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Intentional Grandparenting Column: October 2021

News--Generations October Kneading

This is a new monthly column that shares tips, books, and other resources to help you in your intentional grandparenting journey. If you have an activity or resource to share, please contact Jane McGreevy (janemcgreevy@yahoo.com) or Lynn Dayton (lland312@gmail.com). 

Activity: Baking Bread

submitted by Jane McGreevy, Generations Ministry Cochair

I love preschoolers and, of course, my favorite preschoolers are my grandchildren, who are five, three, and one and a half.  I look forward to when they are old enough to have meaningful conversations about their faith, but it the meantime, being an intentional grandmother means making time to be with them. 

Here’s a simple thing I’ve been doing with them lately.  It’s really simple, and I want to encourage you to remember that simple is all that is needed!  During the pandemic, I started making bread like so many others. We don’t really eat much bread, so I needed somewhere to take my bread. I realized that if I made it into cinnamon bread, my grandchildren loved it! One day when I was kneading it, I thought of my grands and that they would enjoy that step. So, the next time I made bread, I took the dough to their house and let them knead it with me, and I left it to rise overnight at their house. That way they had the fun of first kneading it, then seeing it rise, and finally getting the delicious smell of bread baking in their house in the morning. Now, every time I see them, they ask for more cinnamon bread. They might be too small to do all the steps, but they were able to knead, and they enjoyed it. I look forward to great discussions when they are older on the bread of life, unleavened bread, the effects of yeast, and other biblical images. (Sara Forbes recently made a guest appearance at St. Philip’s Children’s Church, and she taught this lesson using her homemade bread!)

Book Recommendation:

It Will Be Okay: Trusting God Through Fear and Change (Little Seed and Little Fox) by Lysa TerKeurst

It Will Be Okay

submitted by Lynn Land Dayton, Generations Ministry Cochair

I bought this book several years ago when my grandson was six years old. I think it resonated with him as he was entering first grade and needed reassurance that God was right there with him. Two years later, when he was reentering school after an unusual year and a half of remote learning, he asked his mother to find this book again. They read it over and over, especially at bedtime.  The author includes a number of Scriptures that are comforting.  When I was visiting recently and we read the book, I helped him memorize one of the Scriptures, Philippians 4:6:  “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  I told him to say that verse in his heart anytime he needs it!

Upcoming Event: Generations Ministry Kick-Off Coffee

Guest speakers: Tim and Sherry Driver (October 15, 9:30 a.m. in the Parish Hall)