Dear Faith Family,
What an interesting time it is right now! The thoughts going through our minds are, at least for me, nothing like I have ever experienced! It is a challenge to discern direction and best practices in a time that has not been experienced before. Who would have thought we would be into our second month of not having church together in our sanctuary every Sunday? Totally surreal!
What an interesting time it is right now! The thoughts going through our minds are, at least for me, nothing like I have ever experienced! It is a challenge to discern direction and best practices in a time that has not been experienced before. Who would have thought we would be into our second month of not having church together in our sanctuary every Sunday? Totally surreal!Certainly we benefit, in a way, from the time of being set aside from the busyness, the scrambling to make sure everything comes together on a regular basis, the running from here to there, and what had become often the everyday reality that is our lives. We have been forced to look at life differently! It’s interesting to hear how many people lately have said that they are tired of their own cooking! I add my respect and honor to those who have had to take on the role of being teachers now, in addition to being parents! Life is different!
However, one must acknowledge how simply our own ability to be in charge of our lives has been altered…. a stark reality that often we fall short of thinking about…life is not always in the palm of our own hands!
It reminds us of the very precious life we are gifted with and how significant this faith walk we are encouraged to embrace really is! Faith teaches us that God has us in the palms of His Hands! Our God who created us in the very beginning calls us to deeper, to stronger, to more peace, to love and relationship, not only with each other, but with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We have been spending time following friends of Jesus after his death on the cross, a time when their lives seemed upended. We have talked about and watched how the disciples held on to their faith and deepened their relationship and went on to be strong advocates for Jesus in the wake of distress. How did they do this?What was it like? We are learning that having peace and allowing time for God to speak was (and is) important. We have opened the idea of trusting and surrendering and spending time with our faith, in God’s Word, in quiet and through the idea of peace. Remember, BE STILL, PEACE BE WITH YOU!
Friends, we are in different times! It will be a moment in our history we will never forget and hopefully never have to experience again! But, as I type this, I also pray you will use this time to honor God in your life and allow God’s Spirit to shape you in ways you have only been able to think about until this moment.
As we learn from the followers of Jesus following their own stressful and very different times, let us embrace the time God has allowed us to go deeper with him!
Be blessed!
