This week in worship we are celebrating "Older Adult Week." The point of the worship service is to celebrate all the ways that God blesses us through the ministries of the elderly in the church and calls us to remember that the needs of the elderly are just as important as the needs of youth and younger families. According to one resource, the average age of a member in the PC (USA) is 61 (it was 58 in 2001). And with advances in modern medicine, the average age keeps climbing because people are living longer and let's face it: we are not a church of rocking chair-bound seniors. This is a really cool thing, because it means that my church is full of seniors who are active and constantly out and about. They joke that retirement means very little to them because they are just as busy if not busier than they were when they were still working.
The challenge for me to be doing a service celebrating seniors is that I am shall we say age challenged? I'm 27. Obviously talking about aging isn't my strong suit. The challenge is to celebrate seniors without sounding patronizing. I'm very conscious of what it sounds like to be patronized, so I'm going to do my best to avoid that. But as the pastor of a church that is, I would guess, at least 85% people who are over the age of 65, celebrating seniors is something that I feel called to do this year.
In the process of planning the service, I have been thinking a lot about my grandparents. I was very blessed to have all of my grandparents active in my life until I was 21. My paternal grandfather died April 2006 and my paternal grandmother died in 2008; both of my maternal grandparents are still living. All four of my grandparents were extremely active in my upbringing. Because they are all local to where I lived with my parents, my siblings and I never spent a day in day care.
My biblical passage this week is a passage in Romans in which Paul is lifting up Abraham as the epitome of a man of faith. It got me thinking about how the seniors in the church (as well as in the family) are models for the younger generations, even though younger generations don't always appreciate what seniors have to offer. But in many ways, the younger generations are looking to their elders to see what church means to them, who Christ is to them, and what a life of discipleship looks like for them.
So I asked myself what I learned from my grandparents and I'm a person who loves lists, so I compiled a list. It's by no means a comprehensive list, but I wanted to share it with you as a way to celebrate my grandparents and all that they have given me over the course of the last 27 years.

1) Charades is a great game to play when it's raining.
2) Is there really anything more fun than going through a car wash?
3) If you set the cushions of a couch up just right and put a sheet over them, you can make a terribly awesome fort.
4) A basement can easily become a rollar skating rink.
5) Volunteering is a great way to spend retirement.
6) Always keep dog treats handy.
7) Anytime you can support a family member by attending a special event (dance recital, piano recital, grandparents day, whatever), DO IT.
8) Be involved in the church and offer to teach what you know whenever you can.
9) Always say your prayers before bedtime.
10) Wave a newspaper in front of the smoke detector when making toast or the smoke detector will inevitably go off.
11) Take pictures of everything. Twice.
12) Have parties and invite your family and friends. And always have black olives handy.
13) The imagination is a thing to be prized and nurtured.
14) Keep your bread in the microwave.
15) A note will get you out of your grandfather's "Family art class."
16) Sit together as a family whenever you can.
17) Do not call during 7 and 8 p.m. during the week as this is when Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are on tv.
18) Play the lottery.
19) Tell stories.
20) Always always always take every opportunity to love whenever you can.

May you truly feel blessed by the seniors in your life and take every opportunity that you can to thank them and love them.

Peace,
Pastor Becki

In memory of Nick and Jennie Weltmann and in Honor of Donald and Flora Homer.