THE NEW ZION NEWS!
ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH OF EVERETT, 4634 ALGER AVE., EVERETT, WA 98203, zionlutheranofeverett.com
“GOD’S WORK. OUR HANDS”
To put yourself or another on the prayer list, please call the office (425) 252-1429
March 19, 2013 Letter from Pastor Jeannine:
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Sharing soup supper and candle-lit worship with Faith Lutheran Church these past Lenten Wednesdays has been good! Maundy Thursday and Good Friday worship we will also share with them as well, 7pm. Be there or be square as they say… I also look forward to celebrating Easter with you here at Zion Lutheran Church of Everett. 10Am: Easter egg hunt; 10:30 worship. Every day is a good day to worship; Easter is a special worship day, so do come, and invite others!
There’s a stirring in my mind and heart these days. I want to write stories. I want to dig deep and be lowered into them like a well and draw out wisdom and musings. Soon I’ll turn 56. As I think of my own finitude, I want to line up my priorities and begin to chip away at them like a woodchuck busily chomping away on his wood. Purposeful living springs forth one’s joyful mission.
My neck had been in a neck brace for 6-7 weeks after having cervical spine fusion with a bone graft recently. I spent only one long and wakeful night at Virginia Mason Hospital, Seattle, following the surgery. That night I longed to be home with cozy pillows, a blanket, and my husband.
The brace is now off and I’m able to drive again. What freedom! It’s a door opening from a jail cell and walking out in the warm sunshine as a free woman. Dave, my sweet and steadfast husband, had been my Godsend as always. He was the good nurse while I recouped, driving me to and fro, while I did pastoral care and attended to other work-related needs.
Life is good: my marriage, being mom, and pastor, Holden Village, Glacier National Park, walking the dog, drinking morning tea, worshiping, praying, singing, meeting up with friends, watching a DVD with Dave in the evening, serving and advocating for others in need, bicycling, kayaking on Lake Roesiger, catching glimpses of my son coming home to work on his car with Dad’s tools, learning about his burgeoning manhood and life perspectives; reading good books, being present in the moment, and pondering life in the future. These are the gifts for which I’m thankful.
Life sometimes is also sad and difficult: Dad’s death when i was a teen; learning that i might be pregnant with twins then learning that one was actually a malignant tumor, seeing our baby, Leisel, wave on ultrasound -and then her death- due to the cancer treatment oh so long ago; holding dogs Spritz and Poptart as the Vet helped them die with dignity, each in their own time. These too are gifts for which I’m thankful – not for reasons of beauty like the other gifts of life – but because these sad and difficult things are part of my story, part of God forming and shaping me into the character I’ve become for the sake of God’s life-giving story.
My challenge is not to become stuck in the sadness. Some people become bitter and angry – although that is not my temptation. I look to God to raise me up in good time after I’ve been clinging to Jesus’ feet at the foot of the cross. There he hangs, bloodied and broken, and with him I cling, crying over a world of violence and injustice, a world that at times seems God-forsaken. In good time, sometimes too long of time, God-embodied-friends and nature, God-embodied wine and bread, God-embodied scriptures and water awaken me to the arisen life again.
It is then that I see the deer crossing the road and hear the crows calling to one another. It’s then that I see the eagle making her diving swoop toward the squawking ducks below the fir tree that hangs over the lake. It’s then that I’m awakened in the night by love songs croaked by bullfrogs and poems stroked by the legs of grasshoppers. It is then that my dog and I sit on the dock silently watching the otter swim on her back with hands and feet cupped toward the moonlit and star-filled sky. I am resurrected once again.
A blessed Easter to you all … its a comin,
Pastor Jeannine
Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Worship Services will be shared together at Faith Lutheran Church of Everett, March 28, and March 29, 2013 at 7pm.
Easter Lillies:Would you like to donate Easter lilies to the church and then take them home? We welcome you to be a part of beautifying the sanctuary in this way.
Easter Egg Hunt ,Sunday March 31, 10 AM front lawn! Questions? Speak to Joyce Emilson and Sandra Smith
Easter Worship, Sunday, March 31, 10:30 AM, Sanctuary!
Besides Pastor Jeannine Daggett, Zion can send 3 voting lay leaders to our synod assembly: 1 male, 1 female, and 1 young adult.If you are interested in attending, please let someone from the church council know. See the next announcement about the assembly description.
May 16-18, 2013, The NW WA ELCA Synod Assembly is made up of 102 ELCA churches in the region from DesMoines to the Canadian Boarder west of the Mountains. Zion is one of those churches. We together are the ELCA. This is the assembly when we’ll elect our new bishop who will serve for the next 6 years. There are 18 candidates and nominations are now closed. To see who the candidates are and their biographies, go to NW WA ELCA Synod Website: www.lutheransnw.org
2013 Church Council Members: Gary Stratton, President; Adam Stratton, Vice President; Mary Colwell, Treasurer; Loretta McCann, Secretary; Bernice Bell, Joyce Emilson, and Pastor Jeannine Daggett.
Zion is finally on Facebook! … it has been 3 years in the waiting so please thank Heather for her excellent work on getting us started! Please go to Facebook.com and type in Zion-Lutheran-Church-of-Everett (there is an Everett, PA so be sure to get our WA’s Everett) and “like” us.
Could it be that God is calling you to write up Zion’s monthly newsletter? Information of upcoming events in our community and the wider church needs to get out to people. Sharing the good news is a need. Please talk with Pastor Jeannine if you’re hearing God’s whisper to use your gifts in this way.
New Carpet: please no gum, food, or drink in sanctuary. Thanks!
Corner of Love Medical/Dental Mission, Nicaragua (www.corneroflove.org) Toiletries and over the counter medicines needed; please bring forward at offering time. Thank you for participating in global mission!