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Spirituality and Worship

 

Jeff.Krehbiel@verizon.net

December 23, 2008

Pilgrims on the Journey:

1.  Join us for a very special Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, 7 p.m. December 24, featuring special music and soloists, a dramatic reading on the Incarnation, and celebration of the Lord's Supper.

2.  December 28, the First Sunday After Christmas, our 11:00 a.m. worship will be a special service of poetry, lessons and carols.

advent graphic

3. Coming up in the New Year:  "Letting Our Light Shine: Epiphany Service Days." During the season of Epiphany, we celebrate that God is known to the world through the transformative ministry of Jesus, a ministry focused on caring for the poor, the sick, the broken and rejected. Epiphany means “shining forth,” “manifestation,” and “revelation.” As people of the Way, it is our responsibility to manifest the radical Way of Jesus through acts of service and justice-making. It is through our actions that we can show those around us that our God is one who calls us to respond to the injustice around us.

To reveal the Light of Jesus during Epiphany, we have created "Epiphany Service Days." These days are opportunities for a group of five Pilgrims to serve at various non-profits that work with the homeless and working poor of D.C. Here is our line-up:

    January 8th: N Street Village, serving dinner from 6-9pm.
    January 10th: SOME (So Others Might Eat), serving breakfast from 7-10am.
    January 24th: Community of Hope, working in their transitional apartments in SE from 9am until 1pm.
    February 14th: Capital Area Food Bank, 9am until 1pm
    February 17th: Dinner Program for Homeless Women, serving dinner from 4:30-8:30pm.

Each group of five Pilgrims will have an already designated “key leader” who will gather the Pilgrim group on-site before serving to connect and offer a brief prayer. The Pilgrim group will serve then take an hour at a coffee shop or restaurant after serving to debrief and reflect on the experience (this hour is already included in the serving times listed above).

If you are interested in serving on one of the Epiphany Service Days, please RSVP to Ashley Goff, ashley.goff@verizon.net. Our groups are intentionally small and it’s first-come, first-serve for RSVP’s! This is also a great opportunity to invite a friend who might be interested in church life to experience and connect with Pilgrims.

9. Prayer Concerns:

  • A wise member of the congregation once said to me, "The older I get, the more days of celebration are tinged with sadness." That has certainly been true in my own experience. As we celebrate Christmas this week, we are mindful of those who are grieving over the loss of loved ones, who are struggling with family conflicts, who are worried about job loss in the New Year, caring for sick family members, or having a hard time putting food on the table, let alone presents under the tree. Let us by our words and actions bear witness to the love of God who makes light to shine in the darkness. 

Peace,

Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
www.churchofthepilgrims.org

 

 

 

 

December 17, 2008

Pilgrims on the Journey:

1.  As we move toward the Fourth (and final!) Sunday of Advent, I invite you to view this Advent video Gerry Hendershot made on Animoto:
http://animoto.com/play/RpNGWVePxJs6OADJIHsTsA

Gerry has become something of an Animoto savant, posting a half-dozen videos on the Church of the Pilgrims Presbyterian Church Facebook Group (if you are on Facebook, but not a member of our group, join now!). Here is another one he created a couple of weeks ago on the Habitat for Humanity Home Dedication:
http://animoto.com/play/FOTM3bEr5KcH1FXbSZ12VA

2. For our Special Offering on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we will receive donations to support Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for Sudan. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is working with our partners and fellow members of Action by Churches Together (ACT) network. The broad-based response comprises food (including a special supplemental feeding program for malnourished children), medicines, water supplies and sanitation, seeds, tools, education, psychosocial counseling and wood-conserving stoves and reforestation initiatives in some locales, as well as advocacy efforts both in the U.S. and internationally. Make your checks out to Church of the Pilgrims, marking the memo "Darfur."

3. This week I will conclude my three-week Adult Forum, "The First Christmas," 9:30 a.m. in the Bird Room. This Sunday we will focus on the Nativity Story in the Gospel of Luke, asking what it meant in its first century context, and what it means for Christian discipleship today.

4. Join us for a very special Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, 7 p.m. December 24, featuring special music and soloists, a dramatic reading on the Incarnation, and celebration of the Lord's Supper.

5.  December 28, the First Sunday After Christmas, our 11:00 a.m. worship will be a special service of poetry, lessons and carols. Would you like to be a reader on December 28? Send me a note or see me this Sunday, and I will gladly give you an assignment!

6. The annual
National Homeless Persons’ Memorial will be this Sunday, December 21st, 7:00 – 7:45pm at Columbus Plaza in front of Union Station. The event will include remarks from DC City Officials, testimonials by homeless advocates, readings from formerly homeless poets, prayers (including a prayer by our own Ashley Goff), a performance by Christ House Acappella Group and a candlelight vigil with a reading of the names of those who have died homeless in the DC metro region this year.

7. Mary Lib would like to amend the special thanks given last week to those who helped with the Rotating Shelter by also thanking Jean Stewart, Pat Goeldner, and "the Howards" (Kurtz & Jaffe), who helped prepare breakfast for our guests (along with anyone else who helped that Mary Lib might have forgotten!).

8. Coming up in the New Year:  "
Letting Our Light Shine: Epiphany Service Days." During the season of Epiphany, we celebrate that God is known to the world through the transformative ministry of Jesus, a ministry focused on caring for the poor, the sick, the broken and rejected. Epiphany means “shining forth,” “manifestation,” and “revelation.” As people of the Way, it is our responsibility to manifest the radical Way of Jesus through acts of service and justice-making. It is through our actions that we can show those around us that our God is one who calls us to respond to the injustice around us.

To reveal the Light of Jesus during Epiphany, we have created "Epiphany Service Days." These days are opportunities for a group of five Pilgrims to serve at various non-profits that work with the homeless and working poor of D.C. Here is our line-up:


   January 8th: N Street Village, serving dinner from 6-9pm.

   January 10th: SOME (So Others Might Eat), serving breakfast from 7-10am.

   January 24th: Community of Hope, working in their transitional apartments in SE from 9am until 1pm.

   February 14th: Capital Area Food Bank, 9am until 1pm

   February 17th: Dinner Program for Homeless Women, serving dinner from 4:30-8:30pm.


Each group of five Pilgrims will have an already designated “key leader” who will gather the Pilgrim group on-site before serving to connect and offer a brief prayer. The Pilgrim group will serve then take an hour at a coffee shop or restaurant after serving to debrief and reflect on the experience (this hour is already included in the serving times listed above).


If you are interested in serving on one of the Epiphany Service Days, please RSVP to Ashley Goff, ashley.goff@verizon.net. Our groups are intentionally small and it’s first-come, first-serve for RSVP’s! This is also a great opportunity to invite a friend who might be interested in church life to experience and connect with Pilgrims.

 
9. Prayer Concerns:

  • Please continue to keep the following in your  prayers: Holly Dalton's mother,  Marie, recovering from bone marrow  transplant; Penny  Sandora, who is home from the hospital and undergoing  physical therapy; Louise Green,  Associate Pastor of Mission at All Souls Unitarian Church, recovering  from surgery; Carol Huls'  cousin and uncle, both experiencing severe health crises; and  Mattie Brown, little friend of the Goff-Glennon family, who  is struggling with cancer.
  • Jean Stewart asks that you keep  her good friend Francine in your prayers this week.  Francine has retinal surgery yesterday.
Peace,

Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
www.churchofthepilgrims.org <http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org>  

 

December 10, 2008

Pilgrims on the Journey:

1. As we move toward the Third Sunday of Advent, I share an excerpt from an Advent prayer by my friend and colleague Paul Rack, who blogs at http://raxweblog.blogspot.com

 

Gracious God,

we await the end of the world.

We have always prayed that you would “quickly come!”

What we await is not the destruction

of your beautiful planet

and not the annihilation

of your precious and beloved children,

but the fulfillment of our world’s true purpose

revealed in Jesus Christ.  

It is he,

and the shining, glorious,

eternal, invincible love which he embodies,

who is the end —

the goal, destiny, purpose, and meaning —

of our world, and of our lives.

He is the One we are waiting for...



As a church

let us live in the light of your promised coming,

serving others,

doing justice,

cherishing creation,

gathering together,

forming communities of peace and acceptance,

forgiveness and delight,

where every individual is heard and encouraged,

loved and respected.



Let us separate ourselves

from the reign of death and violence.

Let competition and envy,

greed and gluttony.

The need to be first and have more,

gain no traction among us.

But let us walk simply and gently

upon the Earth,

as Jesus did.

Leaving no wake or footprint

except love, joy, and peace...

Amen.

 

2. For our Special Offering on the Third Sunday of Advent, we will gather Shoe-Box Gifts for SOME (So Other Might Eat). SOME is an interfaith, community-based organization that exists to help the poor and homeless of our nation's capital. During the Holiday season, SOME distributes decorated shoebox gifts to homeless and poor children, women and men that eat breakfast and lunch at SOME’s Dining Room for the Homeless. This project is designed to present a festively wrapped holiday box filled with personal items for adults and children. Items could include: NEW socks, mittens/gloves, hats, scarves, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, deodorant, lotion, hairbrushes/combs, shampoo, or in the case of a child the addition of a small toy or game. Please wrap the lid and box separately, this allows SOME to ensure that each package is equitable. Fill the shoebox with appropriate items. Please label to the outside of the box MAN, WOMAN or CHILD.


Special Note: Can't quite figure out how to wrap the box and lid separately? This Sunday at 10:15 we will have a special "shoe-box wrapping party" before worship. Bring your gifts, your shoe-boxes, your wrapping paper (we'll try and have extra of both), and we'll have lots of scissors and tape!

 

Coming Up December 21: Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for Sudan

3. In addition to our Special Offerings, we have two special resources available this Sunday: An Alternative Gift Catalogue prepared by Jeff Francisco and the Outreach Team, listing charitable causes that you can give to in lieu of gifts, and a book of Advent Meditations prepared by our parish associate Margee Iddings. Both will be available in the narthex, or call the church and we will drop one in the mail.

 

4. This week I will continue my three-week Adult Forum:

"The First Christmas"

What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Birth

9:30 a.m. in the Bird Room

This Sunday I will focus on the Nativity Story in the Gospel of Matthew, asking what it meant in its first century context, and what it means for Christian discipleship today.

5. Reminder:  Tomorrow night, December 11th, DC Habitat for Humanity is having a Silent Auction from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Rookery (2519 Pennsylvania Avenue NW). The $20 cover charge includes a glass of wine, with 100% of the cover charge and proceeds going to support DC Habitat.

 

6. Friday Club will meet this week noon-1:130 p.m. at the home of Pat Goeldner 4435 Albemarle NW) for a special holiday gathering, singing Christmas Carols after lunch led by Music Director Rob Passow. All ages are welcome. Please let Pat know if you are coming: pgoeldner@iona.org or 202-362-0813.

 

7. Special thanks to those who helped with the Rotating Shelter the first week of December, especially Jim Sirbaugh, Eva Gunasekera, and the Goff-Glennon family, who helped prepare meals.

 

8. Winter Coats Needed: Mary Lib Pate, who volunteers at the Visitors' Service Center at the DC Jail, asks if any of the men in the congregation have hand-me-down winter coats-- they are in desperate need. Bring what you have to church, and Mary Lib will make sure they get where they need to go.

 

9. Prayer Concerns:
  • Please continue to keep the following in your prayers: Holly Dalton's mother, Marie, recovering from bone marrow transplant; Penny Sandora, who is home from the hospital and undergoing physical therapy; Louise Green, Associate Pastor of Mission at All Souls Unitarian Church, recovering from surgery; Carol Huls' cousin and uncle, both experiencing severe health crises; and Mattie Brown, little friend of the Goff-Glennon family, who is struggling with cancer.
  • Please hold Jeanne Phelps and James Sobel in your prayers this week, as they prepare for their wedding on Saturday.
Peace,

 

Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
www.churchofthepilgrims.org <http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org>  


 

December 3, 2008

Pilgrims on the Journey:


1.  As we move toward the Second Sunday of Advent, I share these thoughts by writer Evelyn Underhill, titled "Glad Expectancy"

    Our whole life is to be poised on a certain glad expectancy of God; taking each moment, incident, choice and opportunity as material placed in our hand by the Creator whose whole intricate and mysterious process moves toward the triumph of charity, and who has given each living spirit a tiny part in this vast work of transformation.

2. For our Special Offering on the second Sunday of Advent, we will gather items for sympathy baskets for Food and Friends. Food & Friends prepares, packages and delivers meals and groceries to more than 1,000 each day to people living with HIV/AIDS and other life-challenging illnesses such as breast cancer, lung and colon cancer. These meals are delivered throughout the Washington DC area, including 14 counties in Maryland and Virginia. Since 1988, Food & Friends has provided food and companionship to their clients, their loved ones and caregivers of those who live with a life-challenging illness. Food & Friends is in need of items to put in sympathy baskets that are sent to families after the death of a loved one. The "wish list" of items includes: nice teas and instant coffee, hot chocolate, fine candies, candles, crackers, soups, etc.

Future Weeks:
December 14: Shoe-Box Gifts for SOME (So Other Might Eat)
Special Note: On December 14 we will have a special "shoe-box wrapping party" before worship at 10:15. Bring your gifts, your shoe-boxes (please bring any extra boxes you have!), and we will provide the wrapping paper, scissors and tape!
December 21: Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for Sudan
3. In addition to our Special Offerings, we will have two resources that we shared last Sunday: An Alternative Gift Catalogue prepared by Jeff Francisco and the Outreach Team, listing charitable causes that you can give to in lieu of gifts, and a book of Advent Meditations prepared by our parish associate Margee Iddings. Both will be available this Sunday, and future Sundays.

4. This week I will begin a new three-week Adult Forum:
"The First Christmas"
What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Birth
Led by Jeff Krehbiel, 9:30 a.m. in the Bird Room

Drawing on the recent book of the same name by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, together we will explore the meaning of the nativity stories in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, reading them as "parabolic overtures" to the first and third gospels, telegraphing in their stories of Jesus’ birth the dynamics that are at the center of their gospels. Moving beyond a sentimental reading of these powerful stories, we will ask what they meant in their first century context, and what they mean for Christian discipleship today.
5. Reminder:  Habitat Dedication:  The homes we helped build in NE DC through National Capital Presbytery's Habitat build days are being dedicated on Saturday, December 6, at 1 p.m. and we are invited! Come celebrate with the homeowners as they take possession of their new homes. (Mary Lib and I plan to attend, and would be glad to offer a ride from the church-- let me know.)

In addition, DC Habitat is having a Silent Auction from 6 to 9 p.m. on December 11th at The Rookery (2519 Pennsylvania Avenue NW). The $20 cover charge includes a glass of wine, with 100% of the cover charge and proceeds going to support DC Habitat.

6. Pilgrims Under 40 (But Who's Counting) Christmas Party will be this Sunday, December 7, 5 p.m. at the Manse (4324 Van Ness Street NW). If you "self-designate" in this age group, and have not received an "evite," please let me know and I will send you all the details! Come and join us, and bring a friend!

7. Are you over 70 1/2 and have an IRA? Jeanne Mayer informs us that Congress has extended the Pension Protection Act of 2006 to the 2008 and 2009 tax years.  This allows anyone 70-1/2 years or older who has a traditional IRA to authorize direct payment of the required MRD on that IRA to a charitable entity -- e.g., Church of the Pilgrims -- and thereby avoid taxes on the distribution. Contact your accountant or call Jeanne for more information: 202-226-9277. 
8. Prayer Concerns:

  • Please continue to keep Holly Dalton's mother, Marie, recovering from bone marrow transplant, in your prayers, along with Penny Sandora, who is home from the hospital and undergoing physical therapy.
  • Louise Green, Associate Pastor of Mission at All Souls Unitarian Church, and a good friend of Pilgrims (she preached twice last year during my sabbatical) had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is scheduled for surgery tomorrow and radiation therapy in the new year. Please keep Louise and her partner, Regina, in your prayers.
  • Carol Huls asks for prayer for her cousin and uncle, both experiencing severe health crises.
Peace,

Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
www.churchofthepilgrims.org <http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org>  

 

November 18, 2008

Pilgrims on the Journey:

 

1. There was tremendous energy last week for Stewardship Sunday. If you were not with us, my sermon should soon be posted on our website: http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org/sermons.html

Thanks to all of you who turned in your Stewardship Commitment Card. If you were not with us in worship, please bring your commitment card this Sunday, or drop it in the mail to the church. We need everyone's participation for our Stewardship campaign to be successful, and to enable church leaders to plan for next year. If you did not receive a commitment card, let me know, and we will be happy to provide you one.

2. We continue this week exploring our Homecoming theme, "Living in God's Way," by asking different members and friends to share a story about a spiritual practice in their own life.
    Today, Shera Jenne reflects on the "Spiritual Practice of Gardening"

   In today’s hectic world, for me, feeling connected to God has always been about getting away from traffic, bills, housework, and busyness to a place where the pace slows and I try to remember What Life’s All About. For me, that “place” has always been outside-- ever since I was a little girl. I’ve prayed better in the woods than anywhere else. So living in God’s way has always included these times alone in the world God made.
     So it was not a big surprise that when Bill and I bought our first house I took to gardening immediately. The first year was the most exciting. After a long day of getting dirty I felt wholesome and alive. Every weekend was a vacation from my very stressful job. Digging in the dirt brought me back to “the basics”-- what could be more pure, what could be closer to God’s plan for us than toiling in the dirt?
     The next year changed my tune. If anything, the next year I came to a clear understanding as to why God’s punishment for Adam and Eve was to condemn them to eking out a living working the soil!  My first passionate gardening project was an attempt to grow tomatoes. I just stuck some seeds in the soil and waited for the magic to happen! They would be organic! The magic, as it turned out, was a tomato blight that withered every leaf of my garden no matter how much I watered. (And apparently watering can make it worse.) It was very disappointing to buy tomatoes at the farmers market that summer, but I was willing to try again.
    The next year I found all sorts of remedies for tomato blight-- both organic and not. I did them all. And while my neighbor’s plants withered, mine thrived. I wasn’t the only one who noticed. So did the squirrels. Nearly every other day the clever squirrels harvested a tomato and deposited it-- HALF eaten-- on my picnic table for my inspection. I quickly covered the tomatoes in netting. They quickly figured out how to get in. I sprayed a pepper concoction on them. They said salsa is good. I left my cat out in the yard… and he watched with detached amusement as they ravaged my garden. I began to fantasize vividly about bb-guns and slingshots- or keeping a bobcat as a pet.
     After a several weeks of this I understood many of the reasons why wildlife was obliterated as settlers marched across America. They were competing for food. This animal instinct rose in me, too. I wanted all the squirrels… dead.  What happened to the pure and wholesome feelings I’d had in those early days? What happened to being outside making me feel closer to God? What about squirrels being part of God’s creation? This gardening thing had clearly thrown me a curve ball. It was making me frustrated and angry. I have considered finding a new hobby.
    But now that frost has settled on my blighted beds, it’s easy to see the simple metaphor at work here. I always expect things to come easy-- my faith and my tomatoes. And it doesn’t always work that way. It’s cliché, I know, but sometimes the weeds really do choke out the good news in our lives, or-- the squirrels eat it. If I want to continue gardening as a means to live in God’s way I’ll have to take the bad with the good. It will sometimes be a struggle-- and I’ll have to realize that even connecting with God is not always that easy.  But every now and then, if you’re disciplined, you get a sweet red tomato out of the deal.
You can read other "Stories of Living in God's Way" at our website: http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org/homecomingstories.html
3. This Sunday we conclude our Adult Education class led by Jerry McPike, at 9:30 a.m. in the Bird Room:


Forgive us our  Debts—America on the  Precipice.

This week's  focus:  Limits to Power

4. Urgent  Appeal!   The 21st Annual Fannie Mae Help the Homeless Walkathon is  Saturday, November 22.  Please join the Community Council for the  Homeless at Friendship Place in walking to raise awareness and funds  to help us serve our less fortunate neighbors. You can register online here <http://www.helpthehomelessdc.org/goto/cchfp>  to walk for Friendship Place. CCHFP walkers  will meet on the Mall at  12th and Independence SW, by the Smithsonian metro station,  beginning at 7am with coffee, orange juice, donuts, and bagels.  The 5k  walk around the National Mall and Tidal Basin will start at  9am.  They will have signs and posters, but feel free to bring  your own. Registration costs $15 for youths  (25 and younger), $25 for adults, and $30 adult day-of registration.  All  participants receive a Help the Homeless t-shirt.  Your registration fee  and additional donations will go to Friendship Place, helping us to serve our  less fortunate neighbors. And, if we get a large crowd out to the  Mall, we’re eligible for a $25,000 walker incentive bonus!  The Help  the Homeless Walkathon provides about 10% of Friendship Place’s funding.  And if you can’t walk, you can still donate here <https://secure3.convio.net/hth/site/Donation2?idb=478352097&amp;df_id=1040&amp;FR_ID=1000&amp;PROXY_ID=1218&amp;PROXY_TYPE=22&amp;1040.donation=form1> .   
5. Pilgrims will host the Rotating Winter Shelter the week of November 30-December 5, when a homeless family will spend the week in our Pilgrimage. Jack Womeldorf and Mary Lib Pate are coordinating helpers to provide meals and help transport guests belongings. If you would like to help, contact Jack at jwomeldo@verizon.net or call Mary Lib Pate at 202-966-0194.
 
6. Alternative Gifts Ideas: This year the Outreach Team is putting together an "Alternative Gift" catalogue for Christmas, which will include giving opportunities for church members and friends who prefer not to buy their loved ones one more item from the L. L. Bean catalogue. Criteria for inclusion are: 1) Projects where Church of the Pilgrims is directly involved, or 2) Where a member of the congregation is actively involved as a volunteer, board members, active supportive, etc.  If you have a project that you would like to have included in the catalogue, send a note to Jeff Francisco including a description of the program, your personal involvement, and instructions on how to give.
jefranci@yahoo.com <mailto:jefranci@yahoo.com>
 
7. ADA Construction Update: At long last, the accessibility improvements to our first floor are about to begin! Starting next Monday, construction crews will arrive to begin demolition and asbestos abatement. The janitor's closet and the first floor men's and women's bathrooms will be out of commission for 3-4 weeks (meaning you will have to go down one flight of stairs to the Fellowship Hall mezzanine level, or up to the second floor). All construction is scheduled to be completed by Christmas, leaving us with new electronic doors off the playground, and new bathrooms on the first floor!

8. Middle East Dialogue:  Presbyterian Women of National Capital Presbytery are sponsoring "Jerusalem Women Speak:  Three Women, Three Faiths, One Shared Vision," this Sunday, November 23 from 2:00-4:00 at Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church. The three women, one Jewish, one Christian, one Muslim, who share about their joint efforts to reduce violence in Israel/Palestine.
 
9. Congratulations to Erin Sharpe and David Bailey on the birth of their daughter, Iona Kathleen, born 8:20 p.m. Sunday night, 8 pounds 11 ounces, 21 inches. Erin is the former pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, now pursuing graduate studies on pastoral counseling. She and her husband, David, have been worshipping with us for the past several weeks as they settle on a new church home (we hope they settle here! How could we not welcome a child named Iona!).

10. Finally, Karen Kinney shares that she has been approved as an "Inquirer for Ministry" by the Committee on Preparation for Ministry of the Presbytery, and sends along this note to the congregation (note: Several Pilgrims contributed gas gift cards to help ease the cost of her commute to Richmond):

Dear  Friends,

    I wanted to tell you again how much it  means to me to be under the care of Church of the Pilgrims while I pursue my  Masters of Divinity.  I had so hoped to get to church more frequently,  but am finding that many hours in the car over the course of the week puts a  dent in getting back in the car on the weekends!  That and two very busy  teenagers!  School is wonderful and I am finding through my  classes and the pastoral care I am giving that I am on the right journey  and thank God for that realization.

   Thank you so much  for the amazing gift of nearly $400 in gas money.  I was speechless  (really!) and am filled with gratitude for this wonderful community of faith  of which I am privileged to be part.  The gas money is so appreciated.  Even with dropping prices, I am still filling up three to four times a week so  this gift is both timely and incredibly helpful.  Michael still has not  been able to find a job and we have found out that none of his coworkers have  either, but I rest assured in the arms of God that all will be provided and  Pilgrims' gift is certainly a gift of God.
    I must say  though that being in a car for hours on end is not all bad.  The fall  colors have been glorious in my journey through horse farm country, rolling  hills and even 95 South below Fredericksburg!  They are a reminder each  day of how much our Creator cares for us to give us such a lovely world to  live in.  I have often wondered how one can deny the existence of God  when witnessing the blazing reds, oranges and yellows set against a clear blue  sky.  It is a sight too beautiful to behold.
    So  thank you again for supporting and praying for me.  I am ever  grateful.

Blessings,

Karen
Peace,

Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor
Church of the Pilgrims
Washington, DC
www.churchofthepilgrims.org <http://www.churchofthepilgrims.org>  

 

 


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