Welcome! Mother’s Day is May 13. I hope your mother is still living. If not, I hope you had a good relationship with her and can reflect on happy memories.
If you’re interested in giving a unique Mother’s Day present, consider donating a gift in your mother’s name. Fallowfield supports many missionaries, including former Kennard United Methodist Church members Jerry and Christy Shannon. They work in a slum area in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Their charity, Embracing Hope Ethiopia, focuses on preserving families through Gospel-centered holistic intervention. You can donate online. EmbracingHopeEthiopia.com/MothersDay2018 is the website address.
I am blessed to still have my Mom with me. She is a gift from God. I couldn’t ask for a sweeter, more loving Mama. She’s a wonderful mother and grandmother and would do absolutely anything she could to help anyone. I know you hear this a lot, but it’s accurate for my mother. Here are some examples.
I remember her sewing a blue gingham dress for me when I played Dorothy in a third grade Christmas play. I think it was called “Christmas in Oz.” She stayed up late one Sunday night sewing my dress. It’s in my daughter’s closet now. I won’t part with it.
She drove all the way to a Greyhound bus station in downtown Pittsburgh to pick me up after visiting a friend over spring break. Never mind she had school the next day. She was just happy to see me, safe and sound.
She’s watched my kids hundreds of times when I had appointments or meetings. She taught my daughter how to make brownies as a three-year-old and taught my son to make pancakes from scratch last Saturday.
A couple years ago when she heard there was a local, needy family who couldn’t afford Christmas presents she dropped everything and shopped for them.
When she chairs a pie bake at Fallowfield, she arrives at 4 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. during Fair week to get the ovens preheated. She directs Vacation Bible School and teaches Sunday school. She babysits my four-year-old niece and nephew twice a week.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I had a wicked stomach flu last week and she bought me ice, 7-UP, and ginger ale. She made me chicken noodle soup the next day and brought me homemade applesauce. Yum….
I think the main feature of a good mother is a devotion to putting yourself second to your children. When they get sick, you clean it up. When they need their basketball uniform washed and ready for tomorrow’s game, you wash it. If they need new shoes you make sure they get them.
If they’re heartbroken, you comfort them. If they’re happy and excited, you rejoice with them. But you always put their needs above your own, often after they’re adults, too.
Please remember your mother this week and certainly on Mother’s Day, May 13. Get her a heartfelt card and write something personal inside. Cook her favorite dinner or take her out. Spend time talking to her and listening to her. Make memories you’ll cherish later.
Now that spring has finally arrived, there are lots of things to do in the Atlantic community.
Atlantic Flower Club’s annual plant auction is Monday, May 7, at 6 p.m. at the Atlantic Odd Fellow’s Hall. This is a popular event and one not to be missed.
Fallowfield is planning a ladies’ buffet on Tuesday, May 8. The theme is “Stitches in Love” and centers on quilting. Quilts will be displayed around the sanctuary. We’ll have a salad supper at 6 p.m. and a skit afterward.
First United Methodist Church in Greenville is hosting a unified prayer service on May 10 at 6 p.m. The church is located at 73 Clinton Street, Greenville. They are praying for unity in combating the drug epidemic, as well as the cultural and spiritual decline, and hoping for a transformational revival. May 3 was the National Day of Prayer. I hope you took time to pray for God’s guidance for our country. He is in control and rules over all things. He can return our country to its Christian heritage if we pray.
Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, May 15, from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. at your local polling site.
May 19, is Armed Forces Day. Please remember our brave service members who have fought and died to protect our rights, including the blessed right to vote.
Fallowfield is offering an active shooter training on Saturday, May 19, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the church. Kurt Sitler, Conneaut School District resource officer and retired state trooper, will present the program.
He is a certified trainer in the ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) program, which is the training done in the school systems.
It will be adapted to church environments, but applies the same principles. It’s open to all families and other churches.
This is a free training, but please contact Mark Putman (814) 720-7904 or Lori Putman (814) 720-2715 by May 15 to register. Coffee and doughnuts will be provided, and there is a free will offering taken.
Have a wonderful week. Blessings!