Last week as I visited my sister in Tucson, I walked around in a beautiful postcard experiencing textures, colors, scents, and sounds that are unfamiliar to me. Ahhhh.... such wonder and beauty! As the monsoon season is upon the Southwest, I was treated to firebolts in the sky as lightning flashed, refreshing drops of moisture, cacti blooms, and downpours. I smelled the rain as it embraced the dry earth.
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| "Jesus" Cholla |
I was treated to the sight of bats dipping into the hummingbird feeders for sweet liquid indulgences, and I was chased inside the casita by the sounds of javelinas as I played (attempted) my sister's Native American flute. Harmonies at dusk flowed as my sister and I sang songs from our youth serenading the coyotes before they awakened us at 4 a.m. partying right outside our little house, yipping, yapping, and yowling their melodies. I squished a tiny but mighty scorpion that scuttled from under the couch. 
I drove on a hilly, curvy desert road reaching into my grey matter to recall how to shift gears in my sister's mostly dependable red jeep. I felt the old, dry wood of "mother tree" as she stretched her last hurrah to the Creator. I saw the "Jesus" cholla with outstretched arms and dreadlocks.
The juxtaposition of incredible beauty and extreme harshness of the desert is not unlike life. Today I am choosing to dwell in the beauty. Thank you, God!
Even the wilderness and the
desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers, and singing, and joy! The deserts will become green as the mountains of Lebanon as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord's glory will be displayed, the splendour of our God. With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts, "The Lord is coming to destroy your enemies. God is coming to save you." And when God comes, God will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. Isaiah 35:1-5
Brother Mick's message this week is based on Luke 15:1-10, and he is calling his sermon "Hide and Seek." In his presermon notes Mick writes, "Many of the passages today remind us that God's search for the lost and fallen never ends. God, portrayed as shepherd and even an old woman, will go to enormous effort to retrieve even one lost soul. It is message of love and hope for all of us." The worship service begins at 10:15 a.m. with the Christian formation hour at 9 a.m.
The young adult and senior high classes will be combined for a devotional time with Mick in the Upper Room. I'll be with the rest of the senior high youth at the ACC Retreat.
A women's Bible study, Beth Moore's "Breaking Free," begins this week on Tuesday at 7 p.m. This is a 10 week study and women of all ages are welcome. You do not need to be an attender of Ridgeview to join the group!
The ingathering has begun as we prepare to welcome a refugee family. Check out the notice in the bulletin. http://www.ridgeviewmennonite.net/bulletins/current.pdf
Mennonite Central Committee is in need of winter clothing and shoes to send to Lebanon for the Syrian refugees. Warm, clean, like new, no logos/messages, long skirts, sweaters, boots, shoes, backpacks etc. are all needed soon as they hope to ship items the end of this month or early October. If you have questions contact the Ephrata Material Resource Center 717.733.2847. I plan to go through some of my items today, so if you have things to contribute, I'd be glad to deliver them next week if you can get them to me.
http://www.mcc.org/
Prayer for today: For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19. We lift our twilight songs to You, Mighty God, while the coyotes sing in the deep dark of the night. We share shoes and warm coats with each other while You cloak the world in color and beauty. Though our lives at times seem like the painful barbs of a cactus; though our lives at times seem parched and hungry; though our lives at times seem lost and forgotten; Your love, Your presence, Your hope, Your beauty, Your healing is constantly seeking and inviting. As You provide for us, so let us reach out to each other offering hope and shoes to one another in Your name, Jesus. Come Kingdom of God. Be done will of God, here on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus name. AMEN.
desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers, and singing, and joy! The deserts will become green as the mountains of Lebanon as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord's glory will be displayed, the splendour of our God. With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fearful hearts, "The Lord is coming to destroy your enemies. God is coming to save you." And when God comes, God will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. Isaiah 35:1-5Brother Mick's message this week is based on Luke 15:1-10, and he is calling his sermon "Hide and Seek." In his presermon notes Mick writes, "Many of the passages today remind us that God's search for the lost and fallen never ends. God, portrayed as shepherd and even an old woman, will go to enormous effort to retrieve even one lost soul. It is message of love and hope for all of us." The worship service begins at 10:15 a.m. with the Christian formation hour at 9 a.m.
The young adult and senior high classes will be combined for a devotional time with Mick in the Upper Room. I'll be with the rest of the senior high youth at the ACC Retreat. A women's Bible study, Beth Moore's "Breaking Free," begins this week on Tuesday at 7 p.m. This is a 10 week study and women of all ages are welcome. You do not need to be an attender of Ridgeview to join the group!
The ingathering has begun as we prepare to welcome a refugee family. Check out the notice in the bulletin. http://www.ridgeviewmennonite.net/bulletins/current.pdf
Mennonite Central Committee is in need of winter clothing and shoes to send to Lebanon for the Syrian refugees. Warm, clean, like new, no logos/messages, long skirts, sweaters, boots, shoes, backpacks etc. are all needed soon as they hope to ship items the end of this month or early October. If you have questions contact the Ephrata Material Resource Center 717.733.2847. I plan to go through some of my items today, so if you have things to contribute, I'd be glad to deliver them next week if you can get them to me.
http://www.mcc.org/
Without question or doubt, you are loved by God, and I love you too!
Love and Light,
Carol
(PS For a closer look at the photos, click on them!)
"Always remember who you are, whose you are, where you are going, and what you believe, because it does make a difference! Oh, and don't forget to attend a church of your choice this weekend." jd
Carol
(PS For a closer look at the photos, click on them!)
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