A note from Pastor Stacey – November 2016
Dear friends,
November 2016
I am thankful for:
*A few blue-turning-to-rust hydrangeas asserting themselves by blooming in late October.
*A driver in a long line of traffic who stopped to let me make a left turn out of a side street this morning
*A daughter who left me a message on a post it on the bathroom mirror last time she visited.
*Choices of breakfast cereal on the top shelf of the pantry
*The morning newspaper that helps me understand events near and far
*My cat Kevin who makes me laugh as he tears around the house after a green pipe cleaner
*A friend who called to say, “I miss you. How are you doing?”
*Someone who wrote a note saying, “I’m glad you’re our pastor.”
You get the idea – the list goes on and on. You could write your own list, I’m sure.
The amazing thing is that I didn’t earn or create any of these things. In one way or another, they come as gifts. Even the cereal on the refrigerator reminds me that not everyone has an income to provide for such things. Not everyone lives in a country where such things are readily available and taken for granted.
I am thankful – and I thank God, whom the Bible tells us is “the source of every good and perfect gift .” And I’m sure you thank God, too, for all those things, large and small, in your lives that bring some comfort or joy or challenge each day.
As people of faith, we know that one way we express our thanks is by giving back. We give in propor on to our gratitude and the depth of our faith. As we grow in gratitude and faith, we are able to be more giving and more generous. And what’s funny is, how circular it seems to be: the more we give the more we feel thankful and the deeper our faith grows. To grow in gratitude is to grow in faith.
So, I’m adding to my list of things I’m thankful for: All the folks at First United Methodist Church who give so generously – their time, their talents, their money, their love and sup- port – to spread God’s love to a world in need.
In Christ,
Stacey