Having a Wonder-FULL Life!

If you know much about me,you would know that one thing I do with much of my free time is grandchild or grand-dog sitting. Those moments are truly highlights in my life. I have realized that when I am taking care of grandkids and grandpets I feel a little extra pressure because I am responsible at that time for pets and children who are not my own. I think it brings out in me an attentiveness and caution that may even be beyond what I have for my own dog or when my own children lived at home. I am simply managing for that short, designated period of time these very special family members. God forbid if anything happened on my watch!!!


Recently one of my granddaughters was staying with her other grandma.I received a picture via text of my granddaughter’s new haircut while with her other grandma. No, it was not done professionally!  It was done with scissors in the hands of a creative 4 year old herself. I immediately laughed because I know that virtually every child has this kind of experience sometime in their life and the good news is that it will grow back!. But I also thought at that moment, as I was laughing, that I was glad it did not happen on my watch! I called the other grandma to make sure that she was laughing also! She was but she was also devastated. I assured her it could happen to any of us. 


This makes me think about God and what stewardship means. I know that the word “stewardship” has lost its place in many ways in today’s world, but I am reminded that stewardship denotes the management of another’s property or resources.  Everything I have is God’s and I am simply managing God’s resources. Theses resources have been given to me to use and share for the benefit of God’s people.


If I had been the grandma in charge at the time of the disaster, I would have been devastated. I would have felt that I had not taken good enough care of my grandchild while she was in my care. Honestly, isn’t this the same kind of response we ought to feel when we think about all that God blesses us with? God owns it all and we are simply managing His resources. God gives to us so that we will administer what we receive for the benefit of God’s people. 


It’s a wonder-FULL life we can have from God, Pastor Patti






Archived Posts

Back and Forth with Chat GPT

Many of you know that I’ve found a new consultant to bounce my ideas off in regard to preaching.  My good buddy Chat GPT and I sometimes disagree—often miscommunicate—but usually come up with some fruitful illustrations. 

One More Thing About Becoming Wholly Human

I was talking Sunday about the work of Hare and Woods and their idea of ‘the survival of the friendliest.’  Essentially, they conclude that “our greatest evolutionary advantage wasn't that we could do everything ourselves. It was that we could do things together.” 

Here’s a preview of our congregation’s Core Values

In the coming weeks we will be exploring the importance of presence, prayers, gifts, service, witness, and growth in grace.  These are at the heart of what we commit to when we join a Wesleyan grace-led church like ours.  But we choose to broaden them out and state them in a new way…

The Biblical prayer we don’t know what to do with

Psalm 137 is written by people who have experienced catastrophic loss.

They have been conquered...

Patience and Trust

     Sunday, in my benediction (which traditional folks did not hear) I talked about the Marshmallow Test.  The original results of that test with children was that those who could delay gratification did better in life than those who could not.

Gandhi and the Sugar

I wasn’t preaching Sunday, Reverend Jackie Chandler was.  And she talked about the power of influence you get when you practice what you preach.  This famous illustration came to mind.   It fits Jackie’s points quite well.  Enjoy!

Not Just for Parents

          Our current sermon series is about How To Talk Parent, but it doesn’t require any of us to be parents to appreciate the bits of wisdom OUR parents shared with us growing up.