Dear Friends and Family,
Grace and Peace to you in this New Year of our Lord 2018!
First, I want all to know is I am doing amazingly well. My transplant was 13 days ago and I will be going home in the next two weeks (the plan). God has blessed me and you have blessed me with your prayers.
JOY!
Pr. Tina Yankee
The following is adapted from 1989 article by Pastor Paul Coen, Kearney, NE.
Pretty amazing isn’t it that we have completed another year with lots of changes and ups and downs. Time sure does fly!
Some of us would like a crystal ball and see what will happen to us in this next year–but since that isn’t possible we can ask a few questions. What will happen to our jobs? What will happen to our home, or living situation? What about new friends or relationships? What will happen to our health or even life? What will happen to our country–and in the world?
Well, I do not have an answer for you or for me. In fact in a world of uncertainty there is very little that is predictable and that we can be certain of.
But there are some things I am certain of. In the days, weeks, months and years to come, we are not alone. God is with us in all of it. God sustains us, tries to guide us (if we listen), encourages us and walks with us. This is God’s promise for the New Year and all the years to come. You see God does not get bent out of shape about what year it is. God is not bound by time. But God has chosen to be in time—our time. God chose to live in history through the birth of Christ and commits Godself to us by involvement in this world, in our time and forevermore.
God is close enough to us to know our hopes and fears, our love and our tears. This is our God and we are his people, no matter what happens in 2018 and the years to come. God is with us!
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Below is after Christmas day message from the writings of Howard Thurman
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.
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