Now that Easter is through, we are sliding through a few special days – Mother’s Day, Pentecost, Father’s Day, and then we’ll be staring at summer again! But long before any of those days arrive, I have a plan to help us be ready for whatever comes – learning about how the Holy Spirit works and how we can work with the Holy Spirit from the master teacher – the apostle John.One of the things Pastor...  Read More

These last few days have been a breath of fresh air after all the rain early March brought us. Michael and I have been busy with yard work that somehow gives us a new perspective on the landscape around our house and brings ideas for far too many projects. Yet being in the fresh air energizes us; it isn’t until we stop that our muscles begin to protest the arduous activities of tilling, shoveling,...  Read More

Surprised, I looked closer at my knee. Yes, there it was, after all these years: the scar still with the cinders that Dad was not able to clean out when I fell off my bike onto the unpaved road I grew up on. Not that he couldn’t have cleaned them out; I was crying and screaming so hard that my tenderhearted Dad couldn’t bear for me to continue to be in pain.When I think back to that event seventy ...  Read More

Last month, I ended with this quote: “He who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) I want to pick that thread up this month. Will God complete the work begun in us? How is that possible? If the goal is to become perfect in love so that everything we do is informed by our love for Jesus and neighbor, can it even happen? After all, Jes...  Read More

Well, we sure did start the year off on the “left foot” (See last month’s article). We started well, and we’re continuing well, but it is a challenge, isn’t it? We began the year with communion and the wonderful fellowship of our small groups, but it wasn’t long before we had to say goodbye to Peggy Miller, Mary Plum Hogge, Karen McNeil, and shortly after that, I had to say goodbye to my own mothe...  Read More

The ashes lay black and gray in the bottom of the fire pit. No lingering embers, no smokey smell. Only ashes, remnants of a brief, blazing fire which gave us warmth and light on a cold New Year’s Eve. Now no life-giving light or heat, only dead ashes.Ash Wednesday this year is February 14—Valentine’s Day, a day we celebrate love. How ironic, I think, that the reminder of our mortality is linked to...  Read More