Updates

The last few weeks have been especially hard on me as I navigate the health care system with my father being hospitalized. Many of you have asked me how he is and I am pleased to say that he has moved to rehab. On Wednesday, he walked (with help) for the first time in three weeks. It has brought me peace to know that the church does not resent the time that I have been running back and forth to the hospital. I also realize how blessed that I am to still have my parents when so many of my friends have already had to say goodbye to their parents. Did you know that our Caring Minister has created Care Giver Packages for those who are sitting with a loved one at the hospital? If a minister or member of the Care Team has been invited to come to the hospital room, then they will bring a Care Giver Package for the loved one who is sitting with them. It is such a lovely was to extend the love of our congregation to those who are care givers.

My mind has also been full of thoughts for our military families. I know that we have many veterans in our congregation. If you have never had a loved one deployed, it is hard to imagine what a family goes through. When our oldest son was deployed, I knew that he spoke to his wife on Facebook regularly. I would log onto Facebook and look to see if the little green dot was lit up by his name. This is how I knew that he was alive. It brought me peace and comfort in the uncertainty of what he was going through. I can only imagine how awful the constant tension for a family was before the internet. I have been praying for those who are peace makers and diligently working to deescalate our conflict with Iran. Yet, I also understand that those who are faced with evil can not stand idly by and do nothing. This is a fine line that we walk together. Let us all continue to pray for this difficult work and the wisdom and patience of our national leaders engaged in these decisions.

I wanted to give you some updates on a few of our goals that were set by our Leadership Team in February. One of those goals was guided by our commitment to the Sustainability Alliance. We have now completed the project to convert the lights in the Great Hall to LED. We finished this ahead of schedule. We also partnered with our local electric provider and the Alliance to have thousands of dollars of work done throughout our building for a fraction of the cost. These changes are good for our creation and will save us money. We also give thanks for Randy and Glen who have managed this work and made it happen.

You will be seeing in the next few weeks another of our Sustainability projects. The youth are building us two cedar above ground garden containers. We are putting them out to grow food that can be shared with local food banks, neighbors or schools. I am looking for a name for this community garden and I am asking you to vote. Click here to help name our new garden. After they have been built, we invite you to help weed, harvest and distribute food. If you are looking for a way to serve, I encourage you to be part of this team. Debbie Bezan applied for a grant to help cover the cost of the build and she assures me that we can plant a fall garden. I know many of you are passionate about helping those with nutrition insecurity.

Another update we have is that we have found an architect to work with for our accessibility goal of installing an elevator to give access to the upper story of the adult wing. He will offer us a proposal and estimate of cost in order for us to make this happen. This is a three to five year goal because of the cost.

I was at the Green Corn Festival last night telling people how wonderful Faith UMC is and about our new location. I encourage you to join us for the festival or to help pass out water bottles to the crowd. Shifts are only one hour at a time. You can still volunteer here.

I will see you Sunday!