Greetings to you, beloved children of God,

I cannot remember a time when I have so desperately longed for fall to arrive. Every day, I anxiously check my weather app to see how many days remain until the lows drop into the 70s and the highs into the 80s. As a child, I remember thinking how ridiculous it was that my parents and grandparents talked so much about the weather. Now, I realize just how important those conversations are. The oppressive heat and humidity we’ve experienced lately is almost indescribable. The heat radiating from the concrete surrounding us, even long after the sun sets, is stifling. Yesterday, as I drove down Meadowbrook Drive after church, I was humbled by the sheer strength and determination of a young woman I saw walking in the median, holding out her hands, asking for help from passersby. She had no protection from the sun and was barefoot. Creator God, please find her and overwhelm her with healing today.

I also participated in a ministry called Under the Bridge yesterday. This not-for-profit organization works every Sunday to prepare hot meals and bags of snacks for people living in and around downtown Fort Worth who have limited or no access to shelter, clean water, and food. You’ve heard me speak about this ministry before, and several of you have prepared and individually packaged snacks to be transported to these events on Sunday afternoons. For that, I am deeply grateful. As I worked yesterday afternoon in the air-conditioned kitchen, helping to prepare and package nearly 300 hot meals for our friends living on the streets, it occurred to me that quite a bit of the work could be done in advance during the week. My mind began to wander, and I came up with some ideas about how the folks at Saint Matthew UMC could further support this ministry. I have some interesting thoughts, and I’ll be discussing them with you during upcoming services.

On Sunday morning, as I turned the corner on Hitson (on two wheels because I was running late 😊), I noticed a new sign next to the one that read “United Methodist Church one block.” The new sign said, “Spraying for West Nile virus in progress in this zip code.” My first thought was, “Mosquitoes don’t congregate by zip code!” I was both startled and concerned. The mosquito spray used to combat the West Nile virus contains DEET, a known carcinogen. Because I was running late on Sunday, I forgot to mention this during the service, but it’s important to know that DEET is deadly to mosquitoes and dangerous for small animals. It can also cause serious health issues in individuals with respiratory or lung conditions. Please be mindful that being outdoors after dark may not be safe until the West Nile spraying has been completed. We live in interesting times and an interesting area. The amount of concrete in our neighborhoods has overwhelmed the ability of trees to help regulate the temperature. Now, at dawn and dusk—the most pleasant times of the day to be outside in August—the mosquitoes become predators, and we are their prey. Finally, just after sunset, the mosquito trucks come out to spray the neighborhood. Max’s sermon was about timing—how God knows what we will experience in our lives, when we will have those experiences, and how He sends us into this world for such a time as this. God is with us, in us, and working through us. I just pray that there are no mosquitoes in heaven.

Continue to faithfully keep one another in prayer, and put feet and hands to your prayers at every opportunity. Love and blessings to you in the name of the risen Christ,

Mary