Thank You!

What a glorious time to be in Woodstock! The weather has turned brisk, the leaves are absolutely gorgeous, and popping up all around town are Pumpkin People! I’ve seen a pumpkin dressed in fatigues waving an American flag, pumpkins playing checkers, a pumpkin life guard, and a pumpkin farm complete with barn, farmer, and pumpkin pigs. 

St. Paul’s United Church of Christ didn’t miss out on the festivities. The last weekend of October was full of ministry opportunities and community engagement including a Friday evening Halloween Party for children and their families in the fellowship hall, participating in Halloween on the Square on Saturday,  giving out orange “Set Out to Shine” wrist bands to all of our children, and Bibles to our 6-year-olds during the Moment for Children, an exciting Jr. Church focused on “Super Heroes” in the Bible, and passing the 2020 Church budget in a congregational meeting.

As I think about November, gratitude and thanksgiving well up inside! I am so thankful to be serving alongside you at St. Paul’s. I am thankful the people involved in our ministries: those who work with our children, those who donate goods, money, and time to the work of our church, those who faithfully bring children to church, those who organize and lead by serving as Elders, Deacons, Trustees, Offices, and on our various ministries, those who pray for our church and community, those who share their gifts of music, and those who give by being present.  I am thankful to have the privilege and opportunity to live and serve in Woodstock.  And I am so very thankful for the gift of being able to learn more about the community, the congregation, and each person I’ve had the chance to spend time with.

Thanksgiving is a part of our national narrative, a hard-stop to take time to recall and reflect upon the many blessings that we have received. But thanksgiving extends beyond our borders and our time, back to the very origins of our faith.  I imagine God breathing thanks into creation, into swimming fish, birds in flight, giraffes stretching their necks, monkeys swinging from branches, and humans awakening to the gift of life. From the beginning of our Judeo-Christian roots, regular times of thanksgiving were built into the fabric of worship and life. Thanksgiving is a reminder that all that we have isn’t really ours; it is pure gift, from the food we eat to the roof over our heads, to each heartbeat and breath.

If I were to make a pumpkin person, it would be smiling, and holding a quote by Meister Eckhart, “If the only prayer you ever say in all your life is thank you, it will be enough.”

 

Thanks you.

Pastor Anne