Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I want to just make this brief. I apologize that I am finally sending you an email now, instead of my usual Monday morning message. Over the last 2 weeks, my grief for my husband has turned my into a basket case. I'm having difficulty functioning. For a while, I seemed all right, but that was because I expected to know the cause of his death by then. I believed that would provide me with some sense of closure. Since I learned that it might be another month before I learn something, the "floodgates" finally broke.
I also am sorry if I may have seemed distant or even rude lately. We pastors aren't much different from anyone else in this way. There are many, many things in my heart of which I am unable to share with most people. Additionally, everything I am supposed to do each day is extremely difficult. I cannot just "snap out of it" and do my job, but I'm trying. For instance, last week, I spent 9.5 hours in visitation and pastoral care, so I am doing something useful, hopefully!
I hope that you are willing to work with me as I go through this. The way we approach grief at the start can affect how well we travel through it. It is not the first loss of a significant other for me, but by far much more difficult than the last time around. Grief is a messy process. Even though we try to explain it as having "stages," those stages never really happen in any particular order. Sometimes you might be feeling more than one at the same time! For me lately it has been anger, bargaining and trying to accept it. And if two people are grieving, sometimes they are each going through different stages at the same time. That can be confusing. Maybe after I finally come out of this a little bit more, I could do a presentation on this topic, since everyone eventually is forced to look into that abyss. It can help, when it happens to us, to be able to understand it a bit, so that we can face the pain a little more courageously.
I am attaching the sermon from this past Sunday, Pentecost, and the Time out for Teaching document, 7 Marks of a Vital Congregation, Part 2. I am planning for a Session Meeting after church this Sunday, which I hope goes okay this time. For a full copy of the 7 Marks of a Vital Congregation pamphlet, you can click here to download it. It is 41 pages in PDF.
Please pray for:
Our Church
Betty (Alzheimer’s) and Dolores (paralyzed) – Glenda’s sisters
Bill Humphrey - loss of his wife
Center Street UMC congregation, their pastor and his wife (John and Julie Barrett)
Dorothy Randals – at Autumn Blessings, for strength and comfort
Elmer Schuster – multiple dental procedures
Fay Birch – stage 4 cancer, prayers for her husband, Larry too
First Responders
Julie Sursa – pain with walking
Lissa – Glenda’s granddaughter (3 months pregnant, health concerns)
Lucy Jasper – Alzheimers/Dementia
Lynn Hawkins – looking for a new home in town, back pain
Rain - thanksgiving and please send more :)
Ruth Johnson – for general health, preparing to move to Wisconsin next month
Sharon and Wayne Huffman – general health concerns
Shay – Julie Sursa’s daughter
Susie Martinez – may need eye surgery, foot pain, planning for EMS school
Teresa Gallegos-Brake - healing from leg surgery
Travelers
All those suffering from COVID19, for the recent spike in local cases
Friends, I have given you a lot of things to think about. I hope that I haven't depressed you too much by my own problems. I just hope that someone could learn from my losses. Thank you to those who have called and sent me sympathy cards. I'm still trying to get it together to send thank you notes!
Much love and many hugs,
Rev. Amy
I want to just make this brief. I apologize that I am finally sending you an email now, instead of my usual Monday morning message. Over the last 2 weeks, my grief for my husband has turned my into a basket case. I'm having difficulty functioning. For a while, I seemed all right, but that was because I expected to know the cause of his death by then. I believed that would provide me with some sense of closure. Since I learned that it might be another month before I learn something, the "floodgates" finally broke.
I also am sorry if I may have seemed distant or even rude lately. We pastors aren't much different from anyone else in this way. There are many, many things in my heart of which I am unable to share with most people. Additionally, everything I am supposed to do each day is extremely difficult. I cannot just "snap out of it" and do my job, but I'm trying. For instance, last week, I spent 9.5 hours in visitation and pastoral care, so I am doing something useful, hopefully!
I hope that you are willing to work with me as I go through this. The way we approach grief at the start can affect how well we travel through it. It is not the first loss of a significant other for me, but by far much more difficult than the last time around. Grief is a messy process. Even though we try to explain it as having "stages," those stages never really happen in any particular order. Sometimes you might be feeling more than one at the same time! For me lately it has been anger, bargaining and trying to accept it. And if two people are grieving, sometimes they are each going through different stages at the same time. That can be confusing. Maybe after I finally come out of this a little bit more, I could do a presentation on this topic, since everyone eventually is forced to look into that abyss. It can help, when it happens to us, to be able to understand it a bit, so that we can face the pain a little more courageously.
I am attaching the sermon from this past Sunday, Pentecost, and the Time out for Teaching document, 7 Marks of a Vital Congregation, Part 2. I am planning for a Session Meeting after church this Sunday, which I hope goes okay this time. For a full copy of the 7 Marks of a Vital Congregation pamphlet, you can click here to download it. It is 41 pages in PDF.
Please pray for:
Our Church
Betty (Alzheimer’s) and Dolores (paralyzed) – Glenda’s sisters
Bill Humphrey - loss of his wife
Center Street UMC congregation, their pastor and his wife (John and Julie Barrett)
Dorothy Randals – at Autumn Blessings, for strength and comfort
Elmer Schuster – multiple dental procedures
Fay Birch – stage 4 cancer, prayers for her husband, Larry too
First Responders
Julie Sursa – pain with walking
Lissa – Glenda’s granddaughter (3 months pregnant, health concerns)
Lucy Jasper – Alzheimers/Dementia
Lynn Hawkins – looking for a new home in town, back pain
Rain - thanksgiving and please send more :)
Ruth Johnson – for general health, preparing to move to Wisconsin next month
Sharon and Wayne Huffman – general health concerns
Shay – Julie Sursa’s daughter
Susie Martinez – may need eye surgery, foot pain, planning for EMS school
Teresa Gallegos-Brake - healing from leg surgery
Travelers
All those suffering from COVID19, for the recent spike in local cases
Friends, I have given you a lot of things to think about. I hope that I haven't depressed you too much by my own problems. I just hope that someone could learn from my losses. Thank you to those who have called and sent me sympathy cards. I'm still trying to get it together to send thank you notes!
Much love and many hugs,
Rev. Amy
| may_16_2021_day_of_pentecost_sermon.docx |
| 7_marks_of_a_vital_congregation_prayer_card_and_part_2.pdf |
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