A Quiet Springtime
There’s not as much traffic. Most of us are not having to bustle around as much as normal—except our health workers. Thank you, again, health workers for what you do. We continue to pray for you. Our farmers are beginning to prepare for planting, and I’ve heard that several of you gardeners are longing to be able to be out to work the soil. I’ve seen our Spring flowers start to poke through the ground. The days are getting longer. It’s a reminder to us that even though certain parts of our lives have ground to a halt that the seasons continue. The earth continues to spin. The sun continues to rise.
Yesterday, I compared our being “scattered” in our various places to seed being sown, and I encouraged us to think how we are sowing. I encouraged us to sow kindness and compassion. If you haven’t seen the Pantagraph article about Faith and Sarah making and sending cards to the residents of Evergreen yet, I encourage you to read it. You can find it here. Thank you, Schwoerer family for setting a good example of finding ways to sow kindness. I encourage you to be creative and think of ways that you can brighten the day for those around you.
I encouraged us to sow thankfulness and praise to God for the beauty that continues to surround us. It’s good for us to take our eyes off of the news and pay attention to the coming on Spring. Perhaps it will remind us of the strength of our Creator and help us to put our trust more fully in him.
Finally, I hope that we are sowing the seeds of the gospel. Share Scriptures. Remind people of God’s love for them. Encourage them to participate in the many online events that various congregations are hosting. Share your favorite hymns and songs that are an encouragement to you in this time.
At the end of Galatians, Paul reminds us of the law of the harvest—we reap what we sow. He continues: “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Galatians 6:8-10, NIV).
Let’s not grow weary! Continue to sow good seed!
Remember to stay in touch as news continues to change daily about what is expected of us in this time. While we all long to be able to meet together again and for things to return to normal, we want to be wise and not do anything to bring a heightened danger to those around us.
Continue to reach out to one another. I was very pleased to hear about the number of you who are regularly checking in with others. Keep it up! If you need help—even someone to run to the store for you, or something else—please don’t hesitate to contact someone from NDMC. If you don’t know who to contact, you can contact me or Steve Eickhorst. Right now we have more people asking how they can help than we have asking for help, so there are people out there who are eager to lend a hand.
We’re remind you to continue your giving. Yesterday was our offering for Church expense. Next Sunday is our offering for Peace Meals. You can send an offering to NDMC, or you can send it directly to Jed.
Love you all and I’m continuing to pray for you!
God bless, Brian