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EDEN PRAIRIE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH |
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Pastor’s Corner In early December I came home late in the evening from a meeting. After
I hung up my jacket and put my brief case out of the way, my wife said:
“Here, read this!” and she handed me an article someone had given her
at work earlier that day. The title of the article was: “Treat Every Day
Like a Gift”, written by Jeff Davis, based on a radio interview he heard
one Saturday morning. The article described a “theory” called “A
Thousand Marbles”. The unnamed person in the interview described
his theory like this: Let me tell you something that has helped me keep a good perspective on
my own priorities. You see, I sat down one day and did a little
arithmetic. The average person lives about 75 years. Some live more, some
live less. So I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is
the number of Saturday’s the average person has in their entire
lifetime. It took me until I was 55 years old to think about all this in any
detail, and by that time I had lived through 2800 Saturday’s. I got to
thinking that if I lived to be 75, I had only about a thousand Saturdays
left to enjoy. So, I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I
ended up visiting three toy stores to round up a thousand marbles. I took
them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container in my
workshop. Every Saturday since then, I’ve taken out one marble and
thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the
really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time
here on the earth run out to help get your priorities straight. “Now, one last thing” (the storyteller said), “this morning I
took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it
until next Saturday then I’ve been blessed with a little extra time to
be with my loved ones.” Life is a gift. Live gratefully! The coffee shop ad says: “Life is
short. Stay awake for it.” The theory of A Thousand Marbles brings to
mind the words of Psalm 90: Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the
earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to
their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us May we live each day in this New Year “with a wise and grateful heart”, receiving each day as a gift from God. Blessings to you. Pastor Michael Miller
PARENTS’ UNCONDITIONAL LOVE “Prairie Church is an inviting, inclusive Christian community,
celebrating, searching, and serving God’s unconditional love.” Unconditional love given and received. Hopes and dreams for your child.
Parenting stress as your child moves from infant to adulthood. Come meet
two sets of parents, Bill and Deb LeMay (Chaska) and Tom and Gretchen Murr
(Eagan), who are equally versed in the stresses and love involved with
raising a child. However, both couples have gone through one particular
issue that many parents haven’t: having their child tell them that he or
she was gay. In the Gathering Room on Sunday, January 23, at 10:15 AM (after the
first service,) you and any family and friends are invited to come and
listen to these couples’ stories. They are members of the nationally
recognized group PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and have
been asked to come and speak by the Reconciling Ministry team.
Refreshments will be provided. -written by Whitney Starkey Children's Ministries THANKS Thanks to everyone who donated a shoe box to Operation Christmas Child.
I dropped off 14 boxes at the warehouse—what an amazing place! Everyone
there was so upbeat and appreciative. The excitement in the air was
wonderful. I was given a list of places that the boxes from the
Minneapolis area might go—Estonia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Macedonia,
Moldova, Tajikistan, Chad, Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and the
Dominican Republic. Thanks SO much for your generosity! You can know that
you will have brightened the lives of children on Christmas. NO CLASSES There will be no Sunday School classes on December 26 or January 2.
Classes will resume on January 9. NEW UNIT Our new unit in January is on “The Prince of Peace.” This is an
interesting unit—dealing with Jesus as the prince of peace, St. Francis
of Assisi, and how we can be peacemakers, too. Lots of fun learning
activities for everyone! THANK YOU! Our annual Advent Celebration, on November 28, was thoroughly enjoyed
by 65 people. The activities of crafts, caroling, photos and pizza were
made possible by the help of great these people! THANK YOU!!! Terri Myers Joan Hanson Colleen Hurst Heather
Myers Corey Hanson Jackie Guttman Krista Anderson Kathy Jarvis Janet Palmer Jeri
Anderson Sarah Jarvis Julie McKenney Crystal Roemmich Linda Weegmann Ray Soderholm Beth
Roemmich Maryellen Seeley Michelle Roemmich Laura McPherson
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