|
|
|
|
|
Welcome to my pew
Meet Shifty, an autistic 11-year-old with ADHD who doesn’t just attend worship but lives it.
They say children are a blessing from the Lord. I believe that with my whole heart.
|
But sometimes your blessing is breakdancing in front of the baptismal font during the children’s anthem, twirling like a figure skater on opening night, while the other kids stand stock-still and squint at the teacher directing them.
|
Don’t believe me? I can’t make this stuff up—and I have the video to prove it.
|
That’s our Shifty. Nicknamed for the way she shifts, spins, and defies all laws of physics. In other words, she is unpredictable.
|
She has red hair that makes her look like she’s been kissed by fireworks, teal glasses that are always smudged, and a pair of purple noise-canceling headphones she wears like a crown. She’s 11 now, autistic, ADHD (attention-deficit, hyperactivity disorder), and fiercely herself in all the ways I simultaneously admire and try to survive.
|
|
And if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to raise a child who does not just attend church but inhabits it like a Broadway stage, let me show you to our pew.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pictured: Aria Welke (aka "Shifty") with her grandmother, Karen Hafenstein, who works with her granddaughter one-on-one for vacation Bible school (shown) and Sunday school.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ideas to foster a family-friendly church
|
|
|
|
We tell parents that they are supposed to bring their children to church, but how do we support and encourage them in that endeavor? Check out these family-friendly ideas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
From pre-service to postlude, WELS congregations are grateful for the many faithful, talented musicians who have served and continue to serve for Sunday and weeknight worship, weddings, funerals, and other special services. Esther Brassow . . .
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sometimes enemies of Jesus came to him with a question, but it wasn’t because they wanted an answer. They wanted to trap him in his words. Such questions were bad questions. But those were Jesus’ enemies. Can Christians ever ask bad questions? . . .
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stephen Geiger brings years of experience as a tutor, pastor, scholar, and professor to his role as Forward in Christ’s new contributing editor for the Q&A column. The son of a pastor, Geiger was born in South Dakota before his family moved a couple of years . . .
|
|
|
|
|
|
