Newsletter

Hi Everyone and Merry Christmas!                               December 21, 2023
The shortest day of the year is today so we can look forward to the days getting longer starting on Friday! Sometimes I think it’s time for bed and then I look at the clock and it’s 7:30. Ouch!
We have a change to the Christmas services schedule. We will not have a service on Monday, Christmas Day. Instead, Pastor Mary Beth is sending a worship guide home attached to this letter. Please share this news with others if you know they were planning to attend in person.
Danny Crego announced that there will be no adult Sunday School class for the next two Sundays. They will start up again on Sunday, January 7th.
Bonnie Hall announced in church that there is a box of nativity scenes that were left here after the Winter Festival a few weeks ago. They don’t have a name of them. If they are yours, please come get them ASAP. Come anytime the church is open.
We will be taking the Christmas decorations down on Sunday, January 7th right after church. Please put it on your schedule and plan to stay and help. The good news is that taking stuff down is way faster than putting it up!
This Tuesday morning, I had the privilege of greeting a family at our church that spoke only Spanish. They are a multi-generational family that just arrived from Guatemala. They flew here with all the legal paperwork and escaped a violent situation in their homeland. They came to PUMC looking for clothes. Apparently, they arrived in the US with only the clothes they had on their backs. Teresa and Gloria outfitted them with so many nice clothes and now they will get enrolled in school and find jobs. Sometimes I think it’s easy for people to be tough on immigration but when you see the faces of the people who are just trying to make a good life for their families it complicates things. I’m not trying to cause a fight; I just think our job is to love people and we did that. (And as a bonus, I was able to practice my limited Spanish speaking skills.)
I received a message from Jim Moy this week. I send him the current Upper Room edition and always get a note from him when it arrives. He says that everything in Arizona is going well for him and to send his love to the congregation. Merry Christmas Jim, we miss you!
I’ll start my prayer list with the news that Carol Bruce passed away last Thursday. She was a mainstay in Payette and she will be missed. Her funeral will be here at PUMC on Saturday, December 30th at 2:00. Please keep Johnna, Suzi, Troy and the rest of her family in your prayers.
Another long time Payette resident, Jack Raynor passed away recently. There won’t be a service for him. Please keep his wife Pat and their kids in your prayers.
I received the news that Lis Williamson has pneumonia. She is pretty sick. Please pray for a complete recovery.
Keep these folks on your prayer list: Hugh Homan, Jim Warzyn, Don Essinger, John Sandquist, Shannon Osborn, Olivia Bybee, Jan Bolin, Tory, Josh, Bob Maynard and Cory, Kyle and their parents.
We sure hope to see you here on Sunday. I have seen the order of service for the Candlelight Service and you don’t want to miss it. Our morning service will be short and wonderful!
I’ll leave you with this nugget of truth that we heard from our pastor last Sunday. God sees us and delights in us! Amen to that.
Blessings,
Cris