Good morning friends,
As I write this, I am sitting at my desk in the corner of our family room. Dave is upstairs getting ready for work and our dog, Ike, is lying on the floor beside me. Above my desk is a picture of my granddaughter, and nearby is a picture of my mom. On my desk among the papers and files, there is a wooden bird a friend gave me. One wall of the family room is covered with books. We love books and there they sit like old friends who never left.
In a few minutes, Dave will come downstairs and we will eat breakfast together in the kitchen. The kitchen is painted a teal color that I love. The refrigerator is covered with magnets from our travels. There is a small chalkboard on the wall where we announce family events, birthdays and anniversaries, countdowns to graduations. Today it simply reads “RELAX.”
This is my home. We moved here 25 years ago. We arrived the day before the moving van. Dave and I and our two little girls spent our first night here “camping” in the empty family room sleeping on the floor in sleeping bags.
That began the adventure of living in this house. Since then we have painted and remodeled and mowed and raked and pulled weeds (and sometimes failed to pull weeds.) Our children have grown. Our daughters have homes of their own, but they come to visit and they move through this house with familiarity. They may have their own homes, but they still carry this house in their hearts.
Family dinners, graduation parties, Christmas celebrations, Beggars Night when Spiderman and princesses showed up on the doorstep. After two weddings, we came back home, back here exhausted but too excited to sleep. This is where we have recovered from the flu. This is where we have lived in grief at the loss of a loved one. Dave and I have aged and the house has stood through it all. A shelter through storms. A sanctuary at the end of the day. Our lives have taken root here. This house is the roof over our heads and the foundation beneath our feet.
Outside I can hear thunder. Rain is on its way. We will be fine. We live in this house.
On Saturday at West Des Moines United Methodist Church we want to provide this same sense of home to another family. Working with Habitat for Humanity, we will be framing a house in the parking lot. Note the word “we.” The work will be provided by our willing hands. You are invited to volunteer. Colleen K. is coordinating this. The Habitat staff has assured her that there is work for every skill level. Colleen is also planning a lunch and willing hands are needed for lunch too. I encourage you to invite family and friends and neighbors to help with this. You may know someone who is a bit leery about the church. “Do churches ever actually DO anything?” On Saturday we will DO something big. We will build a home for someone else.
You can sign up to volunteer simply by going to https://gdmhabitat.secure.force.com/ volunteer/VolunteersJobListingFSC?jobId=a0G61000006R3IN&nMonthsToShow=6. This will take you to the Habitat for Humanity sign up.
And then on Sunday during worship, we will ask God to bless the house and the family who will live there. Millions of people are homeless without the kind of security my home has provided for me. On Saturday together our willing hands can change that for one family.
Thank you, God, for the opportunity to make a difference.
See you Saturday and Sunday.
Every blessing,
Pastor Cindy
Pastor Cindy Hickman
West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Avenue
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
515-279-0826
Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org.
We worship at 8:30 and 11 on Sunday mornings and we would love to worship with you!
This week at West Des Moines United Methodist Church
The 48th Annual Hunger Hike will be held in Des Moines on October 8 at 1:30. Like to walk? Want to be part of addressing hunger here in the Des Moines area? Contact the church for details.
Sunday, October 8 at 4pm come and enjoy our Fine Arts Concert. The Grand View University Choir and the area organists will perform.
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