Greatheart’s Table per se is not published on the third Monday of the month. Instead we send your way this “Third Monday” edition: a few updates and newsy notes that some of you might find interesting. This is the small talk, the chitter-chatter, around any table of friends, though in this case it is sadly one-way. And this time, with a soundtrack. Welcome!
I
As I’ve suggested in the past, the effort and time it takes me to hit the promised goal of three posts each month are draining. I have limited time for writing, and many things I want to write. So, starting in April, the beginning of the fourth year of Greatheart’s Table,
every other post will either be a reset of a previous post, or content commissioned from someone else (I’m excited about this part of it). The rest will continue to be freshly composed. This means, then, that on April 1 I will publish a post that first was posted in May of 2021. More than three-quarters of you were not subscribers then, and the rest of you have probably forgotten, so, these resets will still feel fresh.
I will post them as they are, and re-record them for the podcast, but I will not be changing them. I have found value in revisiting these. I hope you will, too.
And having said this, I should add that I reserve the right to ignore the above and write what I want to write when I want to write it even if it is more frequent than every other post!
II
The first weekend in April I will be visiting my daughter’s family in Maryland. While there I will be running the Cherry Blossom 10-Mile race with my granddaughter. This race begins at the Washington Monument in DC and ends on the mall. It looks VERY cool. If you are among those 16,000, let me know! You can wait for me at the finish line.
And then later in that month I’ll be in West Virginia to teach my material for parents of Off-Script Kids to Redeemer church in Hurricane. I’m really looking forward to this.
III
What’s that about off-script kids? Is that a child actor with ADHD whom the director can’t keep focused (as one recently suggested). No.
Parents write a script for their kids when they are young. Christian parents, particularly, in this are influenced by a very strong and restrictive Christian parenting culture. Many times, though, when those children become adults, they ditch the script and go their own way. Often, this is an insignificant deviation - the child becomes a writer and not a lawyer, for example. But frequently the deviation from the script is severe and hard for the parents. Sometimes the child rejects his Christian faith altogether or chooses a lifestyle contrary to what his Christian parents anticipated.
This is a dynamic that affects many but which the church rarely addresses.
At the encouragement of others, I’ve put together some material which has helped parents diffuse some of the shame and guilt they feel as a result of this and as well has given them some hopeful direction for the future.
I will be presenting this material in a relaxing retreat format in May (for which registrations must be in by March 24!) and November of 2024. But as well, I’m available to bring this to your church for a Friday night / Saturday night conference, as I will be doing for Redeemer Church in West Virginia.
This is an important topic and I am continuing to explore ways to get this content to hurting parents.
IV
My daughter, who drives any marketing we do here at Greatheart’s Table, continues to encourage me to find podcasts to be on. So, yes, I’m available to be interviewed on YOUR favorite podcast.
I’m eager to address my concerns for pastoral ministry, as well as discussing the issue of off-script kids. If you are a podcast host, reach out to me. If you know of a podcast that you think would resonate with what I have to say, connect us. Thanks!
V
When I recommend books, I do so through Bookshop.org. This is an easily accessible alternative to Amazon. I try to avoid Amazon when possible because of their inattention to piracy.
And as I’ve noted before, when you buy a book using a link I provide, Greatheart’s Table receives a commission. It’s small, but every bit helps keep us “on the air.” We are a listener supported station, as they say on public radio. I’m grateful for all the support you give.