July 14, 2022

I wanted to continue last week’s summer musings this week. As I mentioned last year, Summer is a season of vacating; leaving, emptying yourself of responsibilities for a short while, and hopefully returning with renewed energy and focus. And so it will be for Susan and me.

Susan was planning on going to visit her family in Rockford last week. My plans were to leave this week for Pittsburgh where I would meet up with three friends to go canoeing and camping on the Allegheny River. Susan’s plans were changed when her mother became ill and was hospitalized, so she went out earlier than she had planned. Thankfully, her mother is now home from the hospital and appears to be on her way to recovery. Thank you for your continued prayers for Susan, her mother, and her family. I will have left for my Allegheny adventure by the time you get this note and will be getting my gear together for our excursion. Next week Susan and I will rendezvous in Manhattan to spend time with our daughter who lives there.

I look forward to my time away and all that it has in store for Susan and me. I also look forward to returning refreshed and ready to begin planning for our fall ministries. Wherever and whenever you might be taking a break this summer, I pray you will find respite and renewal. I also pray you will take time to give God thanks for the opportunities we have living in the beauty of Summer in the Pacific Northwest. I also invite you to pray for our church community

that we all may approach this fall with renewed vigor and enthusiasm, not knowing what awaits us in the coming months, but trusting God’s steadfast love and care goes before us all.

More in two weeks.

With gratitude for you all,

 Pastor Todd