From our Senior Pastor

Dear Friends,   

“Oh, they tell me of a place where no storm clouds rise.
“Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day.”

     The old hymn “Unclouded Day” was written one summer evening in Michigan as the preacher rode homeward on horseback after Sunday Services.  Inspired by the cloud formations, he wrote the words to the poem that was later set to music.  I’m sure the preacher had either been caught in a downpour or was worried about the possibility, so he was inspired to think about being “sprung from time,” when we’ll experience little or no distress.

     There are moments in Michigan summer when we catch a glimpse of that peaceful provision.  While cooking some “tube steaks,” I managed to photograph a sunset with my cell phone.  I have also been privileged to catch great cloud formations…The point of all this is the following.  Don’t miss a Michigan summer.  There will be opportunities galore to savor the season when we look for them.  Bring the cloud formations or concerns about stormy weather into your meditation and contemplation.

     Karen Parrish had the privilege of bringing her daughter Leah to our staff gathering this week.  I relish the fact that at age five she read for us from her Bible Story Book.  That is the kind of moment I wish I had not missed years ago when my four were small.  I was busy.  Not many of us would wish printed on a marker when the time has come, “I wish I had spent more time at the office.” 

     So when your relatives come to visit this summer, bring them to our “old fashioned hymn sing,” which will take place at the beginning of several services.  If you have new folks in your neighborhood, invite them to enroll their children in Vacation Church School…better still bring them yourselves.  There will be opportunities aplenty to share the sounds and sights of the season before they’re gone. 

     And recall and reclaim what I’m still trying to learn…that the word recreation is actually “re-creation!”  May we all experience the warm breath of God while we feel the warm breeze of summer on our winter-worn faces.

Serving alongside you
In Jesus,

Pastor Drex