We will have our Ash Wednesday service at 6:15 p.m. following the midweek meal this Wednesday, February 18. Music will be presented by Bob Holquist and Kim Shuler.
Our meal will be lasagna, salad, roll and dessert. We look forward to seeing you there!
This week we talked about Kindness and Valentine’s Day at After School. We watched several videos on kindness. And we did several crafts and coloring sheets around kindness and love. A few of the GAs went around town and handed out hand-drawn Valentine’s Day cards to some of the businesses.
The First Explorers After-School program needs 20 quart jars and lids for a craft project ASAP. You may leave them on the cart at the back door or in the Loving Kindness Room. Thank you!
United Christian Ministries is in need of macaroni and cheese.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!
Our winter mid-week meals will continue tonight,
February 11 at 5:30 p.m. in the MFC. Dinner this evening
will be pork loin, rice/gravy, green beans, roll and dessert.
We look forward to seeing you there!
In this season where loss and transition seem to touch almost every part of my life, I’m reminded how powerful it is when someone takes the time to speak the favor of God over another person. Years ago, someone did that for me. They spoke a blessing from Deuteronomy 33, Moses’ words over Naphtali and Asher. Naphtali was said to be “abounding in the favor of the Lord and full of His blessing.” Asher was called “most blessed among sons,” one whose strength would match his days. I didn’t fully grasp the weight of those words at the time, but they landed in me. And they stayed.
Over the years, I’ve pulled these words back out during moments when I needed to remember who I was and who God has always been. These blessings have carried me through ministry, loss and my Christian journey. And now, in another season of waiting, adjusting and rebuilding, I return to it again. I hold it close—not as a magic formula, but as a reminder of God’s presence when I feel uncertain and tired. Sometimes, all I have is the memory of what was spoken over me and the quiet faith that it still matters.
Favor doesn’t always look like open doors or easy days. Sometimes it looks like grace for just enough. Sometimes it’s peace that shows up when nothing else makes sense. Sometimes it’s a blessing someone once spoke over you that resurfaces just in time.
This is one of those times. And maybe you’re in one of those seasons too.
A Blessing
May you be surrounded by the favor of God,
the kind that stays with you
when the road stretches longer than expected.
May you be full of blessing,
even when life feels uncertain
and your next steps aren’t yet clear.
May peace be your portion,
and may strength meet you each day,
right where you are.
May your life carry the kind of oil
that doesn’t run out
when the pressure is high.
And may you know, deep down,
that God has not forgotten you.
You are still held.
Still chosen.
Still loved.
Still blessed.
May the favor of Naphtali
and the blessings of Asher
overtake you in this season.
United Christian Ministries is in need of cereal, spaghetti noodles and sauce.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!
“There are only two major paths by which the human soul comes to God: the path of great love, and the one of great suffering.”
Richard Rohr, Life Coming to a Focus
1. Mercy Flows
Mercy flows through our heart
and out of our heart,
ever changing
how we interact
with our inner self and others.
As a human heart
carries the energy of life,
the blood flows in and out of the heart.
When the flow is blocked
the entire body and life is at risk.
Our spiritual health
is connected
to the flow of mercy
into our spiritual heart,
Stay open dear heart.
Allow mercy to be received,
embrace it
and know how much you are loved
and can love,
flowing freely, receiving and giving mercy
from the well spring of the divine heart.
When I think of all the ways we close our hearts in an effort to self-protect, I was moved by the connection to a soft open heart that is needed to stay healthy. I wrote this poem as I was reflecting on the connection between the flow of mercy and openness. When life gets hard, it is counterintuitive to lean into mercy and softness, but I believe it is what is needed. When we block and close off our hearts, we begin to die inside. My prayer and blessing is that we lean into mercy and allow love to flow through our hearts.
2. Light and shadow
Lights and shadows
dance in harmony,
giving balance and shape
to all of who I am.
Both in the secret spaces where hurt lives,
n the high places where joy shines.
The harmony and acceptance
of the invitation,
to dance in the in-between spaces,
brings healing and growth.
As lights hold hands
ever so gently with shadows,
we can safely explore
the hidden spaces
Dance
Dance
Dance!
May God’s blessings lead you on to wholeness.
As an artist, I often reflect on the importance of shadows and light. Without both, there is no depth. The shadows build form and definition, and the light makes the image come to life. In our lives we are not only formed by the highs, but also by the hard times, the valleys. In fact, it is when we walk through the harder times in life that we find out who we are or who we hope to become. Father Richard Rohr says, “We move on to the second stage of life, either through great love or great suffering... but usually both.” This I can say has been true for me.
Pray. . .Give. . .Go.
The First Explorers After-School program needs 20 quart jars and lids for a craft project ASAP. You may leave them on the cart at the back door or in the Loving Kindness Room. Thank you!
Due to the extreme cold anticipated throughout much of this week,
we will not be gathering Wednesday evening.
United Christian Ministries is in need of cereal, spaghetti noodles and sauce.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!