Greetings, St. John UCC and St. Philip’s UCC!

As I sit down to write this (long after Carol’s deadline to have my newsletter stuff submitted—thanks to her, and you all, for your grace in the delay in this month’s distribution), it’s been one week since my Mom passed from this life to the next. Thank you for all your prayers for me and my family, the kind words you’ve shared, and the grace you have shown. I am so grateful to serve two churches filled with so many caring and compassionate people—you are truly incredible.

And, thank you to all who shared such generous, thoughtful, delicious, and kind Christmas gifts with me! Gabe and I cherish them, and the edible ones have been a timely source of comforting sustenance. Thank you all so much!

It’s a weird season for me, one I know many of you have experienced as well. A strange blend of joy and grief. Life is beautiful and heartbreaking. There is so much good to celebrate, so much excitement for life’s forward tug, so much gratitude for love and laughter and the people it’s shared with. And yet, there’s the loss that I haven’t even fully felt yet, the pain of grief that comes in unpredictable waves, and the fuzziness of failing to wrap my head around living in a new reality that doesn’t include such an important and beloved family member. It’s a boomerang of emotions, and whiplash is inevitable.

Here’s what I know: grief is hard, and grief sucks. (I already knew that, and I bet you did too). And, grief sticks around for the long haul. But, I also know that love sticks around even longer. I know that hope sticks around even longer. I know that grace sticks around even longer. But you don’t have to take my word for it, it’s all over scripture.

The quote above from Lamentations is just one example. Time and again, when the world is crashing down around the people, literally and figuratively, scripture reminds us over and over again that God’s steadfast love endures forever. When we hit the bottom of the barrel and grief, despair, and anguish feel overwhelming, we remember that God’s steadfast love endures forever. Even in the pit of despair, there is great joy in the hope of God’s enduring love for us. If you let that truth really sink in, whiplash is inevitable.

I’ve been asked a lot over the past week how I’m holding up. The best answer I have is that I’m hanging in there. Hanging in the balance between grief and joy. Swinging back and forth between tearful loss and intense gratitude. The grief is real, but so is the hope in God’s steadfast love, in all the ways it is experienced and shared. Thanks for your prayers and compassion along the way, and for embodying God’s steadfast love for me and my family. Thanks for hanging in there through your own experiences of grief too. I’m here to hang together anytime.

With gratitude,
Pastor Laura