Love Shows Up! – At Easter, in our lives, and we ought to pay attention. This week at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Salem, Oregon, we had Love Show up in a couple of ways – first some amazing young men from Blanchet (Catholic School here in Salem) showed up to add their artistic touches to our Garden! The Garden is already wonderful – its a joint project of my church, and La Casita – the little house which is a ministry to our neighborhood here at the corner of Sunnyview and Lansing – it features a Thursday coffee time for local mothers and young children, as well as the amazing Garden which the La Casita ladies plant and maintain the last few years (Holy Cross planted it for a few years to start). We have Garden Club every summer in there for local kids, too. But these young men showed up and painted the Garden in such a wonderful, whimsical way! We are so pleased!
And Love Shows Up again in our lives as our friend Tessa Connell with TLC Pyrography and Crafts (who is a member of our church!) made beautiful wood-burned displays with the words Love Shows UP on them! The cool part for me is that we asked for the words, in wreaths, and Tessa added butterflies, flowers, and more, all the wonderful vitality of Easter! We are so thrilled.
How does Love Show Up in your life? Well, I believe that God loves you, and sent His Son Jesus to live on this earth, and then die for no fault of his own. He rose from the dead, however, and offers new lives for old. And Love Shows Up – we see Christ’s love in the faces of our loved ones, in the eyes of the homeless man who just needs a smile from you today, in the hands of those who care for ourselves in our old age. Love shows up, my friends. Don’t miss it – you are part of the plan to change the world, one person to person encounter at a time. (don’t miss the thumbnails at the end of this blog – all kinds of great pictures for you to enjoy!)
Bless you – Pastor Patricia (see you Sunday at 9:30 am at 1998 Lansing Ave NE, Salem, OR) www.holycrosslutheran-salem.org
