celebrate always

May is a month of cake in the Olson-Smith house. All four of us--Susannah, Sara, me, and Amos--have birthdays, and this year, Susannah turns 13, I turn 45, and Amos turns 10. Milestones! My mother-in-law, Pastor Elaine, also celebrates a milestone birthday in May. Be sure to congratulate her.

May is also our anniversary month--yours and mine. I started as Zion's pastor in May of 2021, shortly after you all had returned to in-person worship. May 17 was my first day in the office. May 23--the Sunday of Pentecost--was our first worship together.

How fitting that all these celebrations should fall in Easter season! Thank God for these gifts of life and life together. They are not to be taken for granted. Tomorrow is promised to no one, and yet every day since the day we were born we've drawn breath, taken nourishment, and grown in faith and love. Every day since May 17, 2021, you and I have served the Breath and Author of Life and been partners in giving and receiving love.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice," Paul wrote to the Philippians, in a letter full of affection and celebration. Paul went on to say, "I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." His overall point seems to be--whatever the circumstances, God has given us each other and God's own self. This is always worth celebrating.

Thanks be to God.

Pastor Clark Olson-Smith