Marilyn's Musings
June 16, 2026
Good morning, everyone. It is a beautiful sunny morning in June. Today I want to talk about the Children’s Day service at the Parsonage this past Sunday. I hope some of you were able to watch it live, if you weren’t with us. Through Pastor Debbie and her faith, Jesus was able to see our church family and how much love there is in our group.
Starting the service with the old favorite and well-known song “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” was a simple reminder that He was with us. He was also with millions of people around the world worshiping Him that morning. I felt that we had a few gifts from above while singing that song. The first gift was being able to watch Alan play the keyboard and enjoy singing along with us. He was happy to be part of us and sing with us. He may sing along while playing the organ, but we don’t get to see that part. All we hear in church is his amazing organ playing, but today we all got to see him smile and enjoy himself. Another gift was the beautiful day we had sitting outside in nature. The birds were singing along with us. We could see them flying from tree to tree calling to each other. But I really believe they were enjoying our singing. How beautiful is that!
The Sunday School teachers did a wonderful job teaching the children this past year. They designed our bulletin covers; they went up front and told us what bible story they like the best and why. They are the “seeds” in our church and we can watch them grow each year. As plants need nourishment, so do our “plants” (the children). They need love, most of all, and they get it from everywhere, from their parents, their siblings (whether they know it or not) from Pastor Debbie, their Sunday School teachers, and their church family. They handed out seeds for us to plant and I know I will plant them and watch them grow. While thinking about where to plant the seeds I thought of a line from another hymn “All Good Gifts Around Us Are Sent from Heaven Above”.
We Plough the Fields and Scatter
We plough the fields and scatter
The good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered
By God's almighty hand:
He sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine,
And soft, refreshing rain.
Refrain:
All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord,
O thank the Lord,
For all his love.
That hymn is usually sung in the fall during harvest time, but I think it could apply now as we think about the seeds we have to plant, and continue thinking of the children of the church being “seeds” as they learn about their Christian faith. We can watch them grow more and more each year. And we all know that we are still growing right along with them.
I realize the musing this week was based on our church’s children being the “seeds” that will grow with the church. There was so much we could take away from Sunday’s service. I am pretty sure we all left feeling good and happy knowing we are loved and we are one big happy church family.
I’d like to add a personal note, as I do sometimes. About 10 years ago my brother had throat cancer and he had his voice box removed in June. Bob and I went to visit him for the first time on June 14. It was a beautiful sunny day just like this past Sunday. The sky was blue with fluffy white clouds that I enjoyed as we took the ferry to the city. It was a bit of a shock to see him after such an extensive surgery, but he was using a voice box amplifier to talk and he was able to say hi to us and say our names. I enjoyed talking with him and he was getting used to this new way of communicating. He died right before Covid hit. We had a gift of 5 years with him as he dealt with life and the changes with his battle with cancer. He wasn’t a religious man but he requested that “Amazing Grace” be played at his funeral. He developed a connection with that song while he lived at the Salvation Army where he battled alcoholism. When we sang that as our last hymn, I was able to look up at the beautiful sky and remember him and sing with thankfulness and love that he was with God and at peace.
I know I rambled a bit this week, but there was a lot I wanted to talk about.
Let’s start this week with the song I mentioned before. “We Plough the Fields and Scatter”
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ccVEjKFkAV4&si=blRONTBfgWkoXBK4
