Here we are in March 2019! We begin with the outcome of the special General Conference, which at the point of this writing has not come to fruition. We wait with the peace of the Lord in our hearts as our denomination deliberates how we will move into the future with all our brothers and sisters in Christ. I pray no matter the outcome or decision that we remain united in the love of Jesus Christ. This month we begin Lent with Ash Wednesday falling on the 6^th followed very quickly by daylight savings time on the 10^th (don’t forget to “spring” forward!). St. Patrick’s Day will fall on Sunday the 17^th and the 31^st will be UMCOR Sunday. March is also Women’s History Month so let us reflect on what the Women of the United Methodist Church have accomplished through the years. In honor of women of faith- I remind you that the first Greek (European) convert made by Paul was a woman!

From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us. -Acts 16:11-15

What a wonderful image of God’s power to change us and those around us, Paul went to Greece to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and when he shared with those who would hear, a woman named Lydia’s heart is opened and through her belief her entire household is baptized with her and she begins her walk in faith by extending hospitality to those who delivered to her the Gospel. This was the jumping off point of Paul’s mission and purpose of bringing those who were not Jewish by birth into the family God. How wonderfully God works! God works to reconcile everyone through the grace of Jesus into one family, one body, one people, whose faith is their salvation. Everyone means everyone: women, men, free, slave, rich, poor,-whatever classification the world choses to assign to each of us, we are each and every one of us loved by God. Let us celebrate Lent by remembering how much God has sacrificed for each of us, to show us grace and love, and how we are now called to show the same love to others. And when we fall short of that goal, may we remember the grace again, so we may rise with new life in our hearts through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. As we close in on Easter, remember God’s promise to you and the example of God’s love in the person of our Savior Jesus Christ. Be blessed and a blessing,

Pastor Donnie