We are in that strange season in Illinois in which we can go from winter to summer to spring to winter all in a week! It is a time of anticipation. And a time of waiting. It is too early to put the snow shovel away and too early to pack away the parkas, sweaters and gloves. So, we wait…

Having announced at our recent congregational meeting that I intend to retire “sometime this summer,” I hope you will allow me some space to get nostalgic.

As I look back on my seven and a half years as your pastor, I am proud of many things we have accomplished together:

I’m very much looking forward to our Annual Congregational Meeting on February 2. I hope you will make every effort to join the meeting either in person or on Zoom. We will have the opportunity to look back on and celebrate our ministry in 2024. We will also have the opportunity to look forward to our ministry together in 2025.

January is all about transitions. The weather is going to get worse before it starts getting better again. One calendar year yields to the next along with yet another opportunity to make resolutions. Government administrations end and new administrations take up their work.

As we move into a new spring, the Easter season and the time of planting and growth, we are challenged by God to use our talents to show off his love. Show it to be abundant. Show it to be for all people. Show it to be generous beyond human conception.

Lent is a time of transition and even new growth. We look forward to the Easter celebration that is coming but we also know that we aren’t there yet. We can’t get to Easter until we have “walked with Jesus” to the cross and the tomb.

As we seem to be emerging from a Covid-dominated world to a more “normal” world, I look forward to re-establishing practices that had fallen by the wayside because of various health precautions. Larger fellowship—think Sunday Coffee Hour—and smaller group activities help us to grow together.

Yes, the seasons come and the seasons go. One year flows into another. And another. And another. Only one thing remains from season to season, from year to year, from generation to generation, and from age to age: GOD’S LOVE!