This has been a tough week:
- Ongoing war and atrocities in Iraq and Gaza.
- Robin Williams’ suicide
- Shooting death of Mike Brown and all that followed (and continues to follow) in Ferguson, MO.
Death, racism, oppression, violence, pain and despair are not hard to find. I’m going to talk about all of that as honestly as I can in my sermon on Sunday.
But ours is a God of hope and love and grace and life. Those things may be harder to find – especially in a week like this one – but they are just as real. At the risk of self-indulgence, I offer this Post by Woodridge United Methodist Church (some of which can be seen below) as one example of the life of God at work in the world (H/T Patti Cash). The Northern Illinois Food Bank does terrific work and we’re proud to play a small part in making their work happen this week.
How about you…where have you found hope and life this week?
Woodridge UMC youth and leaders served at the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva, IL today. Together they packed 2100 pounds of potatoes and 789.6 pounds of “Meals In The Bag”. Today their “MITB” job was minestrone soup, packing each bag with 9 cans, I box pasta, 1 bag dried beans, and instructions. 4 bags goes into each box and they packed up 21 boxes. In total, this group packed up 2,408 meals for hungry people in Northern Illinois! #itsallrighthere #youth #helpie
All That I Can't Leave Unsaid 
Thank you for reminding us Dave. It has been a hard week – but God’s work is getting done – and there is much to celebrate. For example, I just came from helping to honor a man that gave 30+ years to our school district, having a positive impact on countless children over those decades. His children faithfully carry on his legacy.