Gwen Colfer of Grand Junction, Colorado shared this story of how several families took intentional steps to build an inter-generational culture that has outlived them. It may not be possible for every one, but it is worth considering. I hope you will be blessed by her story.
When my husband and I were raising our family, we met with four other families for Bible Study every two weeks from September through May. During the summer we usually did a big overnight activity.
The plan was simple. We followed the Scripture stories taught each weekend at church. However, in lieu of the children going to Sunday School and the adults going to Adult Bible classes, we chose to study WITH our children in our homes. Each family took turns hosting this large group of thirty (consisting of ten adults and twenty children from ages 8 to 22 when we started). Many of the college kids even came home some weekends to be with us.
We always had lots of food and lots of fun, too! For our study time we drew names to allocate members into five or six discussion groups. Each group met in various rooms of the host home after the scriptures of that day were read. We came back together to share the highlights of each group’s discussions. Our discussions were followed with an ‘action’ for the week so God’s Word would be applied to our everyday lives.
To this day, our family recalls those years with the fondest memories. We supported all of the family group kids in their extra-curricular activities. We all attended band competitions, football and basketball games, school plays and musicals, and graduations. And as the older ones moved on and eventually married, we attended their weddings. In the truest sense of the word, we reflected Christ to one another. It was awesome, inter-generational, and it worked! Best of all, we grew mightily in our relationships with the Lord, and with one another.
After the group had been meeting for almost six years, one of the young people, now eighteen, volunteered to take over the Bible Study leadership. He did, and did a great job! Two or three of the teens and young adults played guitar, so we always included singing in our time together. Our family group theme song was, “Here I Am, Lord”. Interspersed through everything we did was lots of prayer.
Above all, we truly believed the Lord placed a hedge of protection around our group for all the years we met together. We did ‘wing’ it most of the time, but covered it all with tons of prayer! None of us had ever done anything like this before. We did it because we truly believed in the inter-generational sharing, passing on, and living out of our faith.
And you know what, the kids loved it as much as the adults! I will never forget one weekend when our family was hosting the group. Four kids from one of the families showed up on our doorstep without their parents. Their parents were out of town and none of them were old enough to drive. We were surprised to learn that they had asked a neighbor to drive them because they didn’t want to miss it.
I don’t know about you, but I was blessed by this creative and courageous approach by six families who chose to cultivate a truly inter-generational culture in their faith community, rather than delegate their parenting responsibilities to others.
How does this impact you way of thinking about your family? I invite you to share your response to this story and to add your own stories to the conversation
What a delight to read Gwen & Jim’s “Inter-Gen” story! It’s great to know that Gwen has captured this in writing to inspire it’s readers into action. I’m honored to know this dear couple. Gwen is such a wonderful inspirational friend. I love them both. I remember years ago when Gwen shared this “Inter-Gen” concept with me! I would have loved to have experienced such support and connection as I was growing up. One of the greatest gaps in our culture these days is the lack of actually connecting with each other…especially intergenerationaly. What a legacy Gwen & Jim have provided. My children are grown but I can see how even now components of this concept could be utililized in various forms with family and friends over the years to come. Our neighborhoods these days are practically void of children or teens due to all the internet and various activities. It used to be that neighbors kept watch and connected with each other though this seldom happens any longer. I’ve forwarded this edition of Cavin’s Blog on to my sister, friends, daughters and nieces in hope that they will catch Gwen & Jim’s “Inter-Gen’s” Godly application of reflecting Christ. I pray readers will impliment such a gift within their circle of families and friends…reaching out to loved ones and lost ones. May we never think it is too late to reflect Christ by being vulnerable enough to take the time to show that we care.