God’s peace be with you St. John Family!

A quick shout out to Bud Schwartzlow on his 100th birthday. Oh the stories he can tell about St. Johns over the years ! Ask him sometime. I’m sure he’d be glad to share. I’d like to update the things going on here this fall again. Hopefully by the time you read this the Communion Rail remodel will be done and hopefully everyone will welcome the change. We are also redoing the Library to better facilitate the Adult Forum and other classes that room could be used for. With David Moore leading the studies I’m sure there will be many ideas and invigorating discussions to happen. Please give the Forum some consideration. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. There is much to learn and enjoy in our fellowship. Sunday school and other opportunities will be starting again after our summer vacations. The Narthex remodel will continue also but we’ve got a ways to go yet. Some changes have begun but with the Communion Rail and Library redoes I ask that you be patient. The Narthex will change more gradual so we don’t completely shock everyone with too much change all at once. Don’t forget all the other opportunities available to learn and to grow your faith. You may want to consider joining one of our two awesome choirs. We will be getting a new choir director as Sandy Skildum has retired. Good luck to Sandy in her future endeavors. You might consider becoming an usher or help out with communion. We would welcome helpers with the video cameras or the projector each week. We could also use new greeters and readers or acolytes or Sunday school teachers. There are many ways to share yourself and your gifts. We all have gifts to share! Small steps. Big steps. Share your love for God with our St. John’s Family. Get outside your box. You’ll be glad you did.

As many of you may know, I recently lost my mother after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. What a cruel and terrible disease it can be, but mom fought bravely and always with her faith and trust in God and in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and the promise of eternal life. Halleluiah! I remember younger days when mom would yell and scream and holler at us seven kids. Dorothy’s kids! Trying to make us behave and do our chores. What a challenge she had back then. I know I certainly tested her parenting skills! Still, every night before bed, she would sit at our dining room table and read her devotionals and from her bible. I sometimes thought, “What a hypocrite.” Yell and scream. Spank us with that metal flyswatter when needed. Of course I earned my share of discipline and yet she would later share why I was punished and then hug me and squeeze me letting me know she always loved me and that God still loved me too. In later years I now find myself reading from our devotionals and even our bible and ask myself, “Who was being the hypocrite?” She was a great mentor and mom ! A dearly loved child of God. From the first time you met Dorothy you loved her and will never forget her. She was so special. She had a sparkle in her eyes and an awesome smile. She just lit up the room where ever she was. Whenever you talk to her brothers and family, her nieces and nephews, her grand kids, and any of her many kids she babysat over the years, you will see that same sparkle in their eyes and a huge smile on their faces. She was loved by all and we will miss her dearly. I cry for her in my grief but mostly I cry tears of joy for her as she is now at peace and with her Father in heaven. No more pain. No more suffering. Only the beauty she must be beholding! She shared herself and her love for God with everyone. She made this world a better place! Love always mom! Thanks be to God!

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Ron Johnson