"Midweek: Goodbye 2020" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 12/29/2020

 

Dear 2020,

Goodbye. 

365 days ago, we were looking forward to you.  You sounded so clear, like 20/20 vision.  You didn’t live up to expectations.  We still can’t see very far ahead. 

We live by the calendar.  Sundays for worship. Monday through Friday for school and work.  Saturday for rest and football games.  January and February were ok, pretty much what we expected, but then came March 16, and bam!  The virus was on its way, and we rushed home and looked out our doors and wondered how this quarantine business would work.

Or how long it would last. 

We reassured one another.  A few weeks.  A month or two.  Until summer.  Until September.  We lost our trust in planning.  

The school year is typically 180 days.  Not in 2020.  Classrooms emptied, and computers blinked on.  There were no end-of-the-year picnics and parties.  I am not sure we know when the school year ended.  In September, schools began again, sort of.

Days we look forward to, days we count on, prom, graduations, anniversaries, and birthdays, all seemed to fall off the calendar. Thanksgiving and Christmas changed from big community celebrations to smaller more intimate events. 

And the work week, 8-5 Monday to Friday, became anytime the internet was available. 

We all learned to juggle in 2020.  We learned to zoom.  We watched hours of Netflix.  

We waited.  For results from COVID tests. Outside HyVee for our groceries.  Outside when our loved ones went to the hospital or a doctor’s appointment. For a vaccine.  

There were moments.  Parking lot moments.  Standing at the door moments.  Sitting around lawns at a distance moments.  We all learned to be more aware of moments.

We stepped further back from one another.  We learned to air hug, which is nothing like the real thing.  

Life went on.  Babies were born.  Children grew a little.  The seasons changed, but always we were waiting for something we call "normal."  But now we wonder what normal will look like.    

So 2020, we are not sorry to see you go.  We don’t mean to be disrespectful.  Time is a treasure, but this time it tested us.  Did we pass the test? 

Goodbye, 2020.  We will remember you.  That’s for sure.  We will remember you, just not fondly. 

This year when we say "Happy New Year" we mean it.  

Blessings,

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. 

Our Sunday morning worship is posted at 9:30 on Sundays and you can welcome one another into worship. This Sunday we will be celebrating communion. Be ready!

This week at WDMUMC!

Our Everybody Eats School Partnership is packaging snacks for the school to distribute with its nutrition program for children who qualify for free and reduced lunch. 

Our Little Food Pantry is getting lots of action too.  There is a need for food in our community. 

Remembering Stan Thurston.  Stan Thurston was a member of WDMUMC for many years.  He passed away last week.  We hold his family and his wife Dotty in our prayers. 

 

"Calm, Peace, Rest, Our Prayer for Christmas" Pastor Cindy Hickman, 12/23/2020

 

Dear friends,  

Silent Night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright

 round yon virgin mother and child. 

Holy infant so tender and mild, 

sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.   The Christmas Carol “Silent Night” was written in 1918. 

My prayer for you this Christmas, 

May there be a calm-ness among us all, a setting down of any anger and simply breathing in Christmas. 

May the Holy Infant, innocent and vulnerable, remind us that God’s power, the real power in the world, arrives in mercy, gentleness, and acceptance.  In this covid-tired season, the Holy Infant still reaches out to us in gentleness.  

Tender and mild.  Throughout the earth may violence cease.  May we all care for each other, tender and mild. 

Sleep in heavenly peace.  And may the world and all its peoples rest.  May heaven invade our world.  May there be peace.

May we sing this song and live this song in our homes and our neighborhood and our communities.   

Merry Christmas to you,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman

West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Ave
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

Like us on Facebook or visit us at WDMUMC.org

And celebrate Christmas with WDMUMC on Thursday, December 24 at 8 pm on our on-line worship service. 

 

"Midweek Star-Gazing" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 12/08/2020

 

Have you noticed the Christmas lights this year?  They seem brighter!  Around our neighborhood Christmas, lights are decorating trees and porches and roof-lines.  John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”  Every little twinkle light seems determined to do its bit to shine in the darkness.   

Even creation is getting in on the action.  According to scientists, on December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will cozy up close in our night sky and appear closer to the earth than they have for 800 years.  This is called the Great Conjunction 2020.  Of course, the two planets aren’t crashing into each other, they just appear to be close from our vantage point.  To make this event more dramatic, December 21st is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year when we will have the least amount of sunlight. 

If you want to see it, you might want to download the Sky View app.  At our house, we use this app to view the night sky and it is beautiful.  December 21 would be a great time for a road trip, loading everyone in the car, heading to a park somewhere beyond the city lights, and just letting the incredible beauty of it all enfold you. 

Darkness. A bright star in the sky. Remind you of anything?  The Great Conjunction has also been called The Christmas Star. 

A prayer for darkness and light.  

Sometimes, God, we just sigh in wonder.  This big beautiful planet spinning through space, tilting just enough to change the seasons.  We peer into the night sky, and it surrounds us like a deep rich blanket.  Looking at the sky, knowing all we know about planets and comets and stars, our egos melt and we realize how small we are.  Our ancestors from centuries ago peered into the same sky and felt the same wonder.  Shepherds looked to the sky and heard choirs of angels.  Magi followed a path of starlight.  May we look to the night sky and trust in the darkness, that beyond all we can know and see and understand, you hover over us with beauty and truth.  May we marvel at the light sent to us eons ago, still finding its way to us.  May we, most holy God, simply sigh in wonder and bow in thankfulness.  Amen. 

Advent Blessings to you,

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. 

And join in worship on-line every Sunday at 9:30 on Facebook or posted all week long. 

This Week at WDMUMC!

This Sunday we celebrate the third Sunday of Advent.  Pastor Trevor will be preaching.  This Sunday we will light the candle of Joy! 

Luminaires!  Light Up Your Corner of the World!  The Everybody Eats team is selling luminaries.  The funds raised will be used for our hunger programs.  Details at wdmumc.org. 

Lessons and Carols from Simpson College Sunday at 6 pm.  Beautiful music to celebrate this Advent season.  Check out our Facebook page.