Dear Rose Park,
I had lunch with a younger couple on Monday at El Rancho out on the highway. I got there a little early to get us a table (and to selfishly eat free chips and salsa before they arrived). We caught up, shared stories of little ones growing up, and then we started the conversation that prompted them inviting me for lunch in the first place.
Dear Rose Park,
“I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.”
Dear Rose Park,
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Paul wrote these words to the church in Galatia some two-thousand years ago. I’d imagine for many of us when we hear the ‘fruits of the Spirit’ we gravitate towards love, kindness, and gentleness. We might feel the tug of the Spirit towards patience, but because our lives are so busy we convince ourselves we don’t have time to wait on God or our neighbors.
Dear Rose Park,
Admittedly, I would not describe myself as “handy.” I’ve grown in my skills and knowledge when it comes to projects and plans, but it certainly doesn’t come natural. For example, during the height of the pandemic I was able to watch enough YouTube videos and read enough articles to build a table for our backyard and a bench for our entryway. I feel a bit more confident when it comes to power-tools and wood, but the projects and maintenance of the lawn still evade me.
Dear Rose Park,
On Monday morning I officiated the memorial service for Charles ‘Bud’ Freehouse. If you knew Bud, then you knew he was almost always paired with his beloved bride, Nell. Even their names were synonymous and rolled off the tongue together, ‘Bud & Nell.’ Nell passed away on on April 11, 2021 and Bud passed away on June 8, 2022. They were married for 75 years and then they were apart for 423 days.
Dear Rose Park
This Sunday, June 19, my cousin Tyler Brinks will be ordained as a Minister of Word & Sacrament during morning worship at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. He graciously asked me to write a charge that his dad, Kevin, will read at the end of the service. I am so grateful to be apart of this service, albeit from a distance. As I wrote the charge for Tyler, I started to reflect on my own ordination and the charge that was read.
Dear Rose Park,
General Synod is both an event and a body of people. The event is a once-a-year gathering that shapes the direction of the denomination. The body of people who gather for the annual event make up one of the four assemblies of the Reformed Church in America. From June 9-14, delegates from around the U.S. and Canada will come together in Pella, Iowa, for General Synod. They will worship together, fellowship, and deliberate and vote on many things related to the RCA’s ministry.
Dear Rose Park,
My son and daughter love to play; this probably comes as no surprise to you all. They are filled with energy and love to use their imagination. Whether it’s chasing the ‘bad guys’ in the backyard, hosting a tea-party surrounded by their favorite stuffed-animals, or jumping into the pool, Simon and Winnie simply love to play.
