Month: December 2010

By Doug Fields and Matt McGill

The Christmas season has a lot of movement. People are usually stressed and borderline psycho during a time when they should be slow and reflective. The pace quickens: Christmas parties, visiting family, special church services, and last minute shopping. Everything seems more urgent.

With a little intentionality, this season can become a natural time to reflect on the important things in life. So, instead of singing the 12 days of Christmas (which we would love to do, but you would hate it), we thought we’d share 12 things we love about youth ministry: HERE

This past week we have enjoyed having my grandparents, Dan and Nancy Larkin, with us. Among other things we were able to go into Mew York City for a day and visited Ground Zero (which has a new tribute museum), took the Staten Island Ferry and saw Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, and spent time in Times Square, and went to the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center). My grandfather has not visited NYC since only one of the Twin Towers was standing, and my grandmother has not been in the city in 56 years (since 1954) when she came to the city on her senior trip from high school. During that trip she saw the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. My Grandfather called me a few weeks ago and said he wanted to surprise Grandma and take her to see them again as a Christmas present. I got some tickets and we pulled off an amazing surprise (see her reaction below when we told her were were going into the theater to see the show!). The show was tremendous and it was a real treat to be able to enjoy it with my grandparents. Another day we enjoyed a nice drive out to the Montauk Lighthouse at the end of Long Island. Great memories!