Wednesday, March 18, 2020

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Welcome to Wednesday, March 18th!  Today we served 80 take-away meals from Hope's Kitchen, including 7 that were delivered to church members' homes.  If you would like to receive a lunch meal at home on Monday-Wednesday-Friday, please let Pastor Jean know.  We have folks who are happy to make the deliveries (Thank you, Lyle & Leona Schrader!).
We also have people ready and willing to run errands, grocery shop, etc.  All you need to do is ask!

 We are setting up "phone buddies" so we can stay in touch with homebound church folks and be sure everyone has what they need.  If you are willing to call a church member each day for conversation and a check-in, please let Pastor Jean know.  This is especially helpful to people who live alone, or for our elders who do not have family in this area.  Thanks to everyone who is already participating!

 Please also note that there are people who are trying to use the COVID-19 situation to SCAM you out of your money and/or your personal information.  Treat every solicitation you might receive with great skepticism.  Do not respond to emails from people you do not know.  Let's not make a difficult situation even worse! 

 Prayer Requests & Updates:  Patricia Lacey and her companions are back in the United States and will be returning to Cortez today (Yay!).  Doug Conger died early this morning, ending a terrible battle with ALS--please keep his wife Cindy and their family in your prayers.  Joe Keesee continues his recovery from bone marrow transplant.  Our Hope's and Grace's Kitchens volunteers--as well as delivery people and phone buddies--are helping us stay connected to each other and to the community.  FUMC is indeed a blessing to all of us, and to many people in Cortez.  Let's keep praying for Cortez, our area, our nation and our world...

 Spiritual Poet Ted Loder offers us some words for today:

 Give Me Hope
O God,
this is a hard time,
a season of confusion...
Give me hope, Lord,
and remind me
       of your steady power
              and gracious purposes
that I may live fully.
Renew my faith
       that the world is not destined
              for dust or darkness,
       but for frolicking life
              and deep joy
that, being set free
       from my anxiety for the future,
I may take the risks of love
       today.

 May we continue to "take the risks of love" as we pray for one another, reach out to reassure each other, and offer hope to our community.

 Peace and all good,
Pastor Jean

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