When Our Parents Need Us Most: Loving Care in the Aging Years - Softcover

McKenna, David L. L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0877889023 ISBN 13: 9780877889021

Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group, 2000

Synopsis

Your parents are entering their senior years. How can you, as a caregiver:

*help them face retirement?
*assist them in financial decision making?
*handle your own emotions while "parenting" your parent?
*cope with sickness and physical changes?
*encourage them to reflect on their spiritual lives?

Dr. McKenna speaks powerfully from his own experiences with four aging parents, two of whom lived in his home. He offers comfort and guidelines for times of transition, and explores in everyday terms the biblical meaning of caregiving.

About this title

About the Author:

Dr. David L. McKenna
50 Years in Christian Higher Education

Dr. David McKenna has served for more than 50 years in Christian higher education, including 33 years as a college, university and seminary president.

At Spring Arbor College (now University), he developed a junior college into a four-year Christian liberal arts college; at Seattle Pacific University, he led the transition from a four-year college to university status; at Asbury Theological Seminary, he gained and guided the largest grant ever given in American history to a free standing graduate school of theology. In 1994, Dr, McKenna retired as President Emeritus of Asbury Theological Seminary to write, speak and consult on subjects related to leadership in Christian higher education and ministry. In 2003, he retired as Chair Emeritus, Board of Trustees, Spring Arbor University.

Dr. McKenna holds a B.A. degree in History from Western Michigan University, Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary, and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology and Ph. D. in Higher Education from the University of Michigan.

He has been awarded ten honorary doctorates, named as a Paul Harris Fellow with Rotary International, and honored by Stanley Kresge's endowment for the David L. McKenna Christian Leaders Scholarship for business students at Seattle Pacific University.

McKenna's presidencies have been recognized at Seattle Pacific University by the David L. McKenna Hall for the School of Business, at Asbury Theological Seminary by the David and Janet McKenna Chapel, and at Spring Arbor University by the David and Janet Carillon Tower. As an educational leader, he served as Founding Chair for the Christian College Consortium (parent organization of the Council of Christian Colleges & Universities) and Secretary for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

In 1980, he was a finalist for Secretary of Education in the Reagan Cabinet. As a religious leader ordained in the Free Methodist Church, McKenna has held positions as Vice-President of the World Methodist Council, Consulting Editor for Christianity Today, and a national radio commentator. In civic leadership, he chaired Governor Dan Evan's select committee to study gambling in the State of Washington and was honored as First Citizen of Seattle in 1976.

A prolific writer, Dr. McKenna is the author of 32 books that range across the fields of psychology, biblical commentary, leadership, history and theology.

The McKennas celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in 2010. They are parents of four children, 12 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild

From Publishers Weekly:

``Honor thy father and thy mother.'' A challenging commandment at any time, but more particularly so as parents age and their needs become the responsibility of their adult children. McKenna, president of Asbury Seminary in Kentucky, has drawn upon his experiences caring for his own parents and in-laws to create a sensitive guide for readers who are facing similar situations. The author explores every facet of caring for aging parents, and his faith is a source of both hope and reality. For Christians, age should bring with it wisdom and honor, and death is not an end but an entry into the presence of Christ. So, for the believer, a parent's spiritual well-being is as critical as his or her physical health. Blending practical information with compassion, McKenna offers insight into this and the many other issues that accompany aging. He punctuates his text with valuable checklists such as 15 steps to determining if a parent should live with an adult child, 14 questions to be answered about financial and legal matters and the rights and responsibilities of the Christian caregiver. Readers are also given focused guidelines and pastoral encouragement for working through these complex issues.

Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0877889023
• ISBN 13: 9780877889021
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 134