Gratitude & Generosity

During this season of Thanksgiving, I have been inviting my congregation, not every day, to think about the things that they are grateful for. I received an e-mail from my very first ever guest blogger, Fran Schellenberger. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


Grateful for the Colors of the Sky
By Fran Shellenberger
November 13, 2021

The colors of the sky provide a heavenly calendar, for every upward glance tells us something--the time, the weather, and the changing seasons. Through all our days and nights, the colors of the sky tell us who and where we are in the universe.

The eastern sky’s pure Yellow and Gold awaken us each morning;

Wherever you are in the world, if the sun is directly overhead, the time is noon.

Its harmful rays weaken as it makes its way down.

Blue brightens all seasons, sharing the sky in endless patterns with White;

Gray warns of showers headed our way;

In tiny flakes or thick comforters blanketing the sky, White announces the arrival of winter;

Orange, Blue, and Violet bring the twilight of evening;

Black means the day we knew as “today” is over.

We are grateful for the colors of the sky as they lead us through the day; fires and battles may alter them, but not for long.



Thank you, Fran, for sharing your gratitude with me!

. . . God's plan . . .

 My church, Country Club United Methodist Church, is in the middle of a worship series called: Asking for Friend. During the month of July, I solicited questions from my congregation and people in our community questions they have that rarely get answered in church circles. 

One that came up that is important, but came up after the topics had been chosen was: 

Does God really have a plan? If God does, is it within the plan that people should get sick? A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with cancer - is cancer a part of God's plan?

Transparency Disclaimer: everything I'm about to write is from my point of view and a Wesleyan bent.

I believe God definitely has a plan for our lives. Do I believe God plans for us to get cancer, Covid-19, heart disease? No, I do not. Disease is not a part of God's ultimate plan for our lives. The human body was created in God's image, so therefore it was created perfect. 

However, God did this crazy thing when creating humans - our Almighty God gave us free will. From the beginning of human consciousness (that's how I personally interpret the story of Adam & Eve), humans have chosen either life-giving or life-denying choices. 

God said to Adam and Eve - eat from any tree but don't eat from that one (the tree of knowledge).  So God created free will with the hope that these first humans would have chosen what was within God's will.

Of course, temptation becomes a possibility with you've been given choice. And what did those first humans chose? To eat from the tree. From that moment, humans have made a choice to turn from God's good plan. Brokenness entered creation and not only afflicted human life, but all of God's creation. Our bodies became fragile and no longer like God's. We are still made in God's image, but the "stain" (I don't really like that word, but a lot of people understand it) of sin plagues us.

But there's good news, God never leaves our side, never stops calling us. There have been times in Scripture when God goes silent, but that does not mean God isn't present. 

What that means for us is God's hope for us is still intact, there is hope that we, yes we - communal, not just individuals, can still make choices that align with God's good plan for our lives. God sent God's very self into the human flesh of Jesus Christ to set the world back on a trajectory of goodness: where calamity, disease, war, and all those things that hinder us from living fully were put back into motion. 

And just to be clear, none of this means that we become ill with critical illness because of all the choices we make, (there are definitely choices we can make that ensure better health), but all of creation is in a state of brokenness. When you are holding your loved ones' hand as he or she succumbs to the cancer ravaging their body, God weeps with you - God doesn't want this for us. It is not within God's plan for us to suffer. 

There are times when we actually get glimpses of God's intention. 

When we walk down our driveway and see a rose emerging from a crack, we see that God is making a way even the brokenness. 

When we sense the peace that overcomes our loved ones' body as they enter into a new reality, we see that God is absorbing and redirecting the suffering into something new. 

When we see a field of saplings emerging from the scorched earth, we see God's tenacity bringing new life. 

God is creating things beautiful all the time. We may not always see it, but it's there. All we have to do is see how God fulfilled the promise of a messiah. We have Jesus, who is with us always to remind us, that God is at work. God is calling us forward to work with the Almighty to return all of creation to what God had in mind from the beginning.

God's plan is good - and it's okay to wonder if that's really true. 

. . . sharing our faith . . .

. . . Starts with prayer . . .

A firm foundation and relationship with Jesus gives us the courage to step out of our comfort zones. Remember, Jesus said to his disciples prior to his ascent into heaven: 

"I am with you until the end of the age." Take comfort in the Lord!

Check out my first installation about this realization I had with my former church. 

You can read that first post HERE.

. . . new paths, new life . . .

Over the past month I have been taking interesting paths to work each morning because routine makes me anxious. It’s true, if I were to take the same route every day, even if it is the fastest way, I tend to become frustrated. I am also not a fan of driving, so I have found that mixing up my drive is necessary. It’s so bad I once took 5 hours to get to Springfield, Missouri! 

I have lived in the Kansas City area off and on for about 25 years but in the last month I have discovered the quaint and unique enclaves in our city. Every morning I see children at bus stops, people riding bikes, Grandfathers walking dogs, construction workers installing the new streetcar line down Main Street, landscapers manicuring lawns, neighbors chatting over fences… drug addicts dancing in the street, folks experiencing homelessness at intersections, and women selling their bodies. Every path I drive down connects one human to the next, one neighborhood to the next, one life of brokenness to one of abundance. No matter the life experiences we are navigating, we are all connected. 

One of the things I have noticed is how my drive-in always leads to the driveway of Country Club United Methodist. As I walk into the sanctuary each morning, it has not been lost on me that this space (and all worship spaces) is supposed to represent the coming together of the divine and the human. We can encounter God anywhere because God is everywhere, but these spaces are meant to be a place where those experiencing brokenness and those experiencing abundance come together to stand in the presence of Jesus, the one who offers us newness of life. 

On Easter Sunday, we reopened the doors to our church building. So many of you put your hearts into creating a space where all people know they are loved by our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. I thank each of you for your hard work and dedication to making our Easter services uplifting - and space for people to know that in Jesus all things are being created new. 

My hope and prayer as we enter into this new season are that we look for Jesus and follow his guidance in all we do. My hope and prayer are that we are encouraged and emboldened to invite people to discover our God who loves us first. Where are you meeting new people this season? Will we use this time to go back to our pre-pandemic routines, or will we use this time to trust in Jesus to help us discover new paths that lead to new life?

The choice is ours alone!