Friends,
Things have been quieter around my house lately. My Debbie has been in New Hampshire the last month-and-a-half caring for her father who is recovering from illness and surgery. Deb and I will be married 35 years this month. As with all couples who have been together that long, we’ve lived and loved through so many of life’s experiences. I am grateful for these years and for whom I have become because of the grace of God named “Debbie.”
But as I was saying, it’s quieter around our house. You see, Debbie has a lot of words, she always has. Her words start first thing in the morning and they continue right through till bedtime. I, on the other hand, am content to be quiet for long periods of time. Thankfully we have learned to appreciate each others personalities. Deb knows when I need “Dale time,” as she puts it. And I know when I need to be a good communicator.
While I’ve been enjoying my extended quiet in the mornings and evenings, I have also been missing Debbie’s voice. I’m grateful for her words for they keep me from believing in my own self-sufficiency. They pull me out and into relationship.
As church we find ourselves in the summer rhythm of life. It’s not quieter in Traverse City, but there is a different pull on our lives. Everywhere nature is saying “play with me!” The wander-lust in us wants to move about. We are enjoying the special grace of God in this short, sweet, time of year. But even though our paths take us in different directions this summer, I ask you to hold each other in prayer.
I’m reminded of the hymn “Here I Am Lord” and a line from the chorus:” I will hold your people in my heart.” This is the balance of our life together. Wherever we go, no matter the distance or days apart, we keep covenant with God and each other through constant prayer. This keeps us connected as the body of Christ.
So this summer I invite you to pray for:
- The homeless and hurting who find help and support through our Outreach Ministry
- The Pastors, Parish Nurse and Parish Visitors who reach out to the hospitalized and homebound
- The Staff that works daily to plan and coordinate ministries
- Lay servants who continue to do ministry
- Those who are hospitalized and in frail health
- Families grieving the loss of loved ones
- Children and youth attending camps and mission trips
- Our Neighborhood Picnic
- A new Youth Ministry Coordinator
- Our worship services
- Those seeking Christian Community that they might find in us generous friends.
- A generosity of financial support that the ministry of the church may thrive
- Friends and new acquaintances that their summer would be blessed.
- Vacation travelers and their safe passage
- The ministry of the coming fall and a new program year
These and other prayers help us hold each other close and, as the Spirit prompts, move us to action. Prayer for others pulls us out of self and into relationship. Prayer draws us into the body of Christ from whom we draw our life.
What are your summer prayers? Please share them so we can hold each other in our hearts.
Pastor Dale
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me this morning. As I sat on the porch listening to the rain taper off, I enjoyed the quietness of a sleeping household. It is these mornings that I often reflect on the life I have lived and the life I desire to live daily. Thank you pastor for all you do in your called and ordained vocation. Your quiet modeling of care and compassion is inspirational. Praise be to God. Amen!
I pray for peace, joy and love, good health and prosperity for all!
I pray for Doug Olsen and his family , our past Methodist minister, as he takes his final journey in life.
I pray for comfort and guidance as I look ahead to tough decisions. I pray for more friends as we watch our long time dear friends move away. I pray for strength for all those I know facing struggles. Most of all I pray for hope for our country as it struggles.
Thanks for some really meaningful thoughts, Dale. My heart and prayers are in a tizzy….so many to pray for right here, and so many with huge needs to pray for all around this country and world.
ps- thanks for doing parking lot duty today on your day off!
Among my prayers;
Safe travel for Max on his annual summer pilgrimage with his mom to her native Czech Republic.
The end of the electoral college and gerrymandering.
Wisdom selecting a new supreme court justice.
An end to separating children from their parents.
A solution to the opioid epidemic.
An end to gun violence.
A stop to devisive potiticans.
More people singing, “It’s a Wonderful World.”
I pray for a peaceful 4th of July, without violence or hatred, where the only explosions are the bright colors of fireworks over the water.
I pray for you Pastor,and your family..that all will be well for your father-in-law…that you were willing to share your feelings with us…I pray to be nonjudgemental. For keeping healthy so I can take care of my family and friends if they need my help..for Ann Rife who in her late 90’s will leave our church family to live with her daughter.a very big change for her..prayers of thankfulness for my church family who continued to pray for my recovery .also prayer that pulled David thru his illness…we all need each other..as we get older our church family sometimes is all the family we have left…thank you my family
Thank you Pastor Dale for the love and support you provide to all of us. Praying for your safe journey to New Hampshire to be with Debbie.
Happy Anniversary!
Beth & Mark Whiting
I am appreciating the deep well in my Christian brother, Dale. I pray for the wonderful web of relationships that is our church, that God’s ways be advanced in the best of our efforts.
I am also enlivened today by a new version of the Lord’s Prayer, from the church in New Zealand, as a framework for our prayer petitions. So I offer it here:
Eternal Spirit,
Source of all that is and ever shall be,
Loving Parent of all,
May knowledge of your holiness inspire all peoples,
And may your commonwealth of peace and freedom flourish on earth
Until all of humankind heed your call to justice and compassion.
May we find the bread that we need for today,
And for the hurts we cause one another
May we be forgiven in the same measure that we forgive.
In times of trial and temptation, help us to be strong;
When life seems overwhelming, help us to endure;
And thus from the yoke of sin deliver us.
May you reign in the power of human love,
Now and forever.
Amen.