THE WINDOW A publication of First Presbyterian Church Hendersonville, TN June 2015 Dear Friends, On Mother’s Day I preached a sermon on blessing others with our lives. Gary Smalley and John Trent have written a wonderful book titled The Blessing. They suggest five parts to blessing others – a spoken word, meaningful touch, articulate a special future, instill high value, and stay committed. I have found these suggestions very helpful in my parenting Jonathan, Jesse, and Gracie. The blessings we give our children and grandchildren are different for each child. The way we communicate these five elements change, as the kids grow up into young adults. As Pam and I have said on several occa- sions, “Raising kids is a wonderful, challenging adventure!” I am reminded of some famous parent quotes. Maybe you have used some of these on this wonderful, chal- lenging adventure we call parenting. You’re not going anywhere until you.... Just wait till you have kids of your own. You’re just like your father. It’s not that we don’t trust you, it’s.... There are things growing in your room. What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand? You don’t know how lucky you are. It is not just children and grandchildren, everyone needs a blessing. Psalm 139 tells us God creates our lives, intimately knows us, is present with us, and thinks we are wonderful. We are blessed to bless others. There are people around you every day who don’t know God thinks they are special. You need to tell them! The Wal-Mart stocker, Publix bagger, and slow driver in the left lane. Obviously we can’t run down the five ele- ments of giving a blessing with each person. However treating people as wonderful children of God com- municates blessing. One writer articulates blessing this way, “God has prepared each of our days as an opportunity to make music that surprises people with unexpected and undeserved attention, kindness, and generosity. To bless someone is to present that person with an alternative form of reality that is bigger and better and more harmonic than the grim and discordant sounds of everyday life.” Blessed to be a blessing. May we offer our family and friends, church members and colleagues, neighbors and strangers a blessing. Help them see and experience an alternative form of reality that is bigger and better than they can imagine. Love and Prayers,
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THE WINDOW
A publication of
First Presbyterian Church
Hendersonville, TN
June 2015
Dear Friends,
On Mother’s Day I preached a sermon on blessing others with our lives. Gary Smalley
and John Trent have written a wonderful book titled The Blessing. They suggest five
parts to blessing others – a spoken word, meaningful touch, articulate a special future,
instill high value, and stay committed. I have found these suggestions very helpful in
my parenting Jonathan, Jesse, and Gracie. The blessings we give our children and
grandchildren are different for each child. The way we communicate these five elements
change, as the kids grow up into young adults. As Pam and I have said on several occa-
sions, “Raising kids is a wonderful, challenging adventure!”
I am reminded of some famous parent quotes. Maybe you have used some of these on this wonderful, chal-
lenging adventure we call parenting.
You’re not going anywhere until you....
Just wait till you have kids of your own.
You’re just like your father.
It’s not that we don’t trust you, it’s....
There are things growing in your room.
What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?
You don’t know how lucky you are.
It is not just children and grandchildren, everyone needs a blessing. Psalm 139 tells us God creates our lives,
intimately knows us, is present with us, and thinks we are wonderful. We are blessed to bless others. There
are people around you every day who don’t know God thinks they are special. You need to tell them! The
Wal-Mart stocker, Publix bagger, and slow driver in the left lane. Obviously we can’t run down the five ele-
ments of giving a blessing with each person. However treating people as wonderful children of God com-
municates blessing.
One writer articulates blessing this way, “God has prepared each of our days as an opportunity to make music
that surprises people with unexpected and undeserved attention, kindness, and generosity. To bless someone
is to present that person with an alternative form of reality that is bigger and better and more harmonic than the
grim and discordant sounds of everyday life.”
Blessed to be a blessing. May we offer our family and friends, church members and colleagues, neighbors and
strangers a blessing. Help them see and experience an alternative form of reality that is bigger and better than
they can imagine.
Love and Prayers,
Responding to God’s love and grace,
our vision is to serve Christ through service to others.