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: We have been asked to share in the following prayer by Janet Wolfer at the Seven Rivers District office: Dear God, I am praying for those in peril from the fire. Still the winds. Bring the rain. Give courage and strength to the firefighters. Help those in danger to escape. I pray for Carla and Cody, and Jennie and her family. Please keep them safe. Grant them peace that passes human understanding. Let them know the connection that sends your love across the miles to give them hope. I pray for Joanne and John and Bishop Paup that you help them to help their family. I give thanks for the love of Jesus whose spirit blows stronger than any fire-born wind. In His name, Amen. These people have been effected in a very real way by the fires in California. Let us share our concerns for these folks and all of the others whose lives have been devastated by this terrible set of natural disasters. Here at Trinity, please keep Carol Taylor in your thoughts and prayers as well—she is recovering from surgery to her knee after a fall while visiting in Vancouver. Thank you, Mac for sharing your music with us and coming to visit. We miss you and remember you in our prayers.

“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