For Such A Time as This June 6, 2020 – Karen Haldeman

To the Good Folk of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren,

This Sunday is Graduation Sunday!

Tomorrow morning, around 8am, you will receive an email with a link to this Sunday's Worship service.  This Sunday we are celebrating our 2020 graduates!  Our guest speaker is Becky Ullom Naugle, the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the Church of the Brethren.  She will be speaking to us from her home near Elgin, IL, where our denominational offices are located.  Bethany, Rachel, Bill, and some of our graduates will be leading the worship service.  The service includes some great music, a time of sharing, and prayers.  Please join us as we gather in spirit through our virtual worship service. 

Pray for the Concerns of

Jose Aponte, David Cintini, Joyce Eutzy, Jill Speicher, Jean Summers

Praying for Each Other
Everyone in our church is given a special day to receive prayers from their fellow Christians. Let us take a moment this week to hold the following persons in our prayers. 
 
Sunday: Rachel Witkovsky

Monday: Leonard Bashore

Tuesday: Kathy Bradley

Wednesday: Mary Conkle

Thursday: Paul & Evelyn Dietz

Friday: Kimberly Gottshall

Saturday: Ruth Ann Heisey

Joys and Concerns

If you have a joy or concern you would like us to share and pray about, please call, text or email it to me.  If you would like it included in our Sunday Worship sharing and prayer time, please share it with me that week by Friday morning.

Thank You

To all who call others to check in on them and share our emails and devotions.

Today’s Devotion

I am thankful to Karen Haldeman for providing today’s devotion.  If you wish to respond to Karen directly, her email address is kbhaldeman@verizon.net.  

Shalom, Dennis

Scripture - Philippians 2:4

Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Thoughts

One of my favorite stories is set at the beach.  It goes something like this:

An old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked, he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.

Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, “I’m saving these starfish, Sir.”

The old man chuckled aloud and said, “Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?”

The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water.  Turning to the man, he said, “I made a difference to that one! 

It’s been easy during the last few months for me think like the old man in the story: what difference can I—one ordinary person—make to stave off a pandemic, or to provide jobs for the unemployed, or to fill shortages in the supply chain?  Some days, I feel overwhelmed with the enormity of the challenges we’ve been facing.

But some days, the days when I am feeling more hopeful, I simply press on, helping the “starfish” that cross my path.  Like going to the grocery store for 2 older friends with underlying health issues.  Like sewing a few face masks for friends and for Londonderry Village.  Like hosting Zoom “girls night out.”  Like having virtual storytime with my nephew’s young kids.

No, I can’t return all the starfish to the ocean.  But I can make a difference to one at a time.

Prayer

God of hope, help me not to lose heart by focusing on only the huge challenges that are out of my control.  Instead, help me pay attention to the smaller things in front of me—like starfish—that I can assist one by one.