“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed
in the spirit.”
-Psalm 34:18 NRS
The church family has gone through an enormous time of heartache. The
loss of some members of our church family and members of our individual
families has caused great grief. It seemed to come all together. It’s
hard to be upbeat when we are hurting.
The loss of a mother or father ends a chapter of our life. We know that
we cannot expect our parent to live forever, but still there is a
missing part of ourselves when they come to the end of their life.
The loss of a daughter or a son brings up entirely different emotions.
We have faced so much together and we always thought we would be the
ones to go first. It almost seems as if nature has gotten it backward.
To lose a wife or a husband is another kind of grief. They were our
other half. They were the part of us that fulfilled who we are. The
day-to-day life together will be forever gone.
To lose a sister or brother gives us yet another kind of grief. Whether
we were close or not, we were THAT generation – the continuation of our
parents. It also reminds us of our own immortality – we too will come to
our end.
I’m always amazed at how those who wrote the scriptures had the same
emotions as we have. They knew the emptiness of losing someone. David
knew it so well when he wrote, “Yea, tho’ I walk through the valley of
death, I will fear no evil.” And in the above Psalm, he also knew that
God was close throughout that event.
I would imagine that not many of us have escaped the many faces of grief
mentioned above. We have struggled through that ‘valley’ and come out on
the other side.
In the book, Psalms for the Heart, the editor writes these words: “When
and how God chooses to comfort us may come as a surprise, but comfort
almost always arrives in the form of another human being. The right
words, spoken at the right time, lift our broken heart – our broken
spirit – and give us hope that life will go on. “
Be open to the leading of God as he sends that person or persons to help
you today.
Pastor Marilyn
Laws on the Books: In Wyoming, it is against the law to take a picture
of a rabbit during January, February, March or April unless you have a
license.
- You Can’t Eat Peanuts in Church, by Barbara Seuling
Bible Facts: Job was the first recorded person to say “the skin of my
teeth. “ (Job 19:20)
-Bible Trivia
Sunday School – 8:30 AM in the Community Building
Adult Bible Study with Pastor Joe Travis – Sunday evenings at 6:00pm
Choir Practice Every Saturday at 9:30am
Thursday, February 9th – Prayer Shawl Ministry Group meets at Carolyn
White’s – 7:00pm
Tuesday, February 14th – Happy Valentine’s Day
Saturday, February 18th – Family Supper in the Community Building – 5:30pm
Monday, February 20th – President’s Day
Wednesday, February 22nd – Ash Wednesday
Sunday, February 26th – First Day of Lent
Sunday, February 26th – Session Meeting
Tuesday, February 28th – Newsletter Deadline
Our church website is: www.franklinhillpresbyterian.org Be sure to take
a look at it and
keep up with our events.
Baby Bottle Campaign: Care Net does not set the dates for the Baby
Bottle collections as they are happy to have the funds at any time
during the year. Session decided before Christmas that since so many
special offerings come right after another, we would do the Baby bottles
later. The dates have been set for this year’s campaign for April 15th
to begin and the final Sunday will be Mother’s Day, May 13th. Fliers and
more information will be available as we get nearer to April.
Piano Anyone? ? ? Dave Jordan has a nice Francis Bacon piano that he
would like to see in someone else’s home. It is in good shape and is
tuned up to pitch, i.e. A at 440. It is old, and big but has a wonderful
“voice”. If you would like to adopt this instrument and have the means
to move it, contact Dave or Joyce Printz. A donation in any amount to
the church would be appreciated.
The Montrose United Methodist Church is hosting a meal the first Wed. of
each month from
4:30 to 6:30. It is called Loaves and Fishes Café and is open to the
public. This is a cost free
meal, but donations can be made if you are able. The next date is Jan. 4th.
Our church will be hitting the 200th year anniversary in 2013. I would
like peoples input into how to celebrate this major milestone. Would you
recommend one big event or several smaller ones like spring, summer and
fall? How would you like to mark the milestone? I plan to interview some
of our members for articles for the newsletter. Also, I want to take
excerpts from the old church minutes.
Does anyone have old pictures? What else can you suggest?
Thanks, Jim Perkins 570-967-2634 perkmar@stny.rr.com
Loose Change Offerings
1st Sunday – Local Emergency/Deacon’s Fund
2nd Sunday – Local Emergency/Deacon’s
3rd Sunday – Kenya/Rev. Malaho
4th Sunday – Building Maintenance
5th Sunday – Habitat for Humanity (whenever there is a 5th Sunday)
We received a note from the Lackawanna Presbytery.
The goal for 500 Helmet Liners was completed.They were safely counted
and folded, awaiting distribution by Ryan to the 1st Battalion of the
109th Infantry stationed in Scranton. As the deployment has been pushed
back due to the Pentagon’s realignment of troops, the liners will stay
at the Presbytery office until Ryan is ready for them. There were not
enough words of thanks to all of those who participated in this project.
Knitters from all corners of Lackawanna Presbytery contributed their
time and talent working toward the goal of 500.
