Thank You for Your Giving Hearts

To All You Faithful Followers of Jesus!  

The words of Paul to the Corinthian Christians come to mind, as he wrote of the giving hearts of the Macedonians: 

 "For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will." (2 Cor 8:3).

For thus you have done. 

In the first day of our Christmas Offering, Sunday December 15th, you gave, and gave, and gave. A gift came in last week for $10,000. The offering taken at church totaled $14,425. Then folk gave on PayPal at church totaling $2615. So all this totaled: 

     $27,040.  That's DAY ONE!

Then people gave us notes in the offering saying there was a check in the mail and another said they planned to give after the first of the year.  These totaled $3500.  

This brings the first Sunday total (with promised giving) to $30,540. 

Look at this!  

You are INCREDIBLE!! YOU ARE AMAZING! What a testimony to the faithful heart of the people in this congregation to give back to Jesus in astounding, ongoing ways.  Thank you for continuing to be the most amazing congregation ever to serve. It has been, and continues to be, my pleasure to be here.

You are touching lives with your love.  I think of one 17-year-old really cool youth at Family Promise who asked his dad to let him stay at the Lighthouse to hang out with me while the family went to church.  His dad said, "Yes!"  This young man said, "He never says that!"  

So, we hung out, talked about Jesus, Scripture, and following Him.  He asked me to tell him the story of the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace! Then, he taught me and Abby Hawkins, also a host that night, how to play a video game he had.  This young man asked to call her Grandma!

Now we ought to have us on a video as we sought to make the car we were controlling stay on the road.  "Grandma,"  he would tell her, "that's the sidewalk!"  

He asked me, "Do you want me to find a slower car?"  

We all were laughing so much!  I have not laughed that hard in the longest time.  Such a bond was built.  Such joy shared.   

Jesus' love is touching lives because you give.  

So, thank you. Thank you to each of you for your hearts, your generosity, your willingness to give, your joy in giving. What a demonstration of life this is.  

I wanted to reach out to you all first -- thank you for giving. Thank you for your generosity.  Thank you for your confidence that God is working to change lives.   

I know we will receive more funds still.  Several families had said they planned to give.  So, I'm still praying for us to top $40,000, but even if we do not, already we have more than achieved such marvels.  I'm praising and glorifying God.  Thanks for joining me in that too! 

Yours with such immeasurable joy --

Brian

Join the Journey, 12.15.19

Question: What would Mary tell you about trusting God through tough stuff?

Answers:

1. That He is always faithful.

2. That He is with you through it all and that He is worthy of trust!

3. The Lord has your best interest at heart.

Brian's Blog: Joy to Your World

Karen’s dad, my faith-in-law, Paul Koch loved, loved his grandkids. He was a caught-by-work guy, who essentially never stopped working, so afraid he was — of lacking meaning and of dying. He never released the financial oversight to his oldest daughter as he said he would do, but kept her in the dark on decisions, until it was nearly too late to share. But his grandchildren, they were gifts into his life, the light in the darkness, the hope in his world.

He made up nicknames for each of them, little playful phrases, “Grace is terrific, wow!” He’d say of our Grace. “Susanna is super, awesome!”

And with them he’d laugh like he couldn’t and wouldn’t laugh with anyone in life. His grandchildren accessed a part of his life he’d not accessed before, indeed, perhaps had refused to access.

Dad had lacked a childhood. Raised by harsh, unrelenting German immigrants who’d made their own way in this culture, he grew up bi-lingual, and without much play time. At 3 he’d almost died of polio and was left without the use of his right hand/arm so had to work harder just to be equal to others. Never an ounce of victim in his thinking. Dad was this amazing overcomer. Also, his childhood was filled with abuse which stole more of his childhood.

But to have his grandchildren became a vehicle of rediscovering laughter and joy and the kid inside of himself who never got invited out to play. Dates with their grandpa meant a trip to get a donut, a time to play in the park, or out to eat at some special restaurant.

But the favorite times were when he and grandma would come to the Christmas Eve service in Banks. The service was always fairly fun and predictable — and often the grandkids would be playing music beforehand or during.

But then afterward he and grandma would come over to the parsonage, we lived just a couple doors down from the church, for Christmas cookies, hot chocolate, hot, hot coffee for him and times around the table filled with laughter, story and fun.

One year, Grace, just back from Texas where she was living, launched into the retelling of the Christmas story all with a southern accent and Texas flavor. That was such a memorable time. Dad laughed so hard he couldn’t get a breath. Such joy exuded from his face. There it was— joy unceasing and full of glory.

In that moment I knew I was watching the beauty of joy come to earth, joy come into being anew. So splendid was the moment and so profound.

What might it take for us this Christmas to inhabit and experience this season anew? How might we enter and access the gift of such joy?

Mary knew what I’m talking about as she encountered the King’s earthly arrival. She was caught up with joy. Joy unspeakable and full of glory. My prayer is no matter what else is coming your way that you might also encounter the king in such a way as to bring you joy.

Dinosaur Outfit, Anyone?

In this box of clothing that Susanna got from a friend there was a dinosaur outfit. She put it on Gregory, their youngest, and he just did not want to take it off. He was so happy in his new dinosaur outfit! He walked around in it, he laughed at it, he played in it, he was totally engaged with being thus clad and wanted to celebrate life from there!

Sometimes I know I am great at celebrating life. I like to play. You might have caught this about me. But other times I finish a project worthy of a party and instead of stepping back and celebrating, I push ahead to the next project. It is like sitting down to a gourmet meal and wolfing down the food rather than savoring it. We need to celebrate.

If there is anything that thrills me about the continued sung refrains in scripture (there are songs throughout the Word) it is this reminder to celebrate. Sing a song! This was so good it’s worthy of a song.

In the Shimer family we are familiar with writing silly songs to bless joyous times. It’s something we do. Cards become poems, poems get sung with a melody. Gabri even made up this song while swinging the kids when here this summer, that the kids loved, memorized, and a month later were teaching me! Songs give us a means of celebrating.

Mary sings a song in Luke 1. And for good reason: at the culmination of generations of promise, a song was warranted. As we gather Sunday to sing, to worship, to celebrate, come join in to sing as you embrace the miracle too. Don’t miss it! We need each other in this walk of faith. We cannot do this thing without one another. And as you come, if you have one, go ahead and wear your dinosaur suit! ♥️

Photos of Pastor Brian

Do you have a great photo of Pastor Brian that brings a smile or a flood of memories?

Bring (or email) your photos to the church office to be added to the Transition bulletin board in the sanctuary. Write your name on the back if you want originals returned.

Let’s celebrate Pastor Brian and everything he’s brought to Westside!

Marriage Tune-up Weekend

Every marriage can benefit from preventative maintenance before a breakdown occurs.

Genesis Mediation (genesismediation.com) has gathered experts for a weekend retreat that will help keep your marriage running on all cylinders. You get six workshops plus a free 30-minute couple session on each topic: Communication, Conflict, Money, Kids, Sex, and Jesus.

The Macleay Conference and Retreat Center, 2887 74th Ave SE in Salem will be the site for the February 28 - March 1st weekend. More information and the registration form are available here.

Join the Journey, 12.8.19

Question: How did God prompt you to take action for Him this week?

Answers:

1. Gave me the strength to tell my story.

2. When I wake up every morning I am thankful. I ask myself how can I help? What can I do to ease suffering, to promote peace and goodwill?

3. To pray for my family back east.

4. I was prompted to open my ears, to help listen and be there for those in my life who are struggling.

5. I worked to stay positive when faced with mean intention - gave glory to God for my blessings.

6. Volunteering for Family Promise as an evening host for two nights.

7. He encouraged me to be with a family member who had separated from us and is now coming back.

Brian's Blog: New Memories

“Can we go for a walk Tuesday morning and memorize scriptures?”  

The request surprised me.  

It came from our 30-year-old daughter Susanna in anticipation of our arrival in Boise for Thanksgiving. Her mom was taking her to lunch for her birthday on that first Tuesday, and I think she really wanted some time with me as well. 

The reason it surprised me is that we had not walked and memorized Scripture together for decades. It had been a regular part of our lives during her growing up years. She was the one who wanted to go on morning walks and together we learned all the Psalms of Ascent (120-134), the book of Colossians, reviewed the book of James which she had learned in 7th grade Bible class, and learned the first 8 chapters of the book of John.  

This father and daughter duo had walked, talked and learned the Word together. This foundation in her life had not only rooted Scripture into her heart, and mine, but had also built a bond between us.  As we walked, laughed, talked and learned the Word, enacting it, repeating it, we were creating memories. Joyous light-filled memories of times spent together on the Linear Trail that runs 20 miles from Banks to Vernonia, Oregon.  

I know you too have had this experience -- when you are reading or listening to a book and when you read it again, you can recall the place, the scene, the smells in the house, the place you were?  Perhaps for you, it is a certain strain of music that carries not just the song but the memory of where you were when you listened to it, perhaps the first time? 

For me, I can read passages of the Psalms, or John, or other books and passages we worked with, and I can see the trees along the Linear Trail, the place where we would have been, and picture Susanna age 10, 11, 12 and older, walking along with me, bending down as we said, adding a certain beat to our feet as added rhythm and demonstrated the word.   

When Susanna asked, of course, I said, “YES!” immediately to the request.  I love walking with her. And I will never refuse time with any of our daughters.  

In Boise, in November, it was 26 degrees that morning as we left to walk those miles.  

“Do you still have that little Franklin Bible device,” she asked?  “Hah! Susanna that no longer exists. I have a phone, it will work.”  We decided to work on Psalm 27, for which I knew the first verses, but nothing beyond.  So in the dark of that cold morning, the fingers of the cold penetrating my jacket, gloves, hat, and pants, briskly walking the path around a local park on the frosty ground alongside the partially frozen lake.  Geese and ducks were swimming in the lake! Incredibly insulated those creatures!

The language of this Psalm echoed through our shivering voices and hearts that morning.  It was good to be declaring that the “Lord is my light” in that dark, cold environment. The Psalmist wrote of the wicked advancing against him to devour him, and we noted who those “wicked” might be for us, that day even.  We agreed that the things which are most pressing against us often are not external enemies, but those internal enemies of thought and attitude and heart. 

I told her how I had had a dream in June of 2017 in which I had awakened with this black bubbling, scab-like mess on my thigh. When I pushed the scab aside, beneath were these black cells lined up. In the dream, I knew it was a picture of cancer, of a deadly disease eating away at me. Something wicked was devouring me.  When I prayed about this, the Lord spoke, “This is your attitude! It is eating away at you from the inside out. Your belief you are more spiritual and better than Karen. It is killing you and your relationship will suffer.”  

Nothing like God to get his message across in a way that was riveting and life-changing.

We shared more in the Psalm and then Susanna looked at me to ask if I wanted to go one more time around the lake, but I said “no!”  It was just too cold! When she told her sisters of this moment later, she mimed it saying I had just turned us off the path back to the road.  What joy!

We returned not having learned the whole Psalm, or even the first section, but having had such a joyful walk, sharing of life and heart, and deep opportunity to share life with one another. Another memory created.  

In this season of Advent, focus on creating some new memories with those you love. Perhaps a time apart, or a time in front of a movie you love, or eating a favorite food.  Create a new memory. It creates a blessing you might not have anticipated. 

And remember to pay attention to what might be “eating away” from the inside out during this season and let Jesus touch you there, at that place.  

Looking for Jesus

Have you ever wondered what impact your life might have? Like what you will leave behind?  

Have you wondered how and who might remember that you lived?  And what stories they might tell?  

This week as we journey past the birth to the first two who responded, we come to Simeon and Anna. Both elderly people living in Jerusalem. Simeon lives somewhere in the city, while Anna has lived from the time she was a young widow until now in the temple courts.  Both are devoted followers. See their story in Luke 2:21ff -- it is still being told.  

In these two we see the first people impacted by the birth of Jesus who were not among the Shepherds and Kings, but regular people living in Jerusalem.  Neither were of priestly stock, according to scripture, they were commoners with hearts for God. And Simeon we notice had a listening spirit for the Holy Spirit sent him to the temple that day.  Simeon so longed to see the Lord’s salvation, knowing he was awaiting a child born to be king, that he had prayed he would be allowed to see this one prior to death. And God, we notice in his tender mercy, granted this request.  

Simeon prayed, “Now let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen Your salvation” (see Luke 2:29-31). Simeon knew -- this was the Messiah he held.  The Messiah. Simeon and Anna proclaimed that God had come down to earth to save the people who could not save themselves. God had come to bring light into darkness, hope into despair, joy into sorrow.  Life had arrived in this child declared Simeon and Anna.  

You have to love these precious people. What hearts!  What attention to the voice of the Holy Spirit BEFORE the Spirit had been poured out upon all flesh. I imagine this meant even more careful listening.  God had filled Elizabeth with the Spirit but the others who had taken part in the arrival of God had been addressed by angels. But these two, specifically Simeon, was told by the Spirit to “go.” And he went.  Anna, had an immediate experience with the Holy Spirit as she came upon the small family. They were worshipers. They were ready. For them -- Jesus was an answer to long seeking and waiting.   

Perhaps we too could desire not to be remembered for something great we had done, but instead be remembered for the manner in which we too recognized Jesus in this life.  For Simeon and Anna, it was the first arrival of the One who lives among us now by the action of the Holy Spirit who is at work all around us. Keep looking for Jesus. Be remembered for not only seeing him but putting Him on display in and through your life.  And don’t miss worship -- it’s when we get to practice this faith in community and we need each other. 

HomePlate Opportunities

You have several opportunities to give to HomePlate this month.

Bring a new, unwrapped gift to church this Sunday for the HomePlate Christmas Party. The youth will be giving these to their family members, so items for all ages/genders are welcome, under $20. You may also contribute to gift cards that will be purchased.

On Tuesday, Dec 17, assist at the party from 5:00 - 7:00 pm at the HomePlate office, 12520 SW 3rd St. in Beaverton. Contact Stephanie Raether for more information on donating or volunteering.

The following night, Wednesday, Dec 18, is our regularly scheduled dinner service at Aloha Church of God (3rd Wednesday of every month, 5:00 - 8:00 pm.) If you’re unable to be there that night, contact Bonnie Becker to donate food.

For both events, you do not need to be HomePlate trained.

Join the Journey

Catching up on Join the Journey cards…

Nov 17 question: What has built trust in God the most for you?

Answers:

1. Church service and prayer.

2. The community of my church and the love they give me.

Nov 24 question: What would best make for peace this Thanksgiving?

Answers:

1. We need peace with the families suffering at our borders. They flee from violence and need welcome.

2. Blanket love and acceptance of each and every child of God.

3. People communicating with each other in a positive way. “Thank you, God” should be our theme.

4. No politics.

5. Forgiveness.

Dec 1 question: What keeps you on the journey with Jesus day after day?

Answers:

1. The promise of hope, love, and grace.

2. Reading my devotional and prayer every morning.

3. Knowing I am watched and loved by the Lord.

4. His promises to us.

5. Love and need.

6. Faith and church service.

7. Daily spending time with Jesus listening for His voice.

A Letter about WFWA

Westside’s own Merry Goldthorpe is a tireless volunteer with the members of the Western Farm Workers Association. The following is a letter from Merry:

Dear friends of Westside Church,

Thank you to the Fedderly family for their support and help to deliver the food boxes at the Thanksgiving distribution for Western Farm Workers last week. We made up seventy boxes of food and delivered them. Our members, for 62 cents a month dues, are part of a Benefits Plan Two, which helps them to supplement their incomes with used clothing, food, medical and legal advocacy, and other services. In exchange, the members help run our office, answer phones, sort clothing, maintain the office and grounds, attend speaking engagements, and many other projects and events. We interview the families to find out what their needs are during the holidays. Some are facing evictions, electricity shut-offs, and job layoffs.

Our biggest need right now is volunteers to help with the Christmas projects. We will have a family holiday party, gifts, and a food distribution this month. The gift sorting is on Friday the 13th, the party on the 14th, at Hillsboro United Methodist Church. Our shortfall is new school clothing and shoes for children. This is what every parent has asked for. One of my favorite parts of the holiday is buying new clothes for the kids. My husband and I go bargain hunting and have fun picking out clothes for all ages and sizes. Join us as a Secret Santa this year! You can bring new clothing to church this Sunday, buy a gift card through Westside, donate food, or help out in many activities we will have.

The food boxes go out on December 21. Drop any donations at our office, 725 SE Seventh Ave in Hillsboro. The phone number is 503-681-9399. Or contact me at 503-690-1908 (home) or 503-840-7410 (cell.) I will come and pick up from your house too. Thank you for making a difference in our community and sharing the joy of the Christmas season.

With Love,

Merry Goldthorpe

Brian's Blog: Remember Who You Are

This summer, all five of our grands and all four daughters were here for our 60th birthday party bash on July 13th, then, second, the first week of August, three of our grands, Antonia, Theo, and Gregory, were here for a week while their parents went backpacking. Both of these times were incredible. I just love these kids. 

Theo and Josie, cousins, are close to the same age and are the daring duo for certain. During the visit in July, I overheard this conversation: 

Theo: “You know what, Josie? When I grow up I will be a man and when you grow up you will be a,” and he paused trying to think of what exactly to say she would become.  He’s a wordsmith but was stumped, momentarily, “you will be, ah, a mother. I will be king and you will be queen. Won’t that be fun?” 

Josie was not paying attention too keenly but said, “Yah,” in response. 

After Josie returned home, her other grandma was poking at her with words one day saying, “Josie, are you going to grow up to be accident-prone?”  And perhaps tuning into this previous conversation with Theo and others, Josie instantly responded, “No.  I’m going to be a princess and Spider-Man.”  When Theo was told of this response, he responded by reminding her that she would be queen but affirmed she could be Spider-Man, as well. 

Actually this is not bad theology. 

In Christ we are all priests and kings — we are mighty with authority.  And as to Spider-Man, well, we have been given great power and equally great responsibility.  

However, we often live below God’s high calling and gifting of our lives.  This is especially true when we are not connected to community. For it is in community that we get reminded and invited into this greater Story — just like Theo did with Josie. 

On our own, it’s hard to even remember the Story we are a part of.  We can spend too much time immersed in other less significant stories. From there, it is difficult to remember our regal status, our great power, our amazing giftings, especially when surrounded by other voices which downplay instead of emphasizing who we truly are.  

I noticed this when the kids were playing at the park the first week of August. Karen and I had both been playing with them, and then the two older ones were off in a game of their own filled with a plotline, intrigue, and adventure. I was following 20-month-old Gregory around as he made the circuit from the ladder, down the slide, back under the play structure to the ladder again.  

Suddenly, the two older kids were beside me:  “Ok. You are the bad guy and we are going to tie you up and leave you in jail.”  

“Hey! How did I even get into this game?” I jokingly complained. “I was minding my own business here!”  

But they were insistent, not to be dissuaded, and Gregory was being tracked by Karen. So, I was dutifully tied up with invisible webs, which they quickly dispatched, and put into jail (the ground beneath the play structure onto the astroturf) and they ran off and left me there.  

Alone — I would just have been standing there in my own thoughts but together, by their insistence, I got involved in a larger story. 

Sunday a few weeks back, in first service, the scripture and the quote included in the bulletin hit a couple of people significantly. 

One woman shed tears as she told of her own journey with fear. She shared how Esther’s story had spoken right into her own. In other words, her own story had been placed into the larger Story of Scripture and within that greater story she had found strength, sustenance, and hope for her own. 

That’s the idea — we need to be “included in a larger Story” by walking this faith thing together with others.  

Had this woman in first service not been at church, she would have missed two connections — one, that of being connected to the larger Story which answered questions she did not know she was asking. And two, she would have missed connecting with all of us there, who totally could relate to what she was sharing and got blessed in the overflow. 

This faith thing is not meant to be alone, for when we try that, we miss out on finding how we are part of a larger Story which gives meaning to our own.  And remember — you too are a king or queen, or, if you will, a superhero, you just may not have recognized your regal status when you saw yourself today in the mirror.   

Set into Motion by God

Look at Genesis 1:14-17, Psalm 19, Numbers 24:17, Genesis 49:10, Revelation 12:1-2 -- there we have a picture of the prophecy and some of the vast testimony of Scripture regarding the “scepter” that will arise from Judah, Leo in the heavens, a king who will come, born of a virgin, who will rule.  This testimony was corroborated by the kings from the east in Matthew 2, who testified clearly to a unique, once-in-a-lifetime star in the heavens. Clearly a planetary occurrence from how they described it. The bottom line of this the heavenly event is this: our God knew the date and time of the coming of Christ BEFORE anything was created for the clock of heaven, the dance of the stars is timed and patterned.  It is not haphazard but precise. Is it any wonder the scriptures declared that Jesus was slaughtered “before the world was made” (Revelation 13:8)? Jesus knew and had offered himself and it was set into “timing.”  

No wonder the Gospels say Jesus was born in the ‘fullness of time,’ at the ‘right time.’  The Time had been set when God had started the clock of heaven the fourth day of Creation.  Such a God - worthy of worship and praise, who has timed all things, knows too everything that is in our lives and can assist us to meet it.  Every point of suffering becomes an encounter with Christ’s cross, a place to see God’s provision, and experience the gift of life anew. The theme throughout Advent is for us to embrace the miracle of his coming. Last year we looked first at this amazing research into the star of Bethlehem, the story of how the heavens are not random, but a clock that can be wound back via computers and reveal exactly what the skies above Babylon looked like in 3 BC around the time Jesus was conceived.  

The testimony of the heavens was so vast and particular it caused those men, schooled in prophecy through the centuries-old testimony of Daniel, to leave their homeland and travel for months in order to meet this Child born King. They have been famously remembered as wise.  We still demonstrate their kind of wisdom when we trust God’s word and step out to speak, to be His in this culture, to stand up. We still demonstrate their kind of wisdom as we worship and embrace this One in life, even when we encounter hardships as part of the journey. Their brave journey took months to accomplish.  And they might have actually arrived to meet and worship the then toddler Jesus on December 25th, 2 BC, according to our calendars. That’s the date the planet Jupiter stopped above Bethlehem according to the clock of heaven. It seems too incredible to be true. But “the heavens declare the glory of God.” 

Come share together in this wonderful dance of the heavens and in the testimony of God’s word that God knows and cares and is working in EVERYTHING!  You might be able to embrace the miracle all the more through them.    

Christmas Offering

On December 15th, we are inviting you to give into a goal of raising $40,000 in the Christmas Offering to celebrate what Jesus has been doing and shall yet do. It is a big goal, for we would like to give:  

 ·         10% to Family Promise of Beaverton to encourage their ministry with our houseless neighbors

·         $6000 to build two houses with Help Build Hope and Christ UMC on June 20th

·         $1000 to assist those from the Alaskan Missionary Conference with travel costs to Annual Conference this year.  (The General Board has withdrawn all funding from this extension of our ministry.  The two PNW conferences are joining to raise the $30,000 needed for them to come.)

·         $25,000-$30,000 to pay down our mortgage principal.  A lump payment of $25,000 on our smaller loan would save us more than $6,000 in interest and move our payoff date to 2024!  The more we give, the greater the impact.

We invite you to Pray and Find a Way to Give

Christmas Concert

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Especially if you enjoy Christmas music!

On Sunday, December 22, our choir, a band, and a barbershop quartet will join forces to inspire us with music both familiar and new.

The evening begins at 6:00 pm with an hour of entertainment, followed by desserts and fellowship.

Invite your friends and family to this Westside tradition!

Brian's Blog: Thankfulness

Aunt Rachel.  That’s what we called her, even though she was not related to us and was at our family table every Thanksgiving. My dad would go pick her up at her place. In all these years I have no clue who she was, how we knew her, or why she came, but she did come and brought with her a feisty personality, sense of humor and such love for us all. She had lots of love.  

For me, she epitomizes what Thanksgiving was growing up.  A table full of sometimes disconnected people who gathered, laughed, prayed, shared life and got blessed by the joy poured out by my parents.  It was always a table full of people, always my cousins, many wanderers ended up around my family’s table, many college friends with no place to go would arrive for the weekend.  It was always a table laden with food, of every variety, beverages and surrounded by stories and laughter. Some years as my older siblings got into health foods, the stuffing would be with brown rice rather than bread made by my brother John, and the pumpkin pie made with real maple syrup.  

One year as we all were awaiting everything to get ready, my sister’s corn souffle was still baking, taking its sweet time. I remember standing at the oven as everything else was done, and discussing what we might do with two of my siblings, Nancy and John. That was about when mom came in, and said, “Now why is that corn souffle taking so long,” and with that, she whipped open the oven door, took a spoon and stirred it to get the heat all the way through.  If you know corn souffle, it is delicate, you don’t open the oven while it is baking. And also, Nancy had carefully lined her pan with waxed paper. So, with the stirring, we all knew that waxed paper had been stirred someplace into the souffle. Mom’s action happened so quickly, that all we could do was look at one another in surprise and laugh. Mom was right. It cooked quickly then, and we were soon seated at the table.  

The joke that year was “who would get the waxed paper?” Mom never knew but the three of us who had been standing in the kitchen, looked around, eyes sparkling with joy, waiting to see.  We didn’t want to worry mom with such details. As we watched, all of us smiled as Nancy signaled that she had gotten it. 

Certainly, Thanksgiving has historic roots of the first pilgrims being assisted through a terrible winter by the American Indians and celebrating with a feast, and the history is important. But even when recalling that event, still the meal today means so much more to me because of the tradition given by the faith of my parents.  They made that weekend filled with joy, laughter, and blessing. They demonstrated how there is always room at the table for another. They gave of themselves that those without families could have one. When I think of thanksgiving, I’m grateful for this upbringing, for the shared values, for this reason to give thanks to God not just for what has happened historically in our nation, but what happened in my own life.  

As you have the opportunity to gather with others, whomever, wherever, I hope you can experience joy and a deep thankfulness to God for all the gifts placed in your life.  

Doing Two Things at Once

Wait! It’s not Thanksgiving yet and we are talking about the Shepherds this Sunday?  True. What greater thing to give thanks for than the fact that the Word became flesh to dwell among us?  And the shepherds -- such heralds of this mighty action of God’s -- were ordinary guys who raised lambs for the temple sacrifice.  They were the first, outside of His parents, to see the Lamb of God.  

We are in long Advent -- the 8-week journey until Christmas. This season not only anticipates and celebrates the arrival of Jesus the first time but anticipates that this One who came will come yet again. As we do a bit of both, how might you mark this season?  Have you thought about what you might “leave behind” as you race with the shepherds to see the Christ? Which of the Shepherds’ responses would you most like to carry with you into this upcoming week of thanksgiving?

Pastor Brian on Vacation

Pastor Brian is on vacation beginning next Monday, November 25. If you need pastoral care, please contact Pastor Christy Dirren at christydirren@gmail.com or 503-380-3362.

Pastor Brian will be back for worship on December 1.

Listening Post this Sunday

Don’t miss this Sunday! There will be a Listening Post during the 10:00 am worship hour where we will address some of the questions surrounding Pastor Brian’s replacement in July 2020.

The conversation will continue after worship during our Fourth Sunday Feast. Bring your favorite autumn dish to share.