November 2024 Newsletter

Greetings!

                 Phew…I don’t know about you, but for me, October was a blur! The leaves on the trees have turned beautiful reds, yellows, and golds. It has been a lovely Fall so far, and I suppose we cannot complain since November is here!

                 As I watch the leaves gently and slowly fall to the ground, it would be nice if time moved just as slowly and gently! As time passes and I think about November, I begin to think about the things I am thankful for. Thankful that we live in a nation where “We the People” get to choose who will lead our Nation, and it doesn’t matter if we voted for the “winner” of the election or not, we have the freedom to vote. November also brings Veterans’ Day, a time to honor and give thanks those who are among us who gave of themselves to serve in the Armed Forces. Then of course, one can’t help but think about the end of November to the day when many gather with family around a big table with turkey and all the trimmings!

I have Facebook friends who start on November 1st, with one thing they are thankful for everyday of the month. I applaud them for doing that…I’m not that dedicated to posting on Facebook. Yet, I always stop to think about how being thankful isn’t just a one-day celebration, or even a celebration for thirty days. We have something to be thankful for every day of the year, don’t we? We receive blessings every day of the year, do we give thanks for them every day of the year?

I was thinking about the food that is prepared for Thanksgiving day, and this year we will hear about the cost of everything that it takes to prepare such a feast. Most of us will pay the price anyway. As I was thinking about sitting down at a dinner table filled with food, verses from the Gospel of Matthew came to mind, “When Jesus went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the village and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away, you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children” (Matthew 14:14-21 NRSV).

Jesus took five loaves and two fish and gave thanks to God and fed over five thousand humans! No one went away hungry! God can take something very small and when we are thankful, when we offer thanksgiving to the Giver, our cups overflow! You don’t have to have “it all” as a church or as a family, thankfulness brings abundance!

I am so thankful for you! You have blessed me in so many ways. As I think about the ways that you have blessed me, I also think about what we can do together to bless others. Thanksgiving is coming and so is The Journey to Bethlehem (aka Living Nativity). I have been so blessed to be part of the planning on something I have never experienced. I am thankful for those who have the expertise and experience to put it all together, and I am anxious to see and be a part of it. I hope that you are looking forward to being a part of that amazing, wonderful, holy event that is a blessing to the community. Thank you for offering yourself, one night of giving our time and giving thanks to God that we can give our time, will turn around and fill our cups to overflowing!

Hope your November is filled with joy, celebration and Thanks to God for all that you have been blessed with. Looking forward to blessing our community with you through The Journey to Bethlehem!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Shalom,

Pastor Mona