Apr 28, 2022

Friends,

 

Last summer my daughter gave us a small lemon tree for Fathers’ Day. It had lovely bright green leaves and it grew well all year. I was looking forward to when it would be mature enough to produce lemons. But during the winter months, with the freeze we had, the tree died. I pruned it back and hoped it would recover the way the cannas and the roses did. But day after day, week after week – nothing! Finally, I faced the reality and bought a new plant to replace it. I brought the new plant home and set it there to be planted soon, and I started to dig up the lemon tree. But something stopped me. I just had this feeling that I should wait another week. So I did. And, to my surprise, new growth shot out from the base of the little lemon tree. Now, less than a month after I had almost dug it up and thrown it away, our little lemon tree is making a comeback. The bright green promises a bright future for our little tree, and I am so thankful I was patient.

 

Our beautiful little congregation is showing signs of new growth and bright promise for the future. There were moments during the pandemic when I thought, “Will our church survive this? When the good days return, will we still have roots enough to thrive?” Of course, when you are rooted in the Living God, even though all seems dead, hope and life still spring forth. When the Risen Christ is the head of your church, death has been conquered, and new life is real! The disciples didn’t believe it right away; it took several appearances from the Risen Christ over a period of fifty days to convince them. But they finally saw the promise of hope.

 

Patience is a virtue, they say.

 

Peace,

 

Pastor Jack