What does spiritual formation look like when you work as a husband and wife team both to take care of a ten month old son and to be a redeeming influence on the people, ideas, and structures of the university? Good question.
Because that question has been on my mind a bunch recently, I jumped at the chance to hear Doug and Marilyn Stewart speak on the topic of spiritual formation for various stages of life at the GFM National Staff Conference at the University of St. Mary of the Lake last week.
It was an hour presentation and covered a ton of material (more of a teaser really). I took some notes and looking back through them today, pulled out some points to highlight:
“The questions specific to each stage of life are invitations from God to meet Him in them.”
“You either transmit your pain or are transformed by it.” Richard Rohr
“Understanding life stages is no way to shorten them or to get through them.”
“Many men struggle to see God as something other than an employer that we perform things for. It can be hard for men to see God as friend.”
Dominant ways of seeing God through men’s stages of life:
Lord -> Shepherd -> Father (typically when you’re a grandfather)
Jeff Gissing 