2019 Graduates

We need to pray for our recent graduates; not only for their transition into the next stage of their lives (college, workforce, military) but also that they remain in the church.

     An article on Lifeway Research's website* states that, "The dropout rate for young adults accelerates with age, the study found.
     While 69 percent say they were attending at age 17, that fell to 58 percent at age 18 and 40 percent at age 19. Once they reach their 20s, around 1 in 3 say they were attending church regularly."
     “We are seeing teenagers drop out of the church as they make the transition out of high school and student ministry,” said the LifeWay's director of student ministry, Ben Trueblood.

This hit home for me. This is when I dropped out of church, and I didn't return until over 30 years later. Those 30 years were horrible and my problems seemed even more unbearable because I wasn't even praying or in the Word during most of that time. It was a time of feeling alone and isolated. Every problem seemed like it was more than I could bear. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. We, as a church, need to find a way to keep our young congregation coming back and support them in finding a new church if they moved away from home.

Just brainstorming a few ideas:
- Parents could visit some churches with their children just as they probably visited the campuses with their teen.
- Get a volunteer or two from the home church to keep in touch with the teen, reminding them to stay in the word.
- Help them find a Christain group to get involved in.

This is really important. Let's not let this generation slip through cracks. Keep them engaged and active in church and in ministry so they can do the same with future generations.

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, 

in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, 

to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Acts 20:28 ESV

*Earls, Aaron. (January 15, 2019). Most teenagers drop out of church as young adults.
     Found at: LifeWayResearch.com

*****

Please join me this week in praying for our 2019 graduates. Pray for the success of their spiritual future just as you would for their educational or vocational success.
I'll share some of my experience during that period of my life and will post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
instagram @archadia27
facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Kingship Belongs to the Lord

For kingship belongs to the Lord, and He rules over the nations. 

(Psalm 22:28 ESV)

Please follow along with our prayer group where we come together with one voice during the 7:00 hour to pray for the people around us. Please join with us this week as we pray for all levels of our government.

I'll post a daily reminder to pray on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

instagram @archadia27

facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Pray for our government - Day 3

No matter which side you're on, I'm sure we can all agree (hopefully) that it's a good idea to Pray for our Government from the local level all the way up to the top; present and future.

#7thHourPrayerPower

January 1, 2013 is Now

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I always love January 1st, because like so many others, I see it as a chance for a fresh start; a chance to try, try again and hopefully get “it” right this time. Its a time to make promises to oneself and to vow to become a better person. Its a time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. However, I think that when we look back, we see our mistakes and focus on the regrets of our lives. This causes us to look to the future in order to hope that we can do better next time. Instead, we should look at our lives right now. Its really very difficult to do, but if accomplished, brings a person into a state of happiness and fulfillment that can’t be found by reflecting on regret and hoping for something better.

As each minute passes, I realize that that moment in time is gone forever. I can never get it back and no matter what I did with that minute, I can’t change it now. I can plan for the next minute and try harder to make the next minute count, but by doing that, I’m wasting the current minute, and now its gone and I can never get it back. The next minute I’ll spend doing what I planned for it, but once it passes, I have no plan for the following minute and so I have to choose whether to regret that one, or use it to plan the next one. By not enjoying this current minute, there can never be any satisfaction. If I’m always looking backward or forward, I’m never enjoying the moment. There’s never a chance to just simply “be”.

Reflection and planning do have their places in our lives. Its as important to learn from our mistakes as it is to set and achieve goals. We just need to keep these things in balance. They need to afford us the opportunity to enjoy our lives. Imagine standing in a small plot of beautiful garden. If you look behind you, you see grey skies, desolate, cracked ground and a long, empty road that leads nowhere. You wonder what happened to the beauty that once existed. You stress about the choices you made. Leaning backwards, you long to return to that time to do things differently. It upsets you and pulls your focus away from what’s good in your life right now. Back there is more comfortable because you’ve already been there and you feel like, by going back, you can rid yourself of regret.

If you look ahead, all you can see is a deep fog. There are a few shapes in there, but those could just be your imagination and you spend a great deal of time and effort straining to see something among the clouds. You worry and fear what could possibly be hiding in the thick fog.

You repeat this process over and over again. First, looking behind you, then looking ahead, but you never, ever look down. Therefore, you never, ever see the beauty that’s all around you. You never see the good in the moment.

Count your blessings. Look at the beauty and peace that is your now.

For 2013, let’s think beyond ourselves, reach out to others, and come together as a unified front against all that is wrong in our world today. Strive to achieve a random act of kindness.

The past is gone; the future is uncertain, but right now, we can accomplish anything.