Blogs

Advice from Mr. Rogers ~ Be kind. Give your honest self. Do you best with what you have. Believe in others. Listening is where loves begins. Love people just the way they are. Help others win too. Make the most of each beautiful day. I could not have said it any better. Pastor Leah 

Canoeing the Mountains is the title of a book that I am currently caught up in. As I said on Sunday, when I asked Pastor Manuel if he had read it, his response was, 'No. But that sounds hard!' Canoeing the mountains? The Rocky Mountains? Hard. Probably impossible. However, how mightily do we struggle as we attempt to step forward, thinking tha...

Unless I'm in a real snit, I generally make an effort to share a smile when I pass people in the grocery store or along the sidewalk. These days, with a mask on, grins are much harder to convey. Out for a long walk today, I spied a chicken painted on a chicken coop. I'm pretty sure that the brood who live in that coop don't really notice or care. W...

The last time I walked by, the excavator was just getting started; this time, there is an enormous hole in the earth. While my imagination sees a basement for the foundation, it certainly makes me wonder what the house being built will look like.  With this groundwork, what remains to unfold? Going deep is how we set firm footings. What w...

This morning the sky was a magnificent burst of color, God's beautiful and amazing 'sky jewelry.' Also along the walk this morning, a working hummingbird adorned in brilliant red. More of God's handiwork. And daffodils pushing through the earth… Intensely green grass… A mostly blue sky… Eyes and hearts opened to the gifts waiting to be enjoy! Pasto...

The oversized coffee mug reads, 'My cup runneth over.' It's absolutely true, I am blessed beyond my own container. I am blessed beyond what I can hold or imagine. I am blessed deeply and richly. I am blessed. I am wondering if you ever need a reminder… If so, here it is. Pastor Leah 

Be clear, it is a sigh of gratitude. Cards, calls, texts. Warm greetings. Yummy things to eat. Kindnesses in so many voices. Thank you for the wonderful birthday blessings. Pastor Leah 

Along a pathway I spotted the slug. He had managed to 'climb' the chunk of bread and was hanging out on top, as though he were the king of the mountain. As goofy as he looked from my vantage point, five feet up, I'll bet that he was glowing in self-accomplishment. Small. Insignificant. But not for him. Victories are personal, located in the co...

Warm feelings. Friday morning I stopped by Gear Up for breakfast. Even though Dan Schacher was headed out the door with his own to-go order, he turned back. First, he jovially told his staff that my order needed extra salt and pepper {which is indeed how l prefer my bagel-egg-sandwich}. The second time he came back was to make sure that his ou...

My keen power of observation tells me that things did not go smoothly or easily yesterday. {Equipment not moving, hood open, men tinkering…} But by mid-afternoon there was gutter-work underway and cause for some celebration. My own heart pulsates with even more cause for celebration with the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine. Very few countries have...

It is a huge pile of dirt, dug out of the hillside in preparation for a new home. For the future homeowners, this certainly must be a picture of a hope. Where might you spot hope this day? Spring hope in the sunshine? Vaccination hope in a jab? Regathering hope drawing nearer every day? Praying for hope to wrap you up and hold you close. Pastor Lea...

My appreciation for the Psalms was transformed when I was introduced to Eugene Peterson's version of the Bible, The Message. Peterson's language isn't just contemporary, it captures the Word in stunningly visual ways. Today at staff meeting, we read/heard Psalm 7. While there are a whole variety of compelling images in that particular Psalm, the ph...

Every time I drive into the church parking lot {or out of it, for that matter} I see the lift parked in the upper lot. There it sits and has sat for weeks. That we are moving towards mid-January and it is still here, makes this a very long tale. The lift was brought in to install the new gutters. The work was supposed to happen last summer. {Before...

Like many of you, I spent yesterday torn between my computer and my phone as I followed the unfolding events at our Nation's Capital. There are so many words that we could use to attempt to sum up the day but the word that is running around my own mind, really stretches much broader than yesterday or Washington DC. The word in my mind, on my heart ...

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Epiphany, a sudden and striking realization. Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles as represented by the Magi. Epiphany, January 6th on the church calendar. Epiphany, the reminder that the gift of Christ is intended for all people. Epiphany, hope shining into the bleak mid-winter. Epiphany, pointing beyond the created world, remindi...

Recycle… Repurpose… Reuse… Two styrofoam boxes, now reimagined into a squat, square 'snowman' in a Silverton front yard. Clever. Cute. Creative. Several years back, a man who called himself 'an odd little man' issued a stewardship challenge to the folks in our community. He called for everyone to increase their giving into an odd amount. Instead of...

Decorations are certainly a matter of personal taste. Indoor. Outdoor. Busy. Understated. Modern. Wildly colorful. No wrong answers, just different. Especially when walking, one can pay special attention to porch and yard displays ~ from beautiful to playful and everything in between. But only one place in town have I seen a space alien and an elf ...

I started my workday with a poem from one of you; it is a composition of hope shining into the bleak mid-winter. 'Bleak' certainly holds ample space in 2020 … but we are now only a few hours away from 2021. This week we will celebrate the 2nd Sunday of Christmas and we will do so with the 'nativity' according to the gospel of St. John. As it turns ...

Thank goodness, 2020 is nearly complete! As it winds down, what will you remember? What will your take-aways be? Walking through downtown Silverton, it is impossible to miss the businesses that have been closed because of Covid or during Covid.  In one closed-store-window is a display: Christmas gifts, lights, ornaments and toilet paper. ...