Kelly and Connie’s Place

Have you ever wished you could understand your kids better, or maybe your grandkids? Then this book’s for you. It’s another great book that I’m reading and it ties in to the previous book I’ve mentioned on this blog, “Who Stole My Church”. This one is called “One Church 4 Generations” by Gary L. McIntosh. It helps you understand each generation, (your parents, kids, yourself— or maybe your boss, co-worker, employee or neighbor), and what historical & social events shaped them.

Bridger Generation (born between 1984-2002)

Here’s a great excerpt from the book (pp178) that takes a look at the Bridgers, “a generation that is technically skilled, community-minded, and open to change to a greater extent than any previous generation. In 2002 the oldest of the Bridger generation was just entering college.” This may make you feel old… or older…quote:

• Bridgers have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era and probably do not know he was ever shot.
• Bridgers were less than 12 yrs old when the Soviet Union broke apart, and they do not remember the Cold War.
• Bridgers think bottle caps have always been screw-ff and plastic.
• Bridgers are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.
• Bridgers have never feared a nuclear war.
• Bridgers do not understand the expression, “You sound like a broken record.”
• Bridgers have never owned a record player.
• Bridgers have never seen a black-and-white television or one with only 13 channels.
• Bridgers have never known anything but in-line roller skates.
• Bridgers have seen only Jay Leno as the host of the Tonight Show.
• Bridgers never saw Larry Bird or Magic Johnson play basketball.
• Bridgers think of the Vietnam War as history similar to the Civil War, WWI & WWII.
• Bridgers have never heard “Where’s the beef?” or “I’d walk a mile for a Camel” or “De plane, de plane.”
• Bridgers do not have a clue how to use a typewriter.
• Bridgers think MTV has always existed.
• Bridgers do not care who J.R. is or who shot him.
• Bridgers have no idea who Mork was or where he came from.
• Bridgers do not know that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
• Bridgers have always cooked popcorn in a microwave.
• Bridgers do not remember Atari, Pong, or Pac Man.
• Bridgers have always had VCRs, cable, answering machines, and CDs.

Five of my 6 grandkids are Bridgers (or, some other names used for this age group are Generation Y, Millennials, or Mosaics). I’m from the Boomer generation, my parents are the Builders generation, and my kids are the Busters generation.

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Friends are really an important part of our day to day lives and we cherish those relationships.

Yesterday we returned from a business trip to find our phone’s ‘little red light’ flashing on and off, signaling a missed call. A couple from church, who are new friends of ours, were concerned about us since they hadn’t seen us at church on Sunday. When they didn’t get an answer they checked our blog and didn’t see an up date there either. Today we returned their call and learned of their concern.

How special it is to have friends who care and want to keep in touch. Kelly and I have lived in several different states and traveled the world. In each place we have made friends who have impacted our lives. We have tried to keep in touch but It’s not always easy in the busy world of today. That’s why we LOVE IT, when our friends call us instead.

This phone call made me stop and ponder about the sweetness of friendships and prompted me to surf the web for some “friends quotes”. I thought I would share a couple of the ones I really liked. (I hope I have noted them correctly.)

QUOTES:

• “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” Walter Winchell
• “The only way to have a friend is be one.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “A friend is someone who is there for you when he’d rather be somewhere else.” Anonymous.
• “Life is nothing without friendship.” Marcus T. Cicero
• “Treat your friends as you do your pictures, and place them in their best light.” Jennie Jerome Churchill

BUSINESS TRIP

Our business trip was to our office in Denver. We left on Sunday and returned Wednesday. Monday was a bit of a shock to my (Florida) system because the temperature dropped down to 43 degrees. Not to worry though, it’s Denver; the next day it was back in the 80’s and climbing.

When we left we were concerned that Hurricane “Ike” might interrupt our return flight, but he decided to pass our state on by. (So our prayers are with those in Texas who get to deal with him this time around; especially our friends Darrell and Ellen who are in Houston.)

In our Denver office we are in the midst of doing some restructuring, which is not always easy but sometimes very necessary. We are grateful that our Denver team is a dedicated group who want to see the church mobilized for missions and are flexing with the changes. One change is that we will not be moving the office for another year. Moving is “a lot of work” and in this sense, I think they are glad to not have to deal with that right now.

We are glad to be back home and not dealing with Ike. Tomorrow our temperature will be around 92 degrees. WOW! I love Florida.

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