A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR
August 2025
“I bet deep down you still wish your mom would take you clothes shopping every August for the new school year.” – Bridget Willard
Doesn’t August make you long for those days of your youth? The minute you hear the katydids start their song, they say it is six weeks until the first frost. Oh, and the fireflies that were so thick in the back yard just a few weeks ago have thinned out and are almost gone. The leaves aren’t turning colors yet but, you can sense that it won’t be long before those incredible colors come bursting out.
When I was young I didn’t always get to do school shopping in August but, I almost always got at least one new three ring binder, filler paper and a box of number 2 pencils. That was enough to send me over the edge with excitement. As soon as I got home I would sit down in a state of pure bliss with my new notebook, paper and pencils. I would make sure everything was in order. I would sharpen the pencils just so in the hand crank pencil sharpener and place them lovingly in the pencil box. If I happened to get one of those nifty pencil cases that hooked into the three ring binder then I would be transported to a child’s version of nirvana. Limitless possibilities! Pure ecstasy! Don’t even get me started on composition notebooks or this month’s reflection could run pages!
When I reflect back on it now, I am sure the feeling of joy and pleasure came from my love of school and my love of new beginnings. As a child I was a nerd before being a nerd was cool and profitable. Yes, I actually used to read the dictionary for fun. School was for me a place of safety, a place of affirmation, a place where all things were possible and all things were new.
On a recent morning I woke up with many things weighing heavily on my mind. Before my feet even hit the floor my brain was racing trying to grapple with all that I had to do for the day, fears and concerns for family members, financial concerns, and a whole host of other things. I was a hot mess, and told God I didn’t think I could handle one more day or one more thing. In the middle of my silent mutterings, the following verse came to mind from the book of Revelation, “I am making all things new” and at the same time I felt that familiar feeling of joy I had as a child with new pencils and a new three ring binder. I could almost smell the new paper and pencil shavings. It only lasted for the briefest of moments but it was awesome!
After that I was in a better frame of mind to start the day and each successive day since. Not much has changed in my world, much of what I was dealing with that morning remains and a few other things have been added but, I am different, at least a little different. I am remembering to be a daughter of the King, the King of limitless possibilities and new beginnings every day, every hour or minute as I have a need. I am remembering Lamentations 3:22-24…
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
May God bless you all with the certainty of His presence and guidance in the coming month. May your entry into fall bring with it a sense of the limitless possibilities that are yours as a child of the King.
On the Journey,
Pastor Debbie
PS – Get a new notebook and a couple of number 2 pencils just for fun and remember to look at the world with the eyes of a child. It can change your perspective!