5 memories or events from 2016.
The highlight of the year for me was
spending 2 nights at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Hubby and I had a hotel room on
the 16th floor overlooking the falls, and I took a LOT of
photos. Rainbows moving over the falls all afternoon, sunrise,
sunset, a thunderstorm and the colored lights on the falls at night.
And there's a small window you can open, to hear the falls during the
night as we fell asleep. (and the trucks and buses in the morning...I
closed that window pretty early!)
That trip was also our first time
crossing an international border, so we had to get passports! We
stopped at Port Huron, Michigan, dipped toes into Lake Huron, as we
hadn't been to that Great Lake before. The border crossings were very
smooth, just time consuming because of traffic backups. We knew
that was likely. Funny, in the line to cross back into US, (into
Detroit) the faster access line was moving more slowly than the line
we were in!
This summer I also chaired our local
Book Bag Bash, an event with a non-profit organization and several
churches in which we give out backpacks filled with school supplies
to needy families. There's also a free lunch, games, bounce
houses--it's a few hours of fun for families. We began this at my
church in 2012, giving out 162 backpacks the first year. We now host
it at a city park, as we have outgrown the church grounds! This year,
with 12 churches and about 75 volunteers, we gave 764 filled book
bags. I have chaired this event from the beginning and have now
'retired' from it. We have an excellent team who will conduct it very
well. And I may drop by to take photos ;)
My photography hobby has mushroomed.
For a few years, I've managed the church Facebook page, and photo
posts do very well there. The church secretary likes photos for the
newsletter too.
My personal photos of nature scenes are also well received. Many of us find a sense of God or higher power in Nature. To take a walk and get some good photos is so relaxing.
My personal photos of nature scenes are also well received. Many of us find a sense of God or higher power in Nature. To take a walk and get some good photos is so relaxing.
The negativity and divisiveness of the
national news and election has been deeply distressing for me as well
as many of us. For a few years I have worked with other pastors & churches,
especially the African-American churches in town, to have community
services. These have been well attended and received. We will be
planning our Lenten series very soon and I look forward to helping in
some way to bridge the divides in our city. We all have a lot more in
common than we realize and we must learn to seek and celebrate the
commonalities.
How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together
in unity! –Psalm 133:1 NIV
Good Friday Community service at United Church of Beloit. \
