from the pastor

May 12, 2002

Happy Mother’s Day. This is a day of celebration and thanksgiving. In an age when therapists are helping us all cope with dysfunction in our families of origin, we need Mother’s Day for the sake of bringing reality into the whole picture. There are blessings to count and joys to share on this day. And there are phone calls to make. I’ll be calling Elgin, Illinois to talk to my mother sometime today–whenever the phone circuits will let me through. And I’ll also be calling Mindy and Alison’s mother with appreciation and good wishes. There will be two calls I won’t be making this year, again–to my grandmothers–who died several years ago. But I will be thinking of them and counting the blessings from them that continue to live on in my life.

This is my first Mother’s Day here in Urbana at Grace Church. And when we are in church together, it is often true that we are like mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters to each other. And as I think of the women in our congregation, I think of the many experiences I have had in the last 11 months of encouragement, nurture, and strength from those relationships. To all who bear the rich role of ‘mother,’ we salute and celebrate you today.

The weather this morning reminds us that neither motherhood nor life is all sunshine and breakfast in bed. We awake to another day of rain. A couple of birds pierce the background thunder with chirping song in the backyard. But even their cheery tunes do not puncture the concern I feel for nearby farmers who worry about getting their crops planted.

I will be leaving town today right after the late worship to fly to Baltimore, Maryland. This is one of my weeks of continuing education. I’ll be at Johns Hopkins Medical Center for a conference on healing and spirituality. The Bible studies this week are canceled, but I will be back Saturday evening and here next Sunday. If anyone needs to reach me, call the cell phone listed in the bulletin, or get in touch with the church office. I can also be reached by e-mail during the week: jsmith3888@aol.com

Two events regarding children and youth need our support in the next three weeks. The youth auction is next Sunday night. Along with a potluck dinner, there will be an auctioning of numerous goods and services–including food items, work, restaurant meals etc. The money will go toward the youth mission trip. We need a good turn out from the church to make it a success.

The other event is the children’s musical for June 2. We need to recruit young people in elementary and middle school to participate. It is especially important for our own kids that age to invite friends to participate. Since it is a busy time of year, and we know that families will have trouble making all the practices, the leadership team will be available nearly every day for the next three weeks to work with the kids–as the kids can make it–and help them learn their roles. We still need adults to help with props, costumes, and supervision. See Gordy today, or call the parsonage and leave a message for Mindy (367-1046) if you would like to get ‘in the loop.’

–Mike