PJ’s Page
Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz said it: “There’s no place like home.” We’ve heard crooners singing it over the holidays: “Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays.” And it is true. There is no place like home and Bruce and I are filled with gladness as we return home and to our community of faith following our journey to Germany. It was grand – all that we had hoped it would be. Thank you all for your warm words of “Welcome Home!”
This week at Luther Memorial, Mary’s Place is housed in our building. The signs on the doors where our guests are staying read like this: “This room is HOME to our guests from Mary’s Place…” and our guests tell us again of their gratitude to have a room or space that each family gets to claim as their home for the time they are with us. They are grateful, and so am I, that this congregation makes space in our facility and in our schedule for these women and their children. My deep gratitude to Karen Olsen and to each one of you who helped out in these days.
On my first day back in the office last week, a gentleman came in to see me. Hat in his hand, he told me the story of how he and his wife and daughter had fallen on hard times in North Carolina. Recalling the beauty of Washington from his time stationed at JBLM, he moved his family here. They spent all of their savings relocating. But times are hard for them here, too. This rather tall, proud man wept through his story, his eyes were filled with tears of shame and disappointment. He would get a disability check in two weeks, but until then, they were down to their final night in the seedy Aurora Ave. motel they were calling home. After verifying his story, our Helping Hands fund was able to provide two nights of shelter at the hotel. When I went to pay the bill, I could not have imagined staying there for another moment, much less calling it home.
In this Christmas season, we remember that Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem, only to find that they had no place to call home. Doors were closed to them, forcing them to a barn for the birth of Jesus. Ever since then, in his name, the Church has tried to be a place where doors are open, where all are welcome, and where Home has profound meaning.
Your support, in deed and in gifts, has made possible the two scenarios I described above. As I return home this season, I give thanks for the ministry of this congregation. Our neighborhood is changing, our lives are changing, our world is changing….but the steadfast love of God in Christ Jesus remains the same.
With you, I am…
Actively Sharing Christ’s Love in Community,
PJ+