This year, for the first time, my husband and I are observing a holiday meal as guests at the table of a member of the next generation. My nephew (who I swear was a gap-toothed little kid the last time I looked) and his family invited us to their table.
What’s more, nephew Andy surprised me by saying they were eager to sit me down and pick my brain about family history! I guess from his perspective, I am the older generation. The family history book is clearly opening a new chapter, which is something for which to thank God.
There are new chapters opening all around us, all the time. Sometimes we know that they’re coming and when they’re coming, and we can plan ahead for them. There are also things we know are coming eventually (like becoming the older generation) but we don’t know when. We all need to plan for those new chapters, too, which will open, whether we’re ready or not.
How do we get ready for chapters that will open sometime but we don’t know when? How will you prepare for a new chapter?
This message is excerpted from “Preparing for a new chapter” by Audrey Novak Riley from the December 25, 2017, blog of the Women of the ELCA.
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