Beloved Redeemer,

Thanks so much to those of you who took the time to send your reflections to me last week. I was very encouraged to see God at work in our midst and felt joined hearing your struggles. Hearing from you helped me to enter back into ministry after vacation and not feel alone in these days of sheltering in place.

As I prayed I was led to Phil 3:7-16. This led me to pray for us that we could have the freedom to have a single minded and single hearted focus on Christ. I prayed that we would know Christ, the power of his resurrection, the participation in his suffering, becoming like him in his death, so that we might attain resurrection from the dead as we navigate this pandemic and see racial injustice.

Some themes that surfaced were:

Seeing God at work in:

Midweek Groups engaging in Scripture, experiencing mutual love and affection, and the grace that we can still connect, even though it’s limited.
Families deepening relationships with each other as they grow in marriage and parenting and have opportunities for more time together.
Experiencing the Lord’s provision and ability to be generous.
Surfacing need/ desire for racial justice
Deepening Partnerships, especially through the Pandemic Fund through partners like: Cornerstone, Rincons, Shekinah, Sunday, Rise Families, John Eddins
Increasing ability/ space to be limited, vulnerable, broken
Love for one another over long period of time
Concrete expressions of care like groceries, cards, food, and caring for each others’ homes.
Our Youth

Struggles:

Weariness, apathy, malaise caused by both navigating unknown, uncertainty, no clear end
Weariness, deadness of trying to connect over zoom
Grief and loss from not being able to gather, not sharing life
Isolation

May our Lord continue to lead us in these days to experience his abundant love in gratefulness and struggle.

Grace and Peace,
Cindi