may the 4th be with ...community service

This was definitely something different for me.

I'd grabbed a few of the flyers about "Congregations In Service" after the SING concert, intending to read them and possibly attend.

I realized quickly, though, that the activity to be held at Asbury Memorial Church would not be the one for me.

I'm retired and don't do early mornings!

However, the one at Baha'i Unity Center wasn't to start until noon30 - I could most def be there for that!

So, there is where I was today, for the 33rd community service event they have held since the project first began in 2004.

I know, the math sounds wonky, but it isn't.

Baha'i usually holds two per year, in spring and fall, but not for the first few years and not during the pandemic.

I'm glad I was there as part of my bday67 celebration.

Betty taught me how to make no-sew blankets, and I did so in the company of several folks older than myself: Betty; Ray, the Vietman veteran; Connie, the 81-yo lover of butterfly pins; Dee, of India; and two others across the table from me.

That was actually very nice to be with older people.

I also loved that the blankets were were making would be given to children.

These were smaller blankets that usual, and they were brightly colored or had fun designs on the soft fabric, like these hedgehogs that I thought were opossums.

I only got two blankets completed, but that's two more than there would have been.

Right place, right time.

i thank You, God.

flowers for two brothers, at the church

When I looked at the flower calendar at the start of the year, a date leapt out.

Ronnie's birthday was open for someone to pledge sanctuary flowers. 

I immediately placed my name on that line!

Today, I wrote the check to Asbury Memorial Church to pay for those flowers.

I know the fee won't come due for a couple of months, but I wanted to go ahead and pay off that pledge now, while I had money available.

Seventy dollars - that's a fine gift to honor one brother as he turns 65... and to honor the memory of another who would have been 63.

i thank You, God.

another church roof

This time, it isn't at the sister church, it's here at Asbury Memorial Church.

Rather than a low country boil, a different technique has been devised.

The members of the congregation are being asked to pledge by choosing a date on a calendar that holds importance to them, then to pay based on that date's corresponding placement within a calendar year.

Let me explain.

I chose May 17th.

That date happens to be the 137th day of the year, so I wrote a check for that amount this morning and dropped it off with Claudette.

What did I choose that date?

It certainly doesn't mark the birthday or anniversary of anyone in my family, nor does it mark a special day for my friends.

However, Joan Hester Byrd would have been 94 on that date.

I do miss that songbird.

because tinkerbell asked

Well she did!

Of course, it was Helen Downing standing in for her, but I still recognized the fairy.

That was the same October day Rabbi Haas came in his Darth Vader gear and had a Light saber battle with Reverend Billy dressed as Luke Skywalker.

Good times!

Still, I didn't respond to Tink's request until the postcard arrived.

"I have found that among its other benefits giving liberates the soul of the giver."

So very true!

That's why I have chosen to give Asbury Memorial Church the same monies as I did this year: $10, weekly.

I know that ten dollars a week may not sound like a lot, but over the course of a year, that sum is almost twice what I give as a Hope Builder to Habitat For Humanity.

Both charities are dear to me and count towards the 10% of my income that goes out into the world for benefiting communities near and far.

(smile!)