Church Family Update - May 5, 2020

First, Some Good News:

You might recall that at our last congregational meeting (remember those?) we had a shoe box for receiving any feedback from the congregation. That night we received a lot of very helpful insight and feedback. After reading the notes we received I thought about how useful it was to know what people were thinking. And it occurred to me that the anonymity of the feedback box probably encouraged more people to speak freely. 

I brought it up at council and we all agreed that it would be a good idea to have a permanent feedback box where people can give anonymous input about anything Ebenezer-related. It further occurred to me that while the lowly shoebox is a practical receptacle for feedback, it’s not exactly a thing of beauty. I felt that we needed a box worthy of the wise and lofty insights from Ebenezerites that would be placed therein. If only I could think of someone who knew a thing or two about making beautiful boxes…

Enter Dick! Master box-maker and all around useful person to have around! I asked him if he was up for the task and he once again exceeded all reasonable expectations. 

So it’s with both pride and excitement and a little bit of fear and trembling that I present to you…The Official Ebenezer Suggestion Box. 

I especially like that the word “Tips” is engraved on this box. I’m not sure if this is intended to mean “advice” or “cash” but I’d like to suggest the latter. 

Thank you Dick and anyone else who helped put this box together. It’s sitting on the welcome desk. Now let’s hope that the day is not too far off when we will gather together once again and our box will runneth over. (See what happens when you let me go to a writer’s conference?)

A Devotional Thought:

“I waited patiently for the Lord” (Psalm 40:1)

I read this question yesterday and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since: “Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?” 

That was written in the 4th century B.C. but it feels pretty contemporary, doesn’t it? Waiting patiently is not easy. If I was writing this Psalm it would probably read, “I tapped my foot impatiently for the Lord.” I’m not a patient person in the best of times and right now my patience is running especially thin. Which is why that quote affected me so deeply. 

Do I have the patience to wait until my mud settles and the water is clear? What is my mud? And how might the Lord be using this period of forced waiting to cause that mud to settle so that the water of my heart becomes more clear? 

I don’t need to bore you with my answers to those questions. But I would encourage you to try to answer those questions for yourself. And maybe when we’re able to start getting back together again as a church family our hearts will be just a little clearer.

May you find joy in waiting today.

Pastor Jason