We checked in to KU hospital early in the morning where my husband Dave was scheduled for surgery. One of the pastors from our church stopped by to pray with us in the waiting room. We were apprehensive but her prayer brought a deeper awareness that we were not alone. Late that same evening I followed my husband’s hospital bed on wheels as he traveled the corridors from recovery to a private room. And I was met by a church elder holding a sack of Winstead’s burgers and tots! The church was sharing with us bread and wine.
This is only one example of the ways that our family has received the overflowing grace and love of God through this congregation. Our daughter was married in the church, our son baptized there and two of our grandchildren dedicated there. We’ve broken bread in the form of tortillas and rice and beans in Nicaragua and Guatemala. We’ve raised a glass of celebration at the annual auction. We’ve opened up our lives around the dining room table at book groups. We’ve held each other’s secrets told only on the trails through Rocky Mountain National Park at Community Camp.
One of the greatest joys of my life is not only to serve on the pastoral team at this church but to receive the enormous blessings of being a member here with my family. Our lives have been infinitely blessed by this talented, compassionate, generous, warm, brilliant, faithful community of folks. For us, the tables we’ve shared with you are so seamlessly linked to the table of God where we break bread every Sunday. As First Corinthians 10:16 says:
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it
not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The
bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
As Dave and I ponder our own financial commitment to the church, we long to express our gratitude to God and to all of you by sharing our own gifts of bread and wine.
Grace and Peace,
Carla
