AMOR NÃO É AMOR ATÉ ...?
Nossas geladeiras metalicas é cobertas com ímãs coloridos são maravilhosas. Muitos dos quais nos lembram lugares especiais que visitamos ou algum ditado significativo o qual gostamos de nos lembrar. Ontem, enquanto eu preparava uma bebida quente, meus olhos se ativeram a um ditado que Carolyn e eu compartilhamos com frequência, mas nem sempre pensamos sobre sua complexidade, amplitude e significados.
Um Feliz Mês da Conscientização Kinship!
Há alguns anos, nós votamos por fazer o Mês de Outubro um tempo especial para promovermos a Conscientização da Kinship Adventista do Sétimo Dia Internacional , como 11 de Outubro é o dia Nacional de "Sair do Armário", nós decidimos fazer o Mês de Outubro inteiramente dedicado a celebrar a nossa afirmação, de quem somos. Alguns de nós podem fazer isso publicamente e outros podem certamente celebrar no espaço seguro que a Kinship provê para a nossa comunidade.
A história nos fala de um rei que manteve uma corrida na qual todos os homens jovens de seu reino eram convidados a participar. Uma bolsa de ouro era prometida ao ganhador.
Eu estou feliz em anunciar que nós temos uma Vice Presidente interina a fim de preencher a minha antiga função, antes de ser eleito Presidente. Após uma análise profunda, a Comissão da Kinship está feliz por Catherine Taylor ter aceitado em servir como Vice Presidente. Catherine certamente não é uma desconhecida dentro da Kinship, ela está conectada à organização desde 1981 e nos auxiliou em várias capacitações ao longo dos anos. Ela tem uma paixão por pessoas e as suas histórias. Dentre muitas outras contribuições, ela foi a editora da Connection por mais de 12 anos e nos guiou na construção do projeto "Construindo Locais Seguros" por muitos anos. Eu acredito que Catherine será uma soma muito positiva ao time de líderes da Kinship. Por favor, fiquem ligados nos novos projetos e importantes modificações que serão feitas na organização a fim de fazê-la ainda mais convidativa e relevante para aqueles que necessitam desta mensagem nos dias atuais. Nós apresentaremos a Catherine e os outros membros da liderança em breve nas nossas mídias.
—Floyd Poenitz, Presidente
Focusing and Refocusing, Adjusting and Readjusting
Focusing is a complex process. How many times a day do you stop and focus on something? Maybe you need to see a special store sign or read an email message. Maybe the room is noisy, and you need to focus your ears to hear an important announcement. Or how about focusing your emotional support on an activity or a dear friend? Our human brains and emotions are constantly being challenged and refocused to experience our daily lives, and our reactions and behaviors also need to readjust to new situations.
HAPPY MAY TO ALL KINSHIP FAMILIES & FRIENDS
Wow, it’s springtime already! Our wildflowers are springing up in the foothills, green grass is bursting out for our deer to enjoy, and the male turkeys are busy attracting some girlfriends.
LOOKING BACK INTO 2020
Carolyn and I hope this finds you enjoying the Christmas and New Year’s holidays despite the virus. We pray you could connect in person or through digital media with your special family members. We also hope you all created some positive and beneficial memories as you traveled the unpredictable paths of 2020.
Reinder Bruinsma has been a Seventh-day Adventist conference president for the Netherlands and for Belgium, General Conference administrator, pastor, and author - among several other things. In what he loosely calls his "retirement" he continues to write, speak to Adventist leadership and laity conferences and, attend other meetings around the world.
On the weekend of April 20, the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s North American Division (NAD) hosted a workshop that included a select group of church leaders and lay members. The purpose of the workshop was to “participate and preview a new resource (booklet) titled Guiding Families of LGBT+ Loved Ones: Adventist Edition.”
When my oldest child informed me that she was transgender, I cried. I was confused. I didn’t even know where to turn to talk to anyone, because I knew my church wasn’t prepared to touch the issue. So I started praying and reading.
It’s been a couple of years now. My daughter Amy is happier than she ever was during her years of living as a boy. Her teenage siblings accepted her without question; their oldest sibling was simply "regenerating" like in Dr. Who—the same person inside with a different outside.
Post Season
Here we are in the baseball post season again. It is amazing to watch teams make their final out...the out that sends them home. There's the cheering and high-fiving from the winning team. Then there's the downcast faces of the losing team. No matter what, one team moves on and one team goes home.
Why I am an LGBT+ Ally
Though, like most Adventists, I was raised without an accepting view of LGBT+ people, I have always felt uncomfortable with that theology.
by Debbie Widmer, Family and Friends Coordinator
It’s been a busy couple of weeks and it’s not over yet. First was preschool graduation, with those adorable children in miniature caps and gowns waving their hands, unashamedly, at their parents. Next came eighth-grade graduation a week later. These young people tried out their adult looks—awkwardly child-like one moment and boldly confident the next. Today was an academy graduation. These graduates are on the brink of adulthood, making adult decisions about their futures.
From: Kris and Debbie Widmer.
Recently and ongoingly (Kris is a poet and wordsmith so occasionally he forges odd words), transgender people have been in the news. The world and national news and the internal news that Adventists hear through their social media and other communication channels.