Life Stages

Let's assume arbitrarily that our life span is 100 years or 5 twenty year stages.  Childhood from Birth to Adulthood 20 years, Young Adults from age 20 to 40, Middle Aged Adults from 40 to 60, Mature Adults from age 60 to 80, and Older Adults from age 80 to death.  

The needs and desires of each stage of development are different. As unique individuals, born with certain talents and propensities, our abilities will vary throughout the stages of life.

I am about to enter my last stage of life, being 79 going on 80, so my faculty's may have begun to fail me on occasion but I feel competent to express my opinion on a matter of great concern to
me.

The church that I have attended for 25 years has slowly declined to having a quarter time priest.  Two other priests and a Deacon voluntarily offer their services so we are able to have communion every Sunday.  

Which group is the most important to reach if you want to influence all the groups?  Which group is the most likely to reach mature decisions?  Which group is at the top of their game, so to speak?
My vote would be cast on the Middle Aged Adults 40 to 60 years of age.  Why? The Young Adults, ages 20 to 40 are busily engaged in establishing their working lives, raising their children, and possibly caring for ageing parents.  Children are busy growing up.  They can be influenced at a young age if their busy parents are so inclined.  If not, the seed of religion is not planted.  If you want to increase your influence look to those who are wondering what their life will be like when their children are grown.  

So many people seem to think that we can revive our churches by providing programs that appeal to children.  Instead of placing our focus on the young why don't we place our focus on an older group of people?  Instead of ignoring the needs of those who are growing older why not provide meaningful programs for the faithful?

Are we so enamored of youth that we ignore four stages of growth?

Chinese Fortune Cookies

Yesterday was a very nice day for me.  And this morning has been a good morning.  After my morning walk yesterday I drove to New Hampshire to see my friend Julie.  I met Julie 39 years ago at Fitchburg State College where we both had returned to school to complete our education that was interrupted when we were married. We were both Army wives living at Fort Devens, MA.  Julie's husband was a dentist and mine was an artilleryman.  I had four children and she had four children.  We became friends and have remained friends.  We have gone through many major changes in our lives and have always been sounding boards for each other.

This morning was a good morning because it was the once monthly meeting of the Gen-Ex Bible Study Group.  I have been a member since Fr. Gordon White invited me to attend many years ago!  This morning I learned that Fr. Don Lozier can properly be called The Reverend Doctor Don Lozier!  He has a doctorate as well as being ordained as a priest.  I have always known that he is well above average in smartness!  I am truly impressed!  Jean Pinard, also a member of the group, has a doctorate.  I have always known that I was very blessed to be in good company!   

I was dressed and ready to go for a walk before Bible Study but I had only gone a short distance when it began to rain.  Remembering my last walk in the rain I decided to not risk it and returned home!  According to the weather report, it will be sunny this week-end.

Julie and I decided to go to a Japanese Restaurant we both like and enjoyed the Fried Rice,  I received another Fortune Cookie which read "Struggle as hard as you can for whatever you believe in."  If I were to go back to school now, I would major in religion.  Or perhaps I would have pursued the possibility of ordination much sooner in my life.  Having been approved for ordination to the diaconate and then told that I could not be ordained, because I had turned 72, was very disappointing.

The Gen-Ex Bible Study Group

The Reverend Doctor Lozier!

Odds and Ends

I slept later than usual this morning.  By the time I had bathed and dressed and spent some time checking my email and FaceBook it was time to go for my walk at 7:15.  My walking friend Linda was walking her dog, Scooter, and very kindly agreed to take a picture of me!

                                          This is Linda!

This is me!

I am beginning to be aware that I am sleeping better.  I still awaken but I am not having lengthy bouts of insomnia falling back to sleep.
We ran into some children that Linda knew who were walking to the entrance to wait for the school bus.  I photographed a young girls back pack because she had adorned it with so many things!

I continued my walk and nothing else caught my attention!  

I mentioned the Delicious Fried Rice that I had for lunch yesterday but forgot to mention my Fortune Teller Cookie!  It read "You will travel to exotic places on your next trip."  A very nice fortune!  It reminded me of the movie I like so well "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" which is about a group of British "elderly" retirees who move to Jaipur, India to take up residence.  Judi Dench (my favorite actress), Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith and four other well know actors play roles in the movie.  I recommend it highly!

I thought that Thanksgiving would be my next trip but maybe not!  I like the sound of "exotic!"

A not well known fact of the Civil War:  In 1861 Sally Louisa Tompkins was commissioned a cavalry captain.  She was the only woman to be commissioned in the confederate army.  There were however female soldiers disguised as men who fought.  Capt. Tompkins was a nurse and established a hospital in Richmond, Virginia.  

___________________________________________________________

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 

"Evelyn:  Nothing here has worked out quite as I expected.

Muriel:  Most things don't, but sometimes what happens instead is the good stuff!"

Consistency

I completed the first half of my two mile walk before the Bible Study Group met.  The weather forecast for today was cloudy (but it rained anyway) with temperatures between 69 degrees and 65 degrees.  It will be the same for three days with scattered thunder storms on Thursday.  Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be sunny!  It will be a challenge to walk two miles every day for the next three days.

Dean emailed me this morning to congratulate me on yesterday's increased "speed" and acted as my coach by saying that "Consistency" is the key to success.  I would love to earn a Turkey-Trot T-Shirt  but I don't think running is in my future.  My sense of balance is much improved but I don't think that Dr. Sprague will ever recommend running.  It sounds like too much of a risk.  

I arrived at church at 9:30 a.m. I chose to take The Jerusalem Bible today.  It has received reviews as being the best translation of the Bible.  And I was very pleased with it.  But it differed from other translations, having a few extra verses.  It caused some confusion. We are reading Leviticus, reading three chapters and discussing them quickly.  I wish we had reverted to the New Testament again after reading Genesis and Exodus.  

After Bible Study I went to the Post Office to mail the quilting fabric to Sandra.  I was truly shocked--it cost $22!  Then I headed home and stopped at the Chinese Restaurant in the Shopping Mall right outside Merrimack Meadows to order Fried Rice for lunch.  They make several kinds, all of which are good, but my favorite is a Thai
recipe of curried rice with large-cut onions, chicken, and sea food, usually shrimp, but today they had added some lobster!  It was very, very delicious!  

Now, I am home and am watching "Rizzoli and Isles," one of my favorite TV Programs.

And we are never too old to study the Bible.  Each time the lessons are studied comes some new meaning, some new thought which will make us better.             

                                                  John D. Rockefeller

   

The Autumn Leaves

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, "Autumn is the season between summer and winter comprising in the northern hemisphere usually the months of September, October, and November or as reckoned astronomically extending from the September equinox to the December solstice —called also fall."

Autumn arrived last night.  The days are shorter and the nights are growing longer. The Canada Goose is in flight.  And the temperature dropped to 51 last night.  I had a wonderful two mile walk today in sunny weather wearing a fleece jacket, a knit cap and gloves in addition to my usual walking clothes.  I am humming the lyrics to "The Autumn Leaves!"

According to a 10 day weather report, we will enjoy sunny days four days, and cloudy weather with rain five days, and one day of scattered thunder storms with our highest temperature being 85 degrees and our lowest 51 degrees.  It will require ingenuity to stay in "training" during inclement weather!  Especially when the New England winter comes.

I walked to the entrance of Merrimack Meadows this morning and started back following the loops.  I was delighted and surprised to see Curly again standing in front of his door.  I took two pictures of him and they are better than the pictures I took  yesterday.  The lighting was better.  

I kept walking, hoping to be inspired for taking pictures.  I have taken pictures of the flags on display, pictures of the ways people have decorated their doors, I have shot pictures of pets and photographed the small gardens that were attractive and photographed all of the signs.  Today I decided to take pictures of the large rocks that have been used in the complex.  

Now is the season of apple picking and enjoying the fall foliage!

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head!

I started on my walk this morning, a few minutes after seven, and the sun was shining.  It promised to be a beautiful day.  I walked less than a block and the sky had darkened.  A few drops of rain began to fall.  It was impossible to determine the weather forecast so I kept on walking and hoped for the sun to shine again.  It didn't.  I made it to the entrance of Merrimack Meadows and the rain began to fall a bit heavier.  I was getting wetter and wetter!  I stopped at my mail box to collect the mail and clutching it to my chest I hurried on home. I may have walked a half mile:(  

Not much progress in my training for the Turkey Trot.  A 5K (3 mile) or a 10K (6 mile) run or walk on Thanksgiving morning that everyone except me has participated in, sponsored by Carlisle, PA. The family usually gathers at Dean's for a feast on Thanksgiving and he and Dawn have invited everyone again this year.  It has become a family tradition. He is very happy about my walking program and encourages me to join the family at the Turkey Trot.  I am walking two miles now.  Surely I can make it to three miles by Thanksgiving. If the weather will only cooperate! 

I called Dean for two reasons.  One, he bought two loaves of bread at "When Pigs Fly" and they were missing when he got home.  I have done a search and they are not here.  The second reason was that the sound on my TV was not working and I wondered if he might know what the problem could be.  He solved my TV problem immediately by suggesting that the remote button on my control might have been accidentally hit and was on "remote".  I wasn't even aware that I had a remote button.  It is infinitesimally small!  I remembered several things that needed attention but forgot when Dean was here.  He suggested that I make a list and keep it posted somewhere convenient.  The faucet in the kitchen sink that is frozen in  place and cannot be moved.  The cabinet in my bathroom that is ruined on the inside from a water leak.  A new cabinet will have to be installed.  

I told Dean that Kady probably had the loaves of bread.  She had picked them out and probably unloaded them at her mother's.  They aren't ordinary loaves of bread.  Each cost $6 and are made with wonderful ingredients!

It looks as if it will clear and I may be able to finish my walk this afternoon!   


You don't choose your family.  They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.
                                                                                 Desmond Tutu

Happy Birthday, Dawn!

I didn't walk yesterday because 1. it was pouring down rain and 2. I was doing the laundry (sheets and towels) and 3. I was exhausted! We went to Kittery, Maine the day before to enjoy shopping at the outlet stores and having lobster again for lunch at the Weathervane. Followed several hours later at Kimball's for more ice cream.  The day started with a 2 mile walk through the Merrimack Meadows Complex with Kady and Murphy, with Dean and Dawn joining us early on.  

It is one hour's drive to Kittery.  We stopped at "The Trading Post" first--one of our favorite stores.  I took my first picture of the day there, a repeat of a picture I had taken on a previous visit!

Travis, Kady, Dean, Dawn, and Charlie

We went to most of our favorites but everything is less of a bargain now.  In one store there was a knit cap that looked like the cap Kady had liked in Norway for $80!  It was $35 and I bought the cap for her. It was made in China, but the cap in Norway could have been made in China! Dean and Dawn went to several stores of cooking ware and bought a very nice baking pan for large muffins.  Looking for something in my kitchen Dean had discovered at least 12 muffin mixes!  I hope I can redeem myself!  After our seafood lunch we shopped some more, coming to an end at "When Pigs Fly."  A wonderful designer bakery for original breads.  I thought that they used to be expensive at $4 a loaf but they are now $5 to $8. Nevertheless I couldn't resist buying at least one loaf with raisins and mangoes.   

The trip was fun because making the trip is a Stodter family tradition. And eating Sea Food at the Weathervane is a family tradition!  Just as Kimball's is a family tradition!   So we drove home and went to Kimball's before coming home.  Kady baked a cake to celebrate Dawn's birthday.  It was delicious and decorated with the Norseman

logo!  I looked through Wikipedia for all the names of Norseman Gods and Goddesses but none listed were good names for Dawn. There are many Gods but not so many Goddesses!  I did however find one for me!  The Goddess Elle--the Goddess of Old Age!!!

We must have walked at least 5 miles that day and I was exhausted!!!