December 2022 Newsletter

Hello all!

Thanksgiving. The holiday may be behind us, but we can still give thanks as we eat Thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast—which may be what I am doing right now. There is a great deal to be thankful for.

Somehow 24 people fit in my 1925 craftsman bungalow and they enjoyed themselves and even had a place to sit (thanks to the 6 folding chairs I took from the church basement on Tuesday evening). They also had silverware to eat with (thanks to the knives and forks I have washed and will return to the church kitchen). The house was clean and the turkey was cooked to perfection (thanks to Tom and I getting up at 5:30 am to finish cleaning (me) and put the turkey in the oven (Tom). We had deviled eggs (thanks to Addison) and a Tuscan herbed cheeseball (thanks to Sam).

See there is lots to be thankful for! Today we may go and get our Christmas Tree, we have all of our grown children at home. I am thankful it is warm out today because with 5 of us picking out the tree it will take longer than the 2 minutes it takes Tom and I to decide on a tree.

I imagine many of you are spending time with friends and families and enjoying traditions and some days of rest. I am hopeful in the midst of these joyful and restful days this weekend that you have the opportunity to feel God’s presence around you. I am hopeful that you know deeply and fully God’s love for you. Because it is true, God loves you.

God’s love for creation and humanity is made known to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to us and showed us what unconditional love looks like. Even in the face of death and rejection, Jesus did not ever stop loving us. We aspire to offer and receive this unconditional love to and from one another. We reflect on Jesus’ unending compassion and attempt to be guided by that same compassion in our own lives.

Christmas is coming now. Some of us will be putting our Moravian Stars (Tom) today and lighting them on Sunday the first day of Advent. This is the church season of waiting. Waiting for the coming of the Messiah, the birth of the prince of peace. We begin this period of waiting with thanksgiving. Gratitude is what can hold us together even if sometimes Christmas makes us sad--maybe we are missing a loved one, maybe we are worried about a circumstance in our lives, maybe our bodies are ill or hurting. We focus ourselves on gratitude and that will help give us the strength to deal with the rest of life.

Thanksgiving the holiday may be behind us, but giving

thanks is not.

Thanks be to God!