Dearly Beloved,
What a gift it was to spend much of last week with our middle school youth! Colton and Lucas each have a tremendous heart for service and learning and each brings their own unique leadership gifts to whatever group we have. We learned about and cared for rescued horses at Mountain Shadow Equine Revival -- we even got to meet their newest arrival, a colt born on site to a rescued mare a month ago. We were warmly welcomed by staff, volunteers and patrons at the Laramie Soup Kitchen where we cleaned fridges and prepared and served food. We spent time organizing food donations at Laramie Interfaith's food pantry.
And perhaps most importantly, we spent time reflecting on where we experienced God's presence, on what it means to share God's love and the work that we each need to do to care for ourselves and opening ourselves to receiving that love as well.
I found myself inspired by each evening's worship planned and led by our youth -- invited to reflect deeply on my own life, on the ways that I wanted to show up in that space with them but also in general, thinking about things that I want to let go of in my life, gifts I received on the trip that I want to remember and hopes I have for now that I'm home.
Honestly, every time I'm with our children and youth, I'm reminded of their wisdom and the depth of their spirituality. I give thanks for their gifts to us, to me, to our world. AND I am inspired to work to be more like them: curious, silly, brave, generous, and authentic. And I am inspired to take time to look for God in the world around me -- to see God in the people, and world around me! The rare sweetgrass that is blooming in great abundance on our hillsides. The mama turkey and her chicks that Ezra and I spotted on the side of the road and watched fly (did you know they could do that???) into nearby branches. An unexpected conversation or kindness or grace.
If you didn't get to see it, I've put a link in to the video of our youth mission trips in 2022 for your enjoyment! The middle schoolers talk about what they did last year in Laramie in the second half of the clip.
Where and how is God showing up in your life? How is God's love growing within and around you?
I hope you will join us for worship this Sunday at 10:00 am at Namaqua Park (730 N Namaqua Ave) followed by a picnic potluck. Please bring your own seats and food to share. We are collaborating with First Christian Church for this worship service. We will attempt to stream the service on Facebook Live but we will NOT have Zoom worship.
I'm looking forward to seeing you!
Peace and love,
Thandiwe
