April 11, 2021 Newsletter

How good and how pleasant it is,

when kindred live together in unity!

~Psalm 133:1

Breakfast Baskets

 The Outreach Committee is pleased to announce that donations for 30 Breakfast Baskets were received. On Tuesday, March 30, eight Personal Needs clients received  baskets and they were thrilled with their gifts. Thank you to all who donated to this special project for the season of Easter. Breakfast baskets will continue to be given out with the next distribution on April 13 and continuing on Tuesdays until all 30 are given out.

Thanks be to God!  

Food for Toledo Update

On Monday, March 29, 193 pounds of food was received for the previous week and at our food drop-off that day.  That food and the food collected this past    Monday will have been delivered to Aldersgate United Methodist Church for their food pantry.  What started out at Aldersgate as a church trying to help their neighbors in need has turned into an almost year-long project.  And Grace has been a huge part in this. Thank you!  Mary is still available on Mondays from 9 – noon at the entrance of Brenner Hall to take non-perishable, unexpired food items. Items can also be dropped off in or near the tote near the church office.

Kindness changes everything!

Graduate Sunday is April 25

All spring graduates, whether it is from high school or college, are invited to be recognized at the 9:30 a.m. service on Sunday, April 25.  Graduation is no small event, it is a significant milestone marking both endings and beginnings, and your Grace family wishes to recognize this milestone.  If you are graduating and wish to be recognized on this special day, please contact the Church Office with the name of the school you are graduating from, your degree if you are graduating from college, and your plans for the future.   We look forward to recognizing you on this day.

Behind the scenes at Grace … 

1. The Easter lilies and other flowers gracing the Sanctuary on Easter Sunday were beautiful! And of course, the wonderful smell of the Easter lilies! Thank you for supporting Vacation Bible School.
2. April Fool’s Day made an appearance in the office – noises under the desk mat, a defective toilet paper towel roll, to name a few … Check with Cathy as I think she may take next April Fool’s Day off.
3. We have been a resting place for 4 HUGE crows this last week. They sure do make a lot of noise and help to fertilize our grass!
4. It is definitely spring – the yard has been leaf blown, mowed and pine limbs picked up by our lawn service and boy does it look nice!
5. It was great to see new visitors and members on Sunday – counting the parking lot folks we had 93 people! And 20 people at second service!
6. We safely returned to Communion inside the church with regular wafers and cups on Sunday! Thanks to all for helping distribute, and to visitors and members as this was our first return in a year to having Communion almost like normal.
7. Our resident red-tailed hawk must have found a “better menu” than the church parking lot. He now roosts on the streetlight just as you get on the expressway going west. We thought he might be a mole deterrent but so far, no new holes or mounds even without him hanging out.
8. Coming in May, Brenner Hall kitchen will smell wonderful with the youth and the Jeff Erdman Pasta Dinner. Watch the Newsletter for details and think pasta and scrumptious food!
9. The Monday Food Collection continues! Although some people are back at work there is still a great need. Kids are home for breaks, and they are “the incredible edible eating machines”! Please think about this when grocery shopping.
10. Thanks to Miss Connie for the wonderful Easter Packets the Sunday School kids received!
11. Remember: Grace is not the building but the people of Grace working together and stepping up to fulfill the mission God has asked of us!

Personal Health Record! 

Why in the world would I need this? It is not the same as your medical record kept by your doctor and /or the hospital but provides them with information that may help them take better care of you. It is like keeping a journal where you track the details of your health care.

Take it with you when you have a doctor’s appointment – regular doctor or new doctor.  Most people are anxious when they go to an appointment and when you are asked what seems like a million questions, we can forget medicines, medical conditions, surgeries or vaccines.

Put your information in a notebook (something colorful so you can see it easily). Having paper like notebook paper lets you change and update information.

What are the BIG 5 smart things that should go in your health record?

1. Any illnesses (ex. Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Conditions – Heart attack, High Blood Pressure), procedures (ex. heart catherization), or hospital stays (ex. pneumonia, stomach trouble – any hospital stay). Trips to the Emergency or Urgent Care should be included and why you went.
2. Treatment for conditions you have- any surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation therapy or physical therapy.
3. A list of medications you are taking, and this is ALL medications. Include the vitamins, supplements, CBD products and aspirin or Tylenol. Even if you take just once in a while. This helps the doctor know what you are taking and if there could be an interaction with any new medicines. You have to be truthful too -if there is a medicine you are supposed to take but don’t let the doctor know and why.
4. Allergies – list them and if you know what kind of reaction. If you are not sure of the reaction but were told you are allergic to – write that down. Include food allergies.
5. The dates and names of any vaccines you have had – Covid, Flu, Pneumonia.

I am adding a #6 and #7

6. Write down the names of your doctors and what you are seeing them for.
7. Your Emergency Family Contact(s) – this is helpful for the doctor and or hospital. Please list 2 people in case they can not get in touch with the first     person.

The other important part of this is to keep it updated. Change and add things as you go to the doctors or if have a hospital visit.

**If you need to go to the hospital or Emergency/Urgent Care grab your record and take it with you.

If you need help putting this together Gretchen can help – just let her know. Gretchen is required to follow HIPPA guidelines so all information will be confidential.

**** LOVE LIFE! LAUGH A LOT! LAST LONGER!

Barabbas

By Matt Musteric on Apr 03, 2021 12:32 pm

Most of us hate that Barabbas was released.

Because Barabbas is released, it means Jesus is condemned, scourged and crucified.

Barabbas, by all accounts, is the bad guy. The notorious criminal that is set free in the place of Jesus.

Is there anything good about Barabbas? (Can anything good come out of Nazareth?)

In Exodus, there is one part where God hides Moses in the cleft a rock while he passes by, because seeing God face to face would be too much for him. God comes surrounded by the weight of his own glory.

In one of Elijah’s most desperate moments, he’s hiding out in a cave on a mountain and God appears to him too. But the “preview” of God is cataclysmic: earthquakes, windstorms, fire. God comes surrounded by the weight of his own glory.

The same holds true as Jesus is unjustly condemned. God incarnate comes surrounded by the weight of his own glory. It precedes him and surrounds him.

So should we be surprised if this immense glory surrounding God the Son pardons a criminal in advance of the actual death of Jesus on the cross? Perhaps Barabbas is a “firstfruits” of sorts, a recipient of the glory of the Innocent One who comes to pardon us all. A undeserved recipient of the glory of Jesus.

But Barabbas? That dude? He’s an awful criminal.

Yep. And where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.

The Bible never says what happens to Barabbas. Maybe he continued in his sinful ways. Maybe he repented. I like to imagine him getting as far away from Jerusalem as possible, caught up in the goodness of the gospel, and telling his own story of being the first one that Jesus released.

For he is Barabbas, whose name means, “Son of the Father.”

Yes, feel free to reprint. A simple attribution at the end would be fine, something like this:

(c) 2021, Matthew D. Musteric, https://www.mattmusteric.com/barabbas/

Blood Suckers (Ugh)!!

Does anyone remember going into a Lake and getting one of these on their foot or leg -screaming and yelling that all their blood was being sucked out? Then some adult would come running to find out what you were screaming about and then try to yank it off or pour salt on it to get it to loosen its hold? These are the basis for some really ugly nightmares about seaweed and cautiously stepping into lakes where you can’t see the bottom!

SO, indirectly Blood Donation might be seen as having a close encounter with a blood sucker, but they don’t involve stepping into seaweed or water and they are SO nice, clean, friendly and you even get treats for donating!

Please think about donating on Friday April 23 from 1-6:00 PM. Blood is needed every day, and this is such a great way to give back to the community! The time commitment is maybe 2 1/2 hours but so many people can benefit.

This is not limited to members of Grace but friends, co-workers, neighbors etc.

You/they may register on the American Red Cross Donor site and look for Grace  as the location or call or email Gretchen Hiatt 419-944-5166 or                           gretchensue1205@gmail.com.

Quiz (True or False)

1. You receive a treat if you donate blood.
2. You CAN give blood if you have had COVID.
3. If you donate on April 23 you could schedule your next donation 56 days later.

Answers to lasts weeks quiz;

1. False – if you have had cancer and have finished your treatment you may donate.
2. True – if your diabetes is under good control you may donate.
3. True – a power red is giving 2 units of packed red blood cells while retuning your plasma and platelets back to you.

This is the day the Lord has made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

~Psalm 118:24