAGE MATTERS The truth is that your marriage matters to God (Gen. 2:22-25; Matt. 19:6; Mark 10:9). Your marriage matters to your family and your marriage matters to the community as well. Consider the following statements from empirically supported research from the secular sciences about marriage: 1. Marriage increases the likelihood that fathers and mothers have good relationships with their children. 2. Growing up outside an intact marriage increases the likelihood that children will themselves divorce or become unwed parents. 3. Children who live with their own two married parents enjoy better physical health, on average, than do children in other family forms.
4. Marriage is associated with reduced rates of alcohol and substance abuse for both adults and teens. 5. Married people, especially married men, have longer life expectancies than do otherwise similar singles. 6. Marriage is associated with better health and lower rates of injury, illness, and disability for both men and women. Astonishingly, the social sciences have been soft on defining marriage for philosophical reasons. You probably can guess why. Marriage is not designed to simply make a couple happy and produce a family (Gary Thomas, Sacred Marriage). Marriage is designed to make us better as individuals and to be conformed in the image of Christ who is the bridegroom of the Church (John 3:2930). Your marriage matters. Dr. Stew Grant, Marriage and Family Ministries
A MESSAGE FROM
CLIFF RITTER
PASTOR TO SENIOR ADULTS
Chocolate truffles are flying off the shelf at the local confectionery. It’s that time of year, no doubt. We take it by faith that St. Valentine is the patron Saint of love. And we make the less influential saints at Cadbury, Hershey and Hallmark very happy at this time of year. There’s so much happening around the church in February. We will host a great author and speaker, Missy Buchanan, this month at our Shepherd Care meeting. Her presentation will be open to everyone who has an interest in Wellness and Spirituality for Older Adults (that’s you and me!). If you want to go for a Sunday drive someday soon, I’d suggest going out to the Woodforest Campus over on Fish Creek Thoroughfare, just across the street from Stewart Elementary on the corner of Woodforest Parkway and Fish Creek. The new building is taking shape, and we can all be proud of the work done by Pastor Brent Parker and his staff. In addition, the new recreation center on the Woodlands Campus is also taking shape. It will be great to have all our senior adult recreation activities coordinated under one roof in the future. We recently launched our third day of senior adult exercise each week. Of course, all our classes are open to all Senior Adults. You can adapt the exercises to work with your personal fitness level. Plus, the classes are free to the participants. Finally, we are working hard to expand the Senior Point with more helpful information for our community. Thank you for being patient with us as we grow. With grace and peace, Cliff Ritter
WISHING YOU A HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! — The Woodlands UMC