• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Flemington United Methodist Church logo

Come as you are

Header Right

 

Donate
  • About Us
    • About Flemington United Methodist Church
    • Our Staff
    • What We Believe
    • Our History
    • Weddings & Other Events
    • Donate
    • Contact Us
  • I’m New
    • What You Can Expect
    • Ask Pastor Chris
  • Worship With Us
    • Sunday Morning Experience
    • Sunday School
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
  • FUMC Blog
  • Calendar
  • Events
  • About Us
    • About Flemington United Methodist Church
    • Our Staff
    • What We Believe
    • Our History
    • Weddings & Other Events
    • Donate
    • Contact Us
  • I’m New
    • What You Can Expect
    • Ask Pastor Chris
  • Worship With Us
    • Sunday Morning Experience
    • Sunday School
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
  • FUMC Blog
  • Calendar
  • Events

For all the Dads and Grads

A quick search of “what to buy for dad for Father’s Day” pulls up wallets, ties, coffee cups with puns on them, grill utensils, and other odds and ends. Some of these are great gifts for some dads, but you all know the dads in your lives well enough to know that they (we) are all different in their (our) own ways.

I know that my life changed when I held my firstborn in the seconds after he was born. I realized for the first time then how hard the floor was… how easy it would be to trip or stumble… the awe-full responsibility of this little milk-gallon weight gift I held and have watched grow.

I still get to check on my kids while they sleep here, at home, safely. I’m only beginning to imagine a world where they are off being the heroes of their own stories and I can’t just open a door and take a look. I can just love them while they are here. 

Laura Newton and Matty Diehl shared a poem to all the Dads:

CELEBRATING FATHERS ON FATHER’S DAY
 
GOD TOOK THE STRENGTH OF A MOUNTAIN,
THE MAJESTY OF A TREE,
THE WARMTH OF A SUMMER SUN,
THE CALM OF A QUIET SEA,
THE GENEROUS SOUL OF NATURE,
THE COMFORTING ARM OF NIGHT,
THE WISDOM OF THE AGES,
THE POWER OF THE EAGLE’S FLIGHT
THE JOY OF A MORNING IN SPRING,
THE FAITH OF A MUSTARD SEED,
THE PATIENCE OF ETERNITY,
THE DEPTH OF A FAMILY NEED,
THEN GOD COMBINED THESE QUALITIES,
AND THEN THERE WAS NOTHING MORE TO ADD,
HE KNEW HIS MASTERPIECE WAS COMPLETE,
AND SO, HE CALLED IT – DAD.
 
 
May God Bless you and keep you in His ways today and always!

To the grads too, those graduating in a time with changed ceremonies, disrupted internships, and cancelled plans, it’s a time of disappointment and unease. The fundamental shape of the society you are graduating into is being unmasked and reshaped before all of our eyes, with new attention paid to racial disparities in policing, hiring, and all spheres of life. This on top of ongoing questions about the viability of our present economic order which seems built to pile the biggest wins in the same pockets while more fall further behind. 

It’s enough to make you angry… and afraid… and discouraged… and even lose the God-given spark that makes you great. Hold fast to hope, now, tomorrow, and always. If you’d like, please respond to the questions Laura sent out so we can share your stories and hopes with the church in next week’s newsletter. 

For now, church, continue to pray, learn, reach out, and seek ways to connect with God and one another.

Grace and Peace, 
Pastor Ben
 

Previous Post: « We Can’t Go On Like This
Next Post: Phases »

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent posts

  • Bicentennial Church Tour: March 25th @ 1-3pm
  • Ash Wednesday Service
  • Christmas Eve Candle Light Service
  • Christmas at the Movies
  • Whitehouse Wind Symphony Concert

Categories

  • Events
  • Main Blog
  • Sunday Sermon
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • February 2018

Footer

Services: Sundays at 10:30am
Flemington United Methodist Church
116 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822
908.782.1070


Get in Touch

Get in Touch

Copyright © 2023 · Mai Lifestyle Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in