Trinity United Methodist Church

Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.
Text Box: Spiritual & Devotional Page

“What Cancer Cannot Do . . .”

                 submitted by Dick Tonseth

Cancer is so limited:  it cannot cripple love, it cannot shatter hope;

It cannot corrode faith, it cannot destroy peace, it cannot kill friendship;

It cannot suppress memories, it cannot silence courage, it cannot invade the soul

It cannot steal eternal life, it cannot conquer the spirit.    (author unknown)
Text Box: If you have additional prayer requests, please call the church office or the Prayer Chain. Text Box: BITS OF THE RAINBOW “In 1965, I was embarrassed, lonely, and afraid when I went to the Washington, D.C. public library looking for anything that would tell me something about myself. I made an amazing discovery when I found Mary McCarthy’s book, “The Group.” It was about women at Vassar College, some of whom were like me! I wasn’t alone anymore. I even had a name – lesbian. For the first time in my life I knew everything was going to be okay. Sherry Thomas Publisher Text Box: Child in Church He is too young to understand . . . The gospel and the prayer . . . But in his own small way he feels . . . God’s presence in the air . . . He knows there is a border line . . . Between the right and wrong . . . And when temptations faces him . . . He should be brave and strong . . . He knows his parents smile with joy . . . When he is good all day . . . As surely as their hearts are sad . . . When he does not obey . . . He knows that when he goes to church . . . He should not speak out loud . . . But he should pray in silence with . . . His head in reverence bowed . . . And thus he learns the ways of life . . . However strange or odd . . And he begins to understand . . . He owes his life to God by James J. Metcalfe submitted by Pat Griffin Text Box: Quotes & Question for Reflection From John Wesley:*"It is in consequence of our knowing God loves us, that we love [God], and love our neighbour as ourselves. Gratitude towards our Creator cannot but produce benevolence to our fellow creatures. The love of Christ constrains us, not only to be harmless, to do no ill to our neighbour, but to be useful, to be 'zealous of good works'; 'as we have time, to do good unto all...'; and to be patterns to all of true, genuine morality; of justice, mercy, and truth." From Radical Gratitude www.umfnw.org

“The world is moved along not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.”

                        Helen Keller

It was God-With-Us

Not the God-Up-There

Somewhere who answers our prayers by lifting us out of our lives, but the God who comes to us in the midst of them . . . That is where God is born, just there, in any cradle we will offer . . . On any pile of straw we will pat together with our hands.

Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor

 

” I choose to live by choices, not by chance;   to make changes, not excuses;   to be motivated, not manipulated;   to be useful, not used;   to excel, not compete;   I choose self esteem, not self pity;   I choose to listen to the inner voice, not the random opinion of others."   "When we stand up, we must know that we are standing up for everybody. Each of us needs to know, in fact, that we are rainbows in the clouds."

 ...Maya Angelou         (Submitted by Dick Tonseth)

"Christian Stewards...

are those who awaken to God’s abundant, freely given grace permeating all creation.
As expressions of their awareness, stewards choose to enter into active partnership with God and others to lovingly care for and heal every gift of grace that God entrusts to them.
As stewards grow in this partnership, every dimension of their lives becomes a witness of the living Christ and a channel for God’s grace poured out to all."

–The “working definition” of Christian stewards, presented by the Stewardship Emphasis, PNW Annual Conference

Family and Friends,   I am a little overwhelmed at the topsy turvy next few weeks.  For those just tuning in, Tony (my husband) was in a forklift accident at work on December 16th.  He received a crush injury (no breaks - Thank God) to his lower left leg which is currently being treated with wound care every other day.  He is scheduled for surgery on Monday, January 11th where dead tissue/skin will be removed/scraped away and skin grafts will be done to cover the major areas.  We have already been blessed with so much in the way of meals and groceries and rides for the kids to school and childcare, so I really hate to ask.  But, as I said on my Facebook page... I am not Superwoman (yes, hard for me to admit).  These next few weeks will be a challenge as Tony will be less mobile and in potentially more pain due to the grafts.  So, in order to avoid me having to do a string of phone calls everyday begging for help, we have a web site you can go to and sign up to help if you can.    Type www.lotsahelpinghands.com/c/621388 into your web browser address box (it is specific to our community).  Our community is titled "Talbot family helpers."  If you can volunteer, great.  Not on the schedule - visits and prayers.  Tony really appreciates visits as he gets a little blue be confined to he couch.  Plus, you get to hold the baby girl!  So, give us a call.  Thank you all for your support.   Jennifer Talbot 665-9695 or jrtalbot@nwi.net