Peace and love to you all in the name of the risen Christ! I pray that you are staying indoors and that your indoor is a cool and comfortable place to be. If you are having issues with air conditioning this summer, please email me. I know some excellent HVAC technicians! If you do have to be outside, early morning is best and take water with you everywhere you have to travel. There will be weather advisories to stay indoors for the next few weeks; try to comply with those warnings as much as possible.

I am preaching again this week and our service will also have some patriotic music included to celebrate July 4th. Max will be home resting from his recent adventures to the hospital. We pray for a speedy recovery for our senior pastor and a quick return to service. Shannon Davidson will be our soloist this weekend as Blake is visiting his family in Tennessee. I know it will be amazing. Shannon lost her grandfather last week. His obituary can be found at donnellyscolonial.com. His name is H. Neil Davidson. Please pray for Shannon and her family as they navigate their grief.

Blessings to all, Mary

Good Monday to all! I have listened again to the sermon from Sunday. I always “re-listen” to the sermons looking for areas that need to be made more understandable, looking for points that I feel need to be repeated in the newsletter, and looking at the weird things I do while I am preaching! 

These are my takeaways from the sermon, Ego vs Spirit:

1. Ego and spirit are not in a battle against each other. Ego and spirit co-exist.

2. Living in the spirit requires work: contemplation, having a sacred space, intentional connection of our spirit to THE SPIRIT.

3. I lick my lips A LOT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I will be wearing ChapStick from now on! And drinking lots of water before the service.

I had such a wonderful time with all of you yesterday. Your love and the joy I see on your faces make my life a happy place to live. The music in our services makes my spirit soar. We are so very blessed with a skilled and passionate organist and with two exceptional vocalists. We are small but we are mighty with the Spirit!

Spend time this week contemplating the love of the Creator of the universes, sent to us as God made flesh in the body of Jesus. We are forgiven, we are eternally beloved. Pray for each other, especially those experiencing health problems and grief this week.

My love to all, Mary