Trish Lawson's Reflections

“This is the day the Lord has made”… Let us rejoice indeed! I am lucky enough to know that this church and the family it houses are my safe space; free to speak up when I am worried or upset. So, faith family here it goes… I have been struggling with a lot for the last few months in the world. It seems like every time I put on the TV or stream online, it is always something terrible that has happened here and/or another country. “Turn it off” or “Just don’t listen” is usually the response I am met with. While that sounds like an easy enough concept, my mind isn’t wired that way. I’m nosey. No really, ask my mom sometime! She will happily tell you that my nickname my dad gave me when I was little was Gladys Kravitz! It was only years later when I learned who she was and now I can’t help but find myself laughing and smiling about that! I always had to know the latest on everything (sometimes it served me well, other times I really should have stayed in my own lane).

These days I feel it is so important to stay informed, because knowledge is power (by power, I mean the power in how you handle said knowledge) and with having two teens (Molly is literally weeks away from 13), I feel it is important that if they hear about local, national or international news it is my job to help them weed through it. The news these days just seems harder and harder to comprehend. School shootings, peaceful protests that take a horrible turn, natural disasters, and the constant political mudslinging…it is hard to find joy some days. 

We recently completed a four-week worship series entitled; The Justice Jukebox; and I will say that this series could not have come at a more crucial time. Each week was very thoughtfully constructed to relate to the very current events that are affecting us either directly or indirectly and the music that was chosen, the words to those songs now hold a deeper meaning for me. I can’t listen to and sing along to those songs in the same way I did before The Justice Jukebox and that is a gift! I am finding new ways to find joy in the hard news-filled days; working on what will be another amazing Faith Formation school year, spending time with the preschool friends, Bible study starting back up, the renewed Presbys group…these are the joys I focus on.

Before I sign off for this week, I just want to offer another sincere Thank You to Pastor Kim and Jeff for creatively thinking outside the box and continuing to evolve our worship services in an ever-evolving world.

Much love and joy,

Trish