Mission Yearbook: POAMN conference speaker shares that ‘God is not done with you yet’

Nearly 100 people from 24 states recently attended “Bridging Generations,” the annual conference of the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network.

During opening worship at the Frasier Retirement Community in Boulder, Colorado, the Rev. Justin Spurlock, senior pastor at Grace Presbyterian Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and Covenant Presbyterian Church in Greenwood Village set the vision for attendees with an inspiring sermon based on Isaiah 43 and his own experience.

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Brendan Schuster and the Rev. Bill Davis lead music during opening worship Wednesday at "Bridging Generations," the annual conference of the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network. (Photo by Mike Ferguson)

Conference musicians the Rev. Bill Davis and Brendan Schuster added to worship with voices, guitar and shruti box. Worshipers wrote their prayer concerns on ribbons, which they wove through chicken wire sandwiched by wooden frames, all of which were on their tables.

“My hope is that you will take a peek behind the veneer,” Spurlock said after reading most of Isaiah 43. When God tells the people “I know you” and “I love you,” “those are words that mean a lot to people who don’t have those connections, who aren’t rooted in that place,” such as the people of Isaiah’s time. “Particularly as we work with older adults, so often they have come from a place where they were rooted and are now in a place that feels quite different, a place where they don’t have those connections. They begin to think — and we leaders push it on them — that those eyes that have seen a lot cannot be trusted anymore.”

Then Spurlock asked: “When people are pushed to the side and told their memories and experiences don’t matter anymore, what happens to their sense of identity? They begin to feel they’re not loved and not known, that their faith from the past is no longer valued and perhaps no longer matters.”

“We call this space ‘wilderness,’ friends,” he said. “What if God is about to do something new in your wilderness? What if your eyes, that have seen so much, might actually be tuned to see the true new thing that God is up to in our midst? What might that mean?”

Those who have seen a lot “can see what’s coming next,” Spurlock said. “They can perceive what might be new, that these are streams flowing through these wilderness places.”

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The Rev. Justin Spurlock

The opportunity in the desert that many churches are experiencing “isn’t with families with kids. It’s with older adults. I’m speaking to the choir here,” he said. “Our senior adults among us feel like they aren’t the places where God is going to bring a flowing river, yet they have the experience to know what might actually be new. They have literally seen it all, and they can come alongside us and say, ‘let me help you dream something new. The thing you are handing us is something we tried 27 years ago, and it didn’t turn out like you leaders had hoped. Let’s try something together.’”

“It’s in these spaces,” he said, “where God does something new.”

Wind Crest Senior Living is “a stone’s throw” from Grace Presbyterian Church, Spurlock noted, and about three years ago he and others formed a new worshiping community there called Winds of Grace, part of Denver Presbytery’s rich tapestry of new worshiping communities. Even after preaching two sermons on a Sunday, Spurlock looks forward to a third sermon once a month at Winds of Grace.

“There aren’t the typical expectations a congregation brings,” he said. “I sing some songs and pray some prayers on a Sunday afternoon. They don’t care if the sermon is a little tired or I am a little tired. They accept us for who we are and we are excited to be in this space together.”

He comes out of afternoon worship “believing I have encountered the holy in the wilderness. It’s anything but a desert,” Spurlock said. “I wonder if that’s what all our church communities should feel like? They have arrived at that place because they have seen so much, experienced all of it, and they actually know what is new and what is from God.”

“We have the opportunity to lift these experiences up to provide value, to say, ‘you are known and loved, and God is not done with you yet. God is going to make a way in the wilderness.’ Amen.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Serrita Bell, Directory of Communications and Marketing, Presbyterian Foundation   
Barbara Betts, Manager, Presbyterian Distribution Services, Administrative Services Group, A Corporation                                  

Let us pray:

Gracious God, you have called us to bring your good news to all people. Help us to minister faithfully in our congregations and neighborhoods to your children of all ages, so that all will know of your love. In the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Prayer blanket ministry sends warm wishes from New York state

From the banks of the Genesee River to South Carolina’s sunny shores, God’s love is on the move.

And in the mail.

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Members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of East Avon, New York, lay hands on a prayer blanket they will send to bless the recipient. (Screenshot)

The latest in a wealth of colorful prayer blankets — lovingly handcrafted by a group of faithful volunteers at the First Presbyterian Church of East Avon (New York) in the Presbytery of Genesee Valley — was recently dispatched to a South Carolina woman who had likely never heard of the hamlet south of Rochester, but whose life would be touched by it.

“We blessed a blanket for a woman named Cas,” said Cathy Garrett, a relatively new church member who launched the prayer blanket ministry at East Avon, where she is thrilled to see it flourishing.

“Our friends met Cas while they were serving at the food bank in their hometown in South Carolina,” she said. “When they noticed that her leg didn’t look healthy, they encouraged her to seek medical attention. Because she has no health insurance, she was resistant to go to the doctor. They, however, continued to encourage her, and when she did finally seek medical attention, the doctor stated that although it was not cancer, the leg would have to be amputated. It’s our prayer that she will receive the blanket as a physical symbol of God’s love, peace, comfort and healing.”

Garrett explained that whenever the congregation receives a request for a prayer blanket, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Michelle Allen, invites worshipers to come forward, as they are able, to lay their hands on the blanket and pray as a witness that everyone shares in the ministry.

Since East Avon is a small congregation with some 50–60 members and friends worshiping each Sunday in person or on Zoom, Garrett decided that the best way to introduce the prayer blanket concept to the church was to connect with Alice Malin, who leads the Crafters, a longtime weekly ministry group.

“Alice immediately came up with a pattern for people to knit for prayer blankets,” said Garrett, who first learned about prayer blankets when she received the prayer shawl that had comforted her mother-in-law at the end of her life.

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First Presbyterian Church of East Avon, New York, has a thriving prayer blanket ministry. (Photo by Emily Enders Odom)

“As soon as the idea took hold with the Crafters, soon others in the church stepped forward to offer to teach crocheting and knitting,” Garrett recalled. “Now everyone in church is involved with the prayer blanket ministry in one way or another, including the children. We have been honored to send blankets all over the world to people we’ve never met. The stories we receive are incredible.”

Peggy Stallworth, a quilter who leads the pack in donating her beautiful, handmade quilts, shared with Garrett how the ministry has brought new meaning to her handiwork.

“Peg, who is one of those who has quilted many of the blankets,” recalled Garrett, “said to me, ‘I can’t thank you enough. I love to quilt, but I ran out of people to give them to, and now I have purpose for my quilts.’”

Whenever a blanket is hand-delivered or mailed, the church encloses a laminated photo of the congregation praying over it with text on the back to let the recipient know that the church will continue to remember them in prayer. They also invite them to email the church with updates, should they wish, and to join the congregation on Sunday mornings for worship.

“We sent a blanket to a woman who wasn’t expected to live after a stroke,” said Garrett. “She told us that when the blanket isn’t on her, it stays in her windowsill with a picture of the congregation next to it. She said she looks at it all day long, and that it has given her strength.”

Today, Garrett said, the woman is able to speak and eat and is learning to walk again.

“What a blessing it would be,” she exclaimed, “to have other churches pick up on this practice and just let the Holy Spirit fly!”

The East Avon Church invites readers to contact the church via email to learn how to start a prayer blanket ministry in their congregation or if they — or someone they know — is in need of a blanket.

Emily Enders Odom, Former Associate Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Doug Batezel , Senior Vice President & CIO, Information Technology, The Board of Pensions
Jon Baxter, Chief Engineer, Building Services, Administrative Services Group, A Corporation

Let us pray:

Thank you, Lord, for opportunities to share our gifts and learn from one another. Please give us the strength and courage to remain faithful to you while working hard to care for the rest of your children. We pray all this in your precious Son’s name. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: YAV joins program to help advocate for Peruvian state violence victims

Well-known Peruvian documentarian Javier Corcuera hosted a special screening over the summer of his newest documentary, “Escuchar,” about the state violence that took place in Peru between December 2022 and March 2023, resulting in the deaths of 49 protesters.

It’s a story about people like Marco Antonio Samillán, a young doctor who was shot in the back while attempting to offer medical care to protestors. It's a story about Marco’s sister, Milagros, who was thrust into the role of justice advocate and activist for victims’ families after her brother’s murder. And it is — in a way — a story about the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program in Peru in which Milagros participates. 

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The Peru YAV site coordinator, Jenny Valles, stands with eight of the nine YAV program participants for 2025-2026. (Contributed photo)

A few years ago, even the most gifted prognosticators would have been unlikely to predict that Milagros Samillán and the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program would cross paths. Prior to her brother’s assassination, Milagros was a young university student, still living in Juliaca, the rural Andean context where she’d grown up.

“I was just another citizen of this country, living my own life — business, university, and family life — trying to share as many moments as possible with my siblings because we had already lost my mother and were dealing with a very heavy loss for the family,” Samillán said.

Meanwhile, participants in the PC(USA)’s Young Adult Volunteer program have historically been from the United States. The program offered them a disruption to “regular life” — a chance to encounter a different context in another city or another country and spend a year living in intentional Christian community while serving the church and the world. Currently, the program offers sites in four U.S. cities and cities international locations.

When Covid made it impossible for the YAV program in Peru to accommodate young adults from the U.S., site coordinator Jenny Valles made an innovative shift: She brought on two Peruvian young adults instead. What began as a creative solution born of necessity became a new vision for the YAV program, and Valles continued to invite volunteers from Peru and other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean alongside U.S. young adults.

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Milagros Samillán talks with pastor and AETE professor, Efraín Barrera. 

“I believe having a more diverse YAV community is a more faithful approach to meeting the needs of the global church and addressing the challenges of the world today,” Valles said, noting that the diversity among volunteers also includes faith traditions, social location and life experiences. Samillán is one such example.

As state violence erupted in late 2022, Samillán and her family weren’t oblivious to the escalating situation, but they were focused on their own grief at their mother’s death. Then, on Jan. 9, police in Juliaca killed 18 people in a single day. 

Samillán’s brother Marco was a doctor who had heard that protestors were being injured by police and went to offer medical care. Instead, he became one of those murdered, and Samillán’s life changed forever. 

In the months after her brother’s death, Samillán felt a growing responsibility to speak up for her brother and the others who were killed, as well as 1,500 survivors, and the family members of those murdered with whom she had bonded.

“I had two options: lie in bed and cry for my brother's death or use my brother's memory and my brother’s name to help and support the family members’ struggle, which is also my struggle, which is not only Marco’s, but also part of the 49 families who are demanding justice today.”

Family members of the victims, including Samillán, came to Lima in the spring of 2023 and slept on the streets — a demonstration that became known as the “Lima Occupations” according to Efraín Barrera, a pastor and professor at an ecumenical theological school in Lima called AETE. Barrera said that, in response to the murders and victims’ families coming to Lima, AETE formed the Evangelicals Presente Collective made up of students and faculty who provided material support to the families and also organized a work of “prophetic denunciation” of the violence done by the government. Through this work, Samillán became involved with AETE and Barrera. 

AETE has been in relationship with the PC(USA) since 2000 through various Presbyterian faculty members as well as the Joining Hands Network in Peru. 

Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Andrew Kang Bartlett, Associate, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Interim Unified Agency
Dwayne Batcho, Production Clerk, Presbyterian Distribution Service, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Holy God, upon you we depend. Help your church to stand strong — shining the light of your goodness in a troubled world and our often-troubled lives. Empower us to proclaim your salvation and new life in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Westminster Presbyterian Church in New Jersey seeks ‘Shalom of the City’

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Members celebrate Easter at Westminster Presbyterian Church in 2025.

Members from Westminster Presbyterian Church in New Jersey’s capital city understand themselves as “A House of Prayer and Praise for People of All Nations” that continually seeks “the Shalom of the City.” These phrases describe how the congregation sees itself as a body, committed to faith, loving unconditionally and doing the work where they are with whomever needs it wherever they are. One member observed:

We “love thy neighbor” every time we joyfully show up and shout out for our  members, our city, our nation and our world. We attend local drive-by graduation celebrations and march for racial and social justice. We  distribute food to local families and teach English in a village school in the Dominican Republic. We celebrate our God-given gifts and use them for the glory of God. We shine our light and encourage others to shine theirs, with love, commitment, patience and forgiveness. For such a time as this ...

Westminster Presbyterian Church is a historic, urban church located in the East Trenton/Wilbur neighborhood of Trenton, New Jersey. The history of the current Westminster began in the 1980s, almost a century after it was founded, when congregants of the predominantly white church were faced with deciding on a course of action when it was becoming clear that no change meant the permanent closing of the church.

Over the course of the past 40-plus years, as the congregation went through a major transformation due to white flight, Westminster has worked to better reflect the image of their community, particularly by matching their community’s complexion. They have continued to strive to be better at seeking justice and always looking to a future with more caring and love. With partners, Westminster continues seeking the Shalom of the City through a ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18).  They currently dedicate their church facility and resources in service to:

• promoting racial reconciliation
• becoming an intercultural, multigenerational worshiping congregation
• improving the quality of education in public schools in Trenton
• working to dismantle mass incarceration
• ministering to people and their families
• providing Trenton Microloan Collaborative loans to reentry/returning citizens
• reaching out to young adults who feel disenfranchised by the traditional church yet called to live and serve in the city of Trenton
• assisting immigrants to acquire English proficiency to support the education of their children and to secure gainful employment
• becoming an open and affirming congregation for the LGBTQ-plus community
• and becoming the home of Interfaith Refugee Immigrant Services and Empowerment.

Pastora Karen admits that the church is not “self-sufficient financially,” meaning they rely on grants and donations to not just meet their own budget but also to sustain their enormous array of community events, services, and missions for folks in Trenton; our Westminster missionaries serving the Misión Tú Puedes in Najayo, Dominican Republic, and Monrovia, Liberia.

Westminster operates almost like a nonprofit, hosting community programs out of its building, and taking in donations from other churches and organizations and dispensing them to the city of Trenton.

Trenton may appear to be a dying city, but Westminster considers its mission to pour out the love of Christ regardless of how Trenton may be able to invest or make good on such gifts, persisting in the radical practice of “seeking shalom in the city.” There’s both a work-a-day and a Kin-dom mindset to Westminster’s ministry: they may find themselves pressed in by the brutal realities of urban life, but God’s love compels them to imagine beauty and possibility.

Angie Belmont; Clerk of Session; Westminster Church; Trenton, New Jersey

Let us join in prayer for:

David Barnhart, Associate, Story Ministry, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Interim United Agency
Jenny Barr, Reference and Outreach Archivist, Presbyterian Historical Society, Interim Unified Agency

Let us pray:

Westminster’s Passing of the Peace in five languages is our weekly prayer.

The Lord be with you 
And also with you

La paz de Dios sea con-ti-go
Y tam-bien con-ti-go

Sa-wa-bona
Si-ko-na

Pyeong-hwa
Pyeong-hwa

Pe

Mission Yearbook: Professor and author explores easing the crisis of student debt

In a new book, Dr. Jamal Watson explores one of the nation’s most pressing civil rights questions: Who gets to go to college?

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Watson, author of “The Student Debt Crisis: America’s Moral Urgency,” was a recent guest of Simon Doong and the Rev. Lee Catoe on “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast.” Listen to their 53-minute conversation here.

Watson is also professor and associate dean at Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C., and executive editor of “Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.”

Watson called student debt “a complicated issue. We all know education is, or tries to be, the great equalizer in our society. Yet there are many people grappling with this whole question of, should I even go to college? I’m concerned I won’t be able to get married or be able to afford to buy a house or a car because I’ll be so much in debt.”

For people of color and Black women in particular, “who are impacted more than any other group, these are even more challenging issues to discuss,” Watson said. Legislation and executive orders by the Biden administration to forgive student loans and make them easier to repay have “imploded under the new administration,” Watson noted, “but I think there are other ways. You have the private sector,” which has “basically stepped up to the plate to say, ‘we will try to provide opportunities for disadvantaged individuals and give them a leg up so they can access education.’”

Watson grew up in a church in Camden, New Jersey, which every year took an offering to help its high school seniors attend college. For Watson, that meant the gift of $9,000, secured in a plastic trash bag. A grateful Watson took the bag home and counted the offering after worship.

“These were working-class people. They were not wealthy, but they believed in education so much that they wanted to send me off,” he told Catoe and Doong. “These are what I call invisible forms of philanthropy, and they’re taking place in ways people don’t often understand.”

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Black women face even more financial barriers because they can be caregivers of children and their parents and they’re also “battling with racism and sexism,” Watson said. “The sexism piece is they’re often underpaid and undervalued. They’re often trying to shoulder work responsibilities in which they’re not making enough money to pay back their debt.”

“One of the things I argue in the book is we ought to think of student debt as a civil rights issue,” Watson said. In many other developed nations, “education is less expensive or even free.” In the United States, “we tell young people that when they graduate from high school, they ought to go to college. Shouldn’t we be cultivating a society where we make [higher education] much more accessible without people having to go into debt?”

Add to those barriers “the lack of accumulation of generational wealth because of racism and white supremacy and the way it’s been instituted into our financial system,” Doong said, adding that many students who can’t afford the cost of a four-year institution are instead earning an associate’s degree, then transferring to a state-supported university because that’s what they can afford. “There’s nothing wrong with that,” Doong said. “Some folks give them a hard time, but they were doing what they can do with the means they have. They should be proud of that.”

The reality is that “the vast majority of students in this country are at community colleges, and yet community colleges are treated like second-class institutions,” Watson said. “They often don’t get the funding they need even though they are servicing traditional-aged students who are coming right out of high school and many older individuals or those who have been laid off and are coming back to get reskilled.”

The PC(USA) provides student loan support and guidance for public service loan forgiveness through a partnership between the Office of Financial Aid for Service and the Board of Pensions. To register for the service and find out if you are eligible for free student loan coaching, visit pcusa.org/loanassist.

Listen to previous editions of “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast” here.

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Rebecca Barnes, Manager, Presbyterian Hunger Program, Interim Unified Agency
Cheryl Barnes,  Manager, US Global Ecumenical Liaisons, Interim Unified Agency

Let us pray:

Loving God, thank you for the faithful who lead us to Christ through their love, ministry, proclamation and service. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Reparative Justice Fund is approved at Presbytery of Baltimore

The Presbytery of Baltimore recently took a historic step by approving the establishment of a Reparative Justice Fund at its 908th Stated Meeting held at Catonsville Presbyterian Church. This action affirms the presbytery’s commitment to truth, repair and reconciliation in response to the enduring harm of slavery and systemic racism.

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The Presbytery of Baltimore held its 908th Stated Meeting Saturday and approved a historic Reparative Justice Fund. (Photo by Presbytery of Baltimore) 

The Reparative Justice Fund is designed to provide direct support to African American congregations and communities within the presbytery’s bounds, with a focus on empowerment, self-determination and healing. Six historically Black congregations —  Cherry Hill Community, Grace, Knox, Lochearn, Madison Avenue, and Trinity Presbyterian churches will receive initial priority in recognition of their historic underfunding and exclusion. At least one-quarter of the fund’s resources will be directed toward these congregations, while additional disbursements will support community-based initiatives rooted in equity and justice.

Unlike traditional grant programs, the Reparative Justice Fund will be governed by an independent nonprofit board of directors. Members of the incorporating board will be nominated from within the presbytery as well as African American leaders serving in historically Black communities across the region. This ensures that the distribution of funds will be led by those most directly impacted by historic inequities, reflecting the core principle that reparations must be shaped and guided by the communities they are meant to serve.

To seed the fund, the presbytery is committing 15% of its unrestricted net assets, in addition to 15% of designated mission and urban ministry funds. These resources will be disbursed in two equal installments in 2026 and 2027.

Moving forward, the presbytery’s manual will be amended so that 10% of net proceeds from all property sales will flow into the fund, providing a sustainable and long-term source of support. The Reparative Actions Fund Reserve, created several years ago from the legacy of The Center, which connected Baltimore congregations with mission, will also be incorporated into this effort, unifying the presbytery’s commitments under one banner of repair.

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The Presbytery of Baltimore's Reparative Justice Fund will support Black congregations that have historically been underfunded. Here General Presbyter the Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Taylor stands behind centenarian Susan Taylor King, who was honored during Saturday's gathering. (Photo by Presbytery of Baltimore)

The action comes after years of prayerful discernment and study led by the presbytery’s Dismantling Racism Team. Beginning in 2022, the team engaged in broad consultation, studied denominational precedents and listened deeply to congregations and community voices. The team’s recommendation emphasized the need to move beyond charity toward repair, grounding the proposal in the theological conviction that repentance requires both confession and action.

“This fund is more than a symbolic act — it is a faithful witness to the gospel,” said General Presbyter the Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Taylor. “Reparations name the harm, affirm dignity, and open the way to a more just future. Through this fund, the Presbytery of Baltimore is aligning its resources with its faith, living out God’s call to mend what has been broken.”

The Reparative Justice Fund also builds on actions of the broader denomination. In 2022, the 225th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopted an overture titled An Apology to African Americans for the Sin of Slavery and Its Legacy, which called on presbyteries to examine their complicity in slavery and systemic racism and to take tangible steps toward repair. The Presbytery of Baltimore endorsed this action at the time and began to study how it might live into its commitments in practical ways. The recent vote represents a major milestone in the fulfillment of that process.

By creating this fund, the Presbytery of Baltimore joins a growing ecumenical movement in the region and beyond. The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, the PC(USA)’s Synod of Lakes and Prairies, and several universities have taken similar steps, signaling that reparations are increasingly recognized as both a moral imperative and a faithful witness to justice. Baltimore’s action stands out for its scope  and its structural independence, setting an example for other presbyteries across the country.

“It is exciting to see this critical work progress. This is not only a historic moment for Baltimore Presbytery — it is a long-awaited new beginning,” said the Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam, director of the PC(USA)’s Center for the Repair of Historic Harms. “Inspired by our Creator, their actions affirm that repairing centuries of injustice remains right, necessary and possible. May God bless this fund to plant seeds of trust and transformation that will repair, inspire and equip generations to come.”

Presbytery of Baltimore (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Clare Balsan, Associate, United Nations Advocacy, Office of Public Witness and Presbyterian Ministry at the UN
Amantha Barbee, Major Gift Officer, Stewardship and Major Gifts, Administrative Services Group (A Corporation)

Let us pray:

Dear God, thank you for raising up prophets in our midst to bring us good news. Accompany them in their journeys and strengthen their ministries. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Author discusses habits for a healthy, holy life

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Justin Whitmel Earley has served as a missionary and an attorney, but his current gig has proven even more satisfying.

Now he writes books for both children and to help grownups develop habits that lead to good health — for themselves, their family and their community.

Earley’s most recent book is “The Body Teaches the Soul: Ten Essential Habits to Form a Healthy and Holy Life.”  He was the guest recently of the Rev. Cliff Haddox and the Rev. Michelle Thomas-Bush on the “Around the Table” podcast. Listen to their 51-minute conversation here.

After a time as a missionary in China, Earley became a lawyer working at a firm that demanded around-the-clock work. “Even though professing my identity was in Jesus and my hope was in the Lord, I functionally was putting my hope and my identity into my work,” he told the hosts. It took him a “long while” to rebuild his life afterward, “but encountering, practicing and committing to creating a schedule for the spiritual disciplines was the way the Lord saw me out of that season.”

Earley learned that more than 4 in 10 of our everyday actions “are not conscious choices but default habits.” But “it’s clearly possible to choose otherwise, and this is the good news.” He suggested making invisible habits visible by naming them.

Haddox said there’d invariably be resistance in the first few weeks of trying to change a habit.

“Your brain takes a while to get used to things — usually four to six weeks,” Earley said. A powerful example in his own lawyering life was his habit of checking work email or social media posts first thing in the morning, “which was creating either anxiety or anger, depending on which I went to first.”

Nearly 9 in 10 Americans do the same thing the moment they roll out of bed, he said. “When we start our day with social media or news or our inbox or our daily schedule for our identity, those are terrible places, because they’ll never love us back the way God loves us,” Earley said. “As a habit, saying I will look at Scripture before I look at my phone every morning was immensely powerful in my life.”

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“I had to fight this internal narrative and the norm of saying, ‘I can figure this out at 8:30 when I get to the office.’ But it’s 6:30 now. That means I have two hours with my family. It can wait.”

Earley said he often thinks about Romans 12:1–2, Paul’s words about not being conformed but being transformed. “It’s important to note we’re being formed in either of those situations,” he said. “The idea is don’t passively become conformed to the patterns of the world but rather be transformed. That takes effort, thinking and choosing.”

All this transformation occurred when Earley was the father of two young boys. He now has four, ages 13, 11, 8 and 6. “One thing I’ve realized after I started writing and talking about habits and spirituality is that parenting puts us on display perhaps more than any other realm,” he said. “Parenting is the realm of habit.” In those days, Earley was “the guy who barked my kids to bed each evening.” Starting a nighttime prayer rhythm with his children “helped me think about a different endpoint for the day.”

He and his children would exchange call-and-response prayers at bedtime. “Do you know I love you no matter what bad things you do? What good things you do?” His boys would tell him yes. “Who else loves you like that?” he’d ask them. “God does,” they’d respond. “It was a way for them to land the day on the love of God being unconditional for them and me.”

Earley said a good way to change a habit is to pick one friend to do one habit for one month, either together or on one’s own. “You need community to form new habits. This is well-researched,” he said.

After you practice for a few weeks, “it’ll be an amazing day and you won’t even realize it,” Earley said. “You’ll do it without realizing it.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Zenia Baker, Administrative I, Operations, Presbyterian Foundation
Adriana Ballard, AVP, Director of Investment Management, Investments, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Lord, help us to find new and challenging ways to support our neighbors as they seek to provide for their families. Amen.