Spring Reflections: from our President:

Laura Palada, President 2025-2028

Dearest Sisters,

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…Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalm 30:5 (NLT) 

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I think most of us would agree that we’ve had enough of Winter and we’re ready for the promise of Spring’s renewal, refreshment, and rebirth. As I write this, we are in the throes of what is hopefully the last winter storm for this season. The wind is blowing. The snow is blowing. It’s cold and dark and dreary.  

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We are finishing our Lenten journey in my church, as in most of our churches, which has been a church season characterized by sorrow, humility and waiting as we approach Holy Week and Easter. Lent invites us to examine our brokenness. It prepares us for Easter by reminding us that we need the Savior, that we’re lost without God’s grace. We can’t save ourselves or fix all our problems. We are dust and ashes, lost and blind without God’s mercy.

We aren’t invincible. We don’t know it all. We can’t fix every problem. Hopefully, taking this time to look at our fragility has reminded us that we need God and His gracious healing power. And hopefully, throughout Lent we have taken time to repent from our pride and foolish self-reliance. And now, Spring is coming again. Easter is just around the corner and will start off the new season for us.

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Our eyes and hearts are turning towards the warmth of Spring and the hope of a season filled with rejuvenation. Spring  is a season of profound renewal, the transition from the church's journey through Lent into the joy of Easter. It is fitting that April starts off with our Easter celebration, and turning our thoughts into promise and hope. As we move out of the winter months, we are invited to look for God’s "extraordinary love and power" springing forth in the ordinary moments of our lives. We have the promise of renewal before us. I invite us to reflect on the spiritual significance of the season:

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• A season of hope:

  • As we begin to see Creation awakening before us, let us watch for and celebrate all of the symbols of new life. Green grass, the songs of the birds, the warming of the sun, the ever increasing light that fills our days.

  • Celebrating Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are called to be filled with the Living Hope as we grow in grace and serve God’s kingdom.

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• A season of spiritual sight:

  •  We are challenged to look beyond outward appearances to see the heart, allowing Christ to reshape how we view others and the world around us.

  • We are called to remember and to keep Jesus’ commandments to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your soul” and to “love your neighbor as yourself”. Now more than ever we need to take these to heart and find new and better ways to love the Lord and our neighbors.

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As we move forward, I invite you to consider these verses and themes as you reflect this season:

• Isaiah 44:3-4: "For I will pour water on the thirsty land... they will spring up like grass in a meadow".

• Hosea 6:3: "The Lord will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth".

I look forward, with hope and anticipation, walking through this next season of our faith life and all that it will bring.

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Faithfully,

Laura