Peace and blessings to all,

THE PLAYGROUND IS COMING! Construction plans have been moved up to WEDNESDAY September 27th. We will have a ground-breaking and a prayer at 12:30. Join us if you can; we will video the event and post it to our website. I am so very excited to see the beginning of this year’s long project. I am also so very grateful to everyone for their prayers and their contributions to the project. It is exciting to think about the way this is all coming together.

I wonder if you have considered this week how very loved we are and how precious we are to God. We spend so much time feeling so many emotions, but have you spent any time this week feeling loved? God does not hold resentment toward us or make lists of our shortcomings. God is not sitting at a chalkboard tallying our sins. We are loved and we are forgiven.

Thanks to all of the folks who helped make the St. Matthew Women United luncheon so much fun. I am grateful for your commitment to the fellowship of our family.

Join us Sunday.

My love to all, Mary

The last few weeks we have been discussing God’s creations. He created the earth and all that was in it including Adam and Eve, Adam’s helper in the garden. After that, God created the idea of the world and then, like an artist, made the creation come alive. God saw that all that was created was beautiful. God gives a blessing to all living things to reproduce. God sees that all living things are good and wants to continue creation. God imagined a diverse world where each and every living thing was important. Encourage your children to create a world of beauty and to always look for beauty in the world around them.

God made many promises in the Bible; for the next few weeks, we will journey with Abraham and Sarah. One day God spoke to Abraham and told him to leave Haran where he lived with his family. He wanted him to take his wife Sarah. They were both quite old at this time and had no children. God promised Abraham three things: 1. God would provide Abraham with new land, 2. God would give Abraham many descendants, and 3. Abraham’s family would be a blessing to other people. God’s promises alone are blessings. Abraham and Sarah traveled through areas in the Canaanite mountains; this area would be the homeland of their descendants. This journey was very hard for Abraham and Sarah, due to their age, but their willingness to follow God demonstrates their great faith and hope in the future that God promised them. We will continue our travel next week; see you in church! Blessings,

ANOTHER NOTE—Several have asked me if I have talked with Robert and Kaylee Rushing and Julie Ann since their move. I was home alone last Sunday when Robert gave me a call and brought me up to date. I was delighted to learn that on his last grade card, he received all A’s. Kaylee received A’s as well. Julie Ann is doing well in second grade. They all seem to be doing well, but they still miss our church and all you people. Robert says he misses you. I gave him our love and hope to see him soon!

PLAYGROUND GROUNDBREAKING NOW 9/27 at 12:30!

Construction has been moved up to tomorrow!

Dedication prayer and groundbreaking at 12:30.

Lunch will be served by the McCosky’s. Hot dogs, beans, etc…

Bring your own drink and desert.

Vacation — for a change

I may be dressing a little better in weeks to come.

I buy new clothes only when I go on vacation. (I have to have enough clothes to wear for two weeks.) I haven’t taken a vacation for many years now, so my wardrobe is a bit bedraggled.

But I just bought out the store.

I am about to go on vacation after this Sunday.

Rev. Eric McKinney and Jane have invited us (me, my sister and preacher friend Rev. Meissner) to stay in their cabin in Vermont. They have invited us for three years. We finally said yes.

I will preach this Sunday.

After that, Mary will preach for two weeks.

We have a concert on Saturday, Oct. 14—three days after we get back. It is all planned. Blake and I will be singing.

And, yes, I am reluctant to sing on a program with Blake. Who wants to hear me with Blake there? (I don’t.) But I can’t put the whole concert on him.

So, there you are. We will actually sing together on one old hymn: “Softly and Tenderly.”

On the Sunday after that concert—Oct. 15th —the Rev. Beverly Tye, a part of our church family, will be preaching. She will share her spiritual journey in a sermon called My Walk with God.

So, we’ve got wonderful things coming: Mary, the concert with Blake, then Beverly.

And our choir starts up soon—with some new members.

Isn’t it great to be in church?

And to know that “we are loved, we are forgiven, we are forever.”

See you Sunday.