October Newsletter Article 2016

Our Pastor's Pondering:

Well without a doubt, fall is in the air!  The mornings and evenings have taken on that wonderful coolness and it won't be long and the leaves will start turning and the beauty and glory of fall will be in full swing all around us.  Fall is Gail's favorite season and she along with so many others is excited to see all of the 'pumpkin flavored' goodies appearing on the shelves.  Even though I'm not as big a fan of pumpkin flavoring, fall is still one of my favorite seasons.  There is just something magical about the changing season and the earth preparing itself for winter.

Of course one of the most wonderful things about fall is the great food that comes along with it.  Pies, pastries, apple everything and of course pumpkin concoctions of every kind imaginable.  BUT, let's not forget all the wonderful soups that become so enticing with the cooler weather about us.  With that lead in, we'll be having our first 'Soup Supper' of the season on October 13th.  When you see Jeannie or Jesse Gorden, make sure and thank them for agreeing to take on this very important and enjoyable project for the Church.  Jeannie did a great job last year ramrodding the project along with Donna Westcott's help in lining up all the wonderful pies.  I am always thankful to all the folks that make the pies for this event, for the obvious reason that I really enjoy eating pie. God bless you all for your dedication and participation!

We now have a committee to work on the “God's Portion Sale”.  Committee members are Ellen O'Loughlin, Scotty Devries, Clyde Westcott, Linda Potts, and myself.  If there is anyone else out there who would like to help out with this project please let a member of the committee know and we'll gladly add you to the ranks!  Now is the time to start planning on how you wish to participate in this long-standing and ongoing project.  Make plans to be at the sale on November 19th here at the Church in Fellowship Hall.  I thoroughly enjoyed the sale last year and I'm so very much looking forward to it again this year!  God is good all the time!

Our concert on September 17th was a great experience.  We ended up with 108 souls (not counting the members of the band and stage crew) in attendance.  To be honest, we had hoped for a bigger turnout but the weather was a bit iffy in the morning and I have to wonder how many thought it might be rained out and made other plans.  The musicians that we had were all very good and the music was inspirational as well.  All of the members of the band had a good experience here and told me they'd be happy to come back again if we decided to do the project again next fall/summer.

Out of the 108 people who turned out, there was a youth group from Fort Dodge.  This was a group made up of young girls who have all had troubled lives.  Several of the girls have attempted suicide and one of those has tried three times.  I visited with the woman who formed the group (her daughter is the one who has tried to commit suicide three times) and thanked her for coming and for bringing the girls.  She was very excited about the concert (as were all of the girls with her, they were dancing up in front of the stage for a good portion of the night), and she told me that if we were to do it again to call her and she'd bring even more youth with her.  I do have her contact information in my office.  While I was visiting with her she told me that her daughter was having a difficult time again and she asked me if I would pray for her daughter.  The daughter 'Maria' was standing right there and I took her hand in mine, gave her a blessing and prayed over her.

As I mentioned in the service on the 18th, we don't know when we feel God's calling to do a project what or if anything will come out of it.  Many times, I suspect that we never really know what impact we have and whether what we had done made any difference in a life.  This time, I'm left wondering if the whole reason we were led to have this concert was so Maria and the rest of the girls she was with would come to Lake City.  Perhaps, it was all about having a moment of prayer with Maria.  We can all share it that moment, for even though it was I that was asked to pray, everyone that was involved in the planning, all that baked bars and cookies, all that came out to work, all those who told a friend about the concert, all those who wore their t-shirts or handed out cards, those who hung up fliers, those who helped in any fashion with getting the stage here or moving the picnic tables around... all of these various tasks and duties (along with more that I'm certain I have missed) were a very real part of that prayer and blessing for Maria.  Without each and every one of you, this project wouldn't have come together. Just how the leader of the group came to know about the concert is unknown.  All I know is she said someone from her church had mentioned it to her the night before, for all we know it could have been any comment that anyone of us made that eventually got around to bringing them here... maybe it was your comment to a friend, or the flyer you tacked up, or the card you handed to someone without knowing where it would eventually end up. That's how God works, and it's just not for us to know.  As I've relayed before, we are just called to do His bidding, and then we leave it up to Him and His mysterious ways.

Be a blessing to someone today!!!
Pastor Roy