Raise a song and sound the timbrel,
the merry harp, and the lyre.
~Psalm 81:2
Pastor’s Thoughts:
What uses your energy? On a daily basis, many things and many people require the energy we have to engage with our world and those in it. In both pleasant and tough situations, we use our energy in interactions with family and friends. We use energy at work, at school, in our leisure time, and in our day-to-day tasks. All of these things take energy… not just physical energy but also emotional energy.
Each interaction we have involves giving a part of ourselves. Often this involves emotions, both ours and those of the people with whom we engage. In our world, it seems to have become more difficult to process our emotions in helpful and healthy ways. It is easy to dash off a text or a social media post when we are upset or angry, but this does not give us a good way to process what we feel. Our face-to-face and virtual interactions can become a lot. When what is being used is greater than what we have in our capacity or when we don’t have good ways to process what we feel, we will feel emotional fatigue.
Emotional rest is a cornerstone of our well-being. It is about finding safe and healthy spaces and people to help us process our emotions. This can provide us with valuable insights and a realistic perspective. However, the first and most crucial step is to be emotionally aware. If we feel “good” at breakfast but “down” by lunch, what has happened? How does it make us feel? This self-awareness is the key to understanding and managing our emotional well-being.
We also tend to compare ourselves and our lives to the lives of others. This can limit our sense of self and our authenticity and leave us feeling “less than.” It can lead us to try and be something or someone we are not … and that can leave us feeling emotionally drained. Are there certain areas of our lives where we feel this need to be compared? How might we see ourselves as beautiful creations of God who don’t need to be anyone but ourselves?
It can be challenging to risk sharing our emotions with others. But when we don’t, we store things inside that might leave us feeling depleted. God created us to live in community and connection with each other so we might be loved, supported, comforted, and accepted. Find the people you can risk being vulnerable with and share your true self with them. The more we do this, the easier it is to be vulnerable and authentic.
In Christ,
Pastor Brenda
Please join us – Sunday Fellowship Time
In Fellowship Hall
June 2 – Nancy Lockard and Gretchen Hiatt
June 9 – Beth, David and Barb Charvat
June 16 – Donuts for Dad
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
2024
JULY 8TH – 12TH
5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
3 YRS – ADULT
Each fun night will begin with a light supper together.
The ADULTS will attend a fun Bible Study with Pastor Brenda.
The KIDS will dive into exploring BREAKER ROCK BEACH – and learn about God’s rock-solid truth in a world of shifting sands.
Everyone will meet up again later in the evening for crafts,
games, music, and worship!
Our final night of VBS will be an outdoor ‘bonfire” where we will roast hotdogs, have s’mores, play games, and “sing around the campfire”!
Make sure you mark your calendars!
Keep watching for more updates and ways to register!
All are welcome to join in the fun!
Meditation
by Vicar Dave
One of the things we are told repeatedly in my trainings for work is to be situationally aware. That’s a fancy way of saying that we should pay attention to our surroundings. You never know where the next threat may come from or what it might be. That’s really good advice in general, not so much because of threats, but just to know what’s going on around you.
People now adays spend so much time with their heads bowed over, looking at their cell phone or some other device. I see people doing this when walking around or driving. That sounds dangerous. I’ve seen it at family functions, out in parks, or even in church. You’ve probably heard about the dangers of distracted driving, but what about the dangers of distracted living?
We can spend so much time, preoccupied with things that are rather trivial and end up missing the important things in life. Good things, like watching a child at play, or meeting a new friend. I remember going for a walk in one of our great metro-parks and seeing a deer about three feet off the path. Close enough that I could have reached out and touched it. The person ahead of me didn’t even see the deer because he was looking down at his phone.
What’s so important on our devices that we allow them to occupy all of our attention? Is it a news article about the latest Hollywood scandal? Or is it the latest music video from our favorite artist? Perhaps we’re checking our email for a message from our work or school. With so much information available at our fingertips, it’s hard to not take advantage of it. But can’t it wait?
If we don’t pay attention to the world around, we can miss a lot, including some of the blessings that God has for us in this life. If we’re too busy starring at our phones, we might even miss Jesus when He come back to us.
Contributed by Bob
The Readings for Sunday June 2, 2024
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
Psalm 81:1-10
2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Mark 2:23—3:6
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
~Psalm 118:24
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