As I write this, I am sitting in my office, reveling in the fact that I am no longer bound by either cast or foot brace.   I am now able to get myself from point A to point B without having to depend on someone else.  I am free!  However, even as I revel in this re-found freedom, I am aware that God always has something for us to learn and appreciate in the midst of life’s struggles.  There was a two-fold gift in breaking my foot – actually there was a “gift” and a “reminder.”  The gift was coming to know many of you more personally than can happen with a quick conversation after worship, or in a meeting.  And so I have come to appreciate my wonderful chauffeurs and our “car talk” – it was an experience of Fairview’s hospitality and caring at its best.  The reminder to this independent, self-sufficient, likes-to-be-in-control woman is that God is in control, God is my sufficiency, and that I am ever called to depend on God’s grace for the whole of my life.  Nothing I can boast on here.

As I reflect on our 100^th Anniversary, I am reminded of the Apostle Paul’s words: “Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand.”  When the church is at our most mature, we do not boast of our accomplishments as a church over the last 100 years. We do not boast about what we have gained for ourselves or what we have done for others. Rather, we boast of our hope of sharing the glory of God. We boast of the goodness of our Lord. We boast of our difficult times, our stress-filled times, our struggles– because in those struggles, we learn most deeply how much we need God. God has been there for us. God is here for us now. And God will be here for us in all that lies ahead.

An anniversary is something to celebrate, because we know that we did not

make this happen, we did not do this ourselves. We stand on the shoulders of others–by the power of our strong and loving God. We stand in the grace of God, because of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. We stand with joy and sing praises to God, because the Holy Spirit has filled us with faith and hope and love.  On June 22^nd we boast of what God has been able to do and will continue to do through this part of the Body of Christ called Fairview United Methodist Church. Thanks be to God!

Pastor Cheryl