WHEN SAYING “THANK YOU”

handwritten notes are the best. I am ambidextrous in some things, but handwriting is not one of them. And I’m accused of having a physician’s Perscription handwriting style, so permit me say “thank you” in my own humble way. In my blog.

 

TO MY READERS …

accept my sincere gratitude at being invited into your lives by your having subscribed to ‘Perspective,’ or as you come across my thoughts expressed on social media platforms. Thank you. You and I, we’re not just acquaintances. We’re more like a small gang.

 

You are colleagues, friends and partners in faith and ministry. You are the people I enjoy being with. Some of you support financially[1] the work I do and for this I give special thanks. I receive no salary or compensation, but your gifts help with expenses incurred in doing what I do.

 

WHAT IS AHEAD?

I remain in good health well into my ninth decade, for which I give thanks to God. He is El Shaddai, Almighty, All-Sufficient, the God of More Than Enough. There is nothing too hard for our One True God. And he lets me share in what he is doing in our world.

 

  1. I continue leading a C3 Leaders Forum each week (via zoom since Covid), consisting of 20 business and professional men, growing in our walk with Jesus. For more information, visit org.

 

  1. GAGE, the wonder dog, and I have been in training since he was 5 months old. After 4+ years together, we are a certified Reading with Rover medical/therapy dog D.R.E.A.M team (Dogs for Reading Assistance Education and More), helping any child with special reading needs; the “more” part is in sharing with older adults living independently, or with patients in hospitals and assisted living/memory care centers.

 

  1. Last Thursday, GAGE and I flew to Savannah GA, for Thanksgiving week with my son, Stephen, his wonderful wife, Nancy, her sister, Naomi, her husband David, and my grandson, Jesse. GAGE and I will continue driving south from Savannah (I’ll do most of the driving) to Florida for a few alone days to pray and plan, read and reflect, write and take long walks together in the sun.

 

  1. Perspective has become meeting place for more than 1500 subscribers, along with others on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter’s social networks, who join with me to let life’s ordinary elements of pathos and humor, pros and poetry, reason and faith, facts and fiction, bump up against ancient biblical truths and 21st century life. If you’re reading this on social media, it’s easy to subscribe and receive Perspective regularly in your email (http//wardtanneberg.com/blog).

 

  1. A year ago, we formed what is now an in-reach where I live, called “Tuesdays at Two.” During pandemic restrictions we used Zoom. Now we meet in-person to share God’s Word, tell our stories, unpack our spiritual journeys, and describe what our life purposes look like going forward.

 

  1. I live among 500 active independent retirees, 60+ in age. A few Sundays ago, sensing the Holy Spirit’s prompting, I invited persons on my neighbor-list who no longer drive, or who’ve lost connection with their church, or who are thinking about spiritual things for the first time in a long time, to meet me outside my apartment for coffee and fellowship at 10 o’clock. Would anyone come? Ten persons surprised me by showing up with cups in hand. The number is growing and they voted to call it Sunday Fellowship at Ten. (Okay, I added the ‘Ten’ It helps me be on time.) We moved to a larger space. And a friend who has given 25 years in pastoral ministry in the Catholic Church before retiring is helping co-lead.

 

  1. I continue writing, sharing with old friends and new. It’s a way for me to put my arms around a world needing lots of love and say, “It’s going to get better … Jesus is coming soon.” And, yes, please know how thankful I am when you remember me in your prayers. This is key.

 

Let’s you and me keep doing this, as in our own way, with our own skills and giftedness, we “listen well, teach with humility, be creative, stir the glowing embers in our peers, and leave the Light on for the next generations.”[2]

 

Happy Thanksgiving my friend, and to those you love.

 

May Jesus keep us close.

 

 

 

 

[1] Ministry donations may be directed to Westminster Chapel/Ward Tanneberg Ministries, 13646 NE 24th St, Bellevue WA 98005; or visit www.wardtanneberg.com and donate via our Westminster Chapel online link.

[2] Ward’s reminder to himself of what each day in Life’s Third Age should look like.