Greetings! As our men revive their yearly baseball draft tradition, I give thanks for traditions. They help make us, shape us, and define us. Even some men who are not baseball fans (how is that possible?) learn to love it, check with each other about various players, strategize, and, of course, compete. It brings camaraderie and draws upon long-standing friendships as well as more recent relationships and connects and binds disparate individuals into a cohesive unit.
Many other events have come and gone, most recently our Celebration of the Children. This year the kids entered Storybook Land. The Pancake Man (a very close cousin of the Gingerbread Man) led the kids on a merry chase through the land of books.
They met some strange folk over by Pooh Corner, helped Eeyore find his tail, had a birthday party for Pooh, and whacked a honeycomb covered with bees. They whisked away to help Spider-Man catch the villain who stole some money and was trying to fly away in his airplane. They webbed the wanna-be robber and vanquished evil. But they weren’t done yet! The Pancake Man led them to a dinosaur dig where they found dinosaur bones that magically transformed into real dinosaurs. It was so authentic that one of the characters in the dinosaur book had actually tamed a dinosaur and was riding it around! They were swept into the little house on the prairie where they sat by a crackling fire, rounded up some pigs, and found some of the escaped animals rolling around in the mud! At the Double R Ranch they helped a couple of cowpokes break an unruly horse and do some competitive barrel racing. Then they jumped into Adventure Bay where they helped the Paw Patrol gang foil Mayor Humdinger’s nefarious plan to ruin their special clubhouse! Fisherman Sam then had some whopping sea stories for the kids who had to overcome many obstacles in the ocean in order to go fishing with the magic shark. The adults were in need of a rest, so we all headed over to Olaf’s Cafe and library for some “health food.” Laughter and joy are truly healthy food for our souls and we partook gratefully. I give thanks for this beautiful 40 year tradition and the great idea to make books and stories come to life and invite us all in.
We are especially sad today because our dear Abif was once again denied both a tourist and a student visa. Many prayers had gone up and will continue for a positive resolution to our problem.
We look forward to many things ahead: members’ retreat, Rich’s memorials, Nature and Purpose of the Church weekend seminar, Celebration of Life Together, trip to Tijuana to partner with Ramon and serve there, and our grand and glorious holidays. I give thanks for our rich and full lives.
We have a number of interested folks hanging around, and we hope to see them as disciples before too long. We’d appreciate your prayers for these and indeed for our lives and future here at Church of the Servant-King. Please especially pray for Abif’s situation and all of our various Bible studies that they would produce much fruit. Like our Lord’s Prayer in John 17, that we would be one.
Grateful for your care, prayers, and many forms of support. Grace and peace to you all.
For Church of the Servant-King,
Regan
