Hello to everyone! I hope you are all staying cool and dry in this heat and humidity. A little bit of rain is helpful, I think. Or it may just contribute to the humidity. Summer in Texas must be the closest thing to Hell we can imagine without actually being there. I look forward to the 3 days of mild fall weather we will probably have in November. 🙂 Yvonne Lee let me know today that her niece Cindy is being discharged this week from rehab and will return home. And Julie Maxwell tells me that Tracy still has serious pain and is scheduled for an MRI and several office visits this week. Charlotte Holder has had some relief from the procedure she had on her back, but she still asks for prayers from you. Keep these and all our folks with health issues in your prayers this week.

We have some exciting things coming up: July 15^th at 6 pm is our “Night at the Theater” featuring Shannon and Blake with a Potluck Dinner to follow. August 4th is our “Back to School Bash” for the kids in our congregation. A sign-up list will be available this Sunday to help with the event. We will have hot dogs and a movie night. This event begins at 5:30 with food and fellowship. The movie will start at 6:30. Everyone is invited, even if you aren’t going back to school. We will not need to purchase school supplies for the elementary school kids, but I think new backpacks would be good for all of them. Or perhaps gift cards so that they can pick out their own. We will discuss.

Finally, the Admin Board meets this Sunday after church. If you have anything you would like to be added to the agenda, please let me or Winston know.

Blessings to all, Mary

Greetings from Lubbock! My son and I have ventured to West Texas to help the family with a few things and to visit will everyone. The evenings here are fantastic (low 80s) and the mornings here are luscious (71 degrees this morning). But there are still not enough trees for me! The cooler mornings made it very attractive to have an outdoor time of study and contemplation, so I took full advantage of the situation. I look forward to those 4 days in November when it is pleasant enough to sit outside and enjoy the morning. 😊 I learned something this week from the Fort Worth ISD website: the school district buys school supplies for all elementary school children! I had no idea. We will still host a back-to-school bash for the kids in our neighborhood on August 4th. I haven’t heard from anyone who wants to help with this event yet. We can still get backpacks for the kids and some general supplies for the classrooms: tissue, sanitizing wipes, etc. August 4th is only one month away. We will begin advertising this weekend. Blessings to all! Mary

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