Weekly Word
Posted on Nov 25, 2016 by
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you all had a blessed Thanksgiving, and that it was a day that you were able to be with loved ones and a day that you were able to give thanks for the many blessings in your life.
As most of you know, I have been on vacation this week. I am on a cruise with my whole family (15 of us!). My mom, my sisters and their families, and my family are all together. We planned this trip last Christmas, and shortly after we all made our reservations one of my sisters, Doreen, was diagnosed with breast cancer. We thought about cancelling the trip, but her oncologist encouraged her not to do so, because she wanted Doreen to have something to look forward to during her treatments. So here we are, all of us on a cruise, and yes, Doreen is with us. No, she isn’t finished with all of her treatments yet, but she is well enough to be here. Thanks be to God!
As we packed for this trip, I was thinking about being with all my family for Thanksgiving, and once again I realized how awesome our God is. I mean, is there any way we could ever give God enough praise and thanksgiving for the generosity God has shown us in Christ Jesus? As baptized children of God, we have been promised a life of abundance, knowing that all our needs are met in Christ. Yet, sometimes when life’s struggles seem to weigh us down, we overlook our many blessings. I have come to realize this year that it takes patience to complete trust that God really can take care of all our needs.
God calls upon us to come to Him in prayer, and this year, my family has been so blessed to have so many of you praying for my sister. You have continued to ask about Doreen and pray for her, and for all of you and the entire Salem community, I give thanks this year. And I give thanks for this community, not just because of how you have supported my sister, but also how you have continued to support so many others through our ministries. Our Pantry Pack program is serving almost 40 families per week now, and with all of your support, we also serve about 150 people every six weeks at Children’s Memorial. And that is not all. Just this past weekend, eight people from Salem, along with some other folks from differing ELCA congregations in this area, traveled to Garden City for two days to serve at Iglesia Luterana Sagrado Corazon De Jesus (Sacred Heart of Jesus Lutheran Church), an ELCA Hispanic community. The desire to be Christ’s hands and feet in this world is strong here at, Salem and for that I give thanks.
But as I said earlier, how can I, or any of us, give enough thanks to God? How can I ever give enough thanks to God for all of you and the privilege to serve such a generous congregation? The answer is, we can’t, but the best way we can offer our thanks is not by our words but by our actions. In thanksgiving, we can continue to be a community that prays for and serves the world in need.
Shalom,
Pastor Dave