Monthly Pulse January 2014 January 2014 | Page 2

JANUARY 2014 Minister’s Message Every year I look for a new calendar. I have to see the pictures for each month before I buy it. I sometimes measure it to fit the place in my kitchen where it hangs. There is all of this planning – so much so that I forget to purchase one and we use one that comes in the mail. No matter what, when New Year’s Day arrives, we are scrambling to find a calendar to put up. also a good time to say a small prayer. Take a minute and ask God to bless the coming day, or month, or year. Maybe that blank page, like every page in our lives, can be given over to God. We will find the surprises unfold before us. We will find that that laughter and tears will each have their part. We will ask our questions of God and seek direction for our lives and for the ministry we each hold. We may even be moved to offer God praise for the coming year and all of its possibilities. In the New Year, calendars are largely blank. I sometimes wonder what will fill the pages and the dates. What kind of year will we have? When are the dates for the college, and which classes will my children have? When will our family be able to have a vacation? Are there milestones that we will celebrate with our extended families? No one really knows the answers to these questions, except God. Each year I want to ask what God has in mind this time. I pray that we are able to not only pray this for ourselves, but also for the church. We are each a part of this faith story. As individuals and as a community, I pray God will lead us this coming year so that we may continue to grow into the vision that God has for us. May your New Year be a blessed year. Sometimes it would be nice to predict the year so we can plan for what is ahead. Yet, our ideas and God’s ideas are not always the same. Our sense of time and God’s sense of time are often different as well. Maybe while we look at the blank pages of the calendar it is Rev. Kathy Gibson Christensen, Interim Minister [email protected] December Home Communion Appreciation After the December 1 worship service, 17 people were served home communion by 13 current and past Elders (Alma Asbell, Ila Buss, Dawn Chesney, Dave and Jean Einhaus, Ron Hager, Sheryl Ignaszewski, Kathe Kyllo, Rod Kyllo, Nancy Lacina, Sharon Partridge, Don VonRuden, and Carol Zetah). After December 1, Interim Pastor Kathy Gibson Christensen and Parish Associate Jim Oberg served additional home communions. The next home communion Sunday is the first Sunday in February (February 2). 2014 Flower Calendar Did You Know? We are preparing the 2014 Flower Calendar for the Sanctuary flowers. The new sign up sheet is posted on the bulletin board in the office. Please feel free to pick a date and provide flowers for the sanctuary. The Church can order the a