I hope you have your umbrellas ready! There is a popular saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” This really is a beautiful thought. It is similar to “after the rain comes the rainbow.” Some of the most interesting weather I find is when it is raining and sunny out, AND there is a rainbow. It doesn’t seem like all of those things should be happening at the same time. That’s life though, isn’t it? We wish things would happen in nice, clean cut seasons. But it is very rarely that everything is all bad or everything is all good. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” It then goes on to list things that there is a time for. I don’t know about you, but I have laughed and cried at the same time. I have mourned and danced at the same time. I have gathered and scattered stones at the same time. Ecclesiastes never says these things happen independently of each other. In fact, they often times happen in conjunction with one another. However, we sometimes have difficulty finding a reason to dance when we are overcome with sorrow, or finding a reason for hope when we are full of fear. There is a time for everything, and as a follower of Jesus Christ, there is always a time for hope.

Get your umbrellas out! We are going to dance in the rain. If it makes you more comfortable, get out your raincoat, your rain boots, and your rain hat too. Don’t forget your mask as well! As we enter into this season following Lent, we will be returning to hosting two in-person worship services each week. The Contemporary service will meet at 9 a.m., and the Traditional service will meet at 11 a.m. We will continue to follow the current COVID-19 protocols we have in place until further notice, and registration will still be required. There will not be Sunday school in between the services, and the nursery will still not be staffed at this current time. I ask that you please do not come to the service any earlier than a half an hour before your service begins, so we can cut down on the amount of contact during the transition time. Both services will be streamed live and available for viewing at your convenience, so we can continue to provide a worship experience that is within each person’s comfort zone. I do need your help! If you are willing to volunteer on a Sunday, please let me know, as there will be more positions that will now need to be filled.

Remember, we can be excited, yet still be cautious. We can be hopeful, yet still be prayerful. We can be ready for the flowers, yet still be stomping in the puddles. We can all be in different places, yet still be together. This is not a time for either/or, but it is now a time for both/and. We are, after all, a people of death and of resurrection! Amen!

From one light to another,
Pastor Hannah Loughman

Photo by Patrick Emerson