Embrace 2021!

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

The past week has been difficult on so many levels for our country and for each of us. You are in my prayers. Desert Cross is in my prayers. Our country and world are in my prayers. And they are prayers for healing. I pray for physical, spiritual, emotional, and relational healing for all of the brokenness we experience. This poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson is my wish for you:

"This is my wish for you:
Comfort on difficult days,
smiles when sadness intrudes,
rainbows to follow the clouds,
laughter to kiss your lips,
sunsets to warm your heart,
hugs when spirits sag,
beauty for your eyes to see,
friendships to brighten your being,
faith so that you can believe,
confidence for when you doubt,
courage to know yourself,
patience to accept the truth,
Love to complete your life."

In a colleague zoom meeting last week, we each chose and shared a guiding word for 2021. My guiding word is "Embrace." I hope to embrace all that comes our way, positive or negative. We will rejoice in the blessings and grow in the difficulties, trusting that through it all we remain in the loving embrace of Jesus. No matter the events of the year we will “Embrace Grace!”

I invite you to choose your guiding word for 2021 and email it to me at acain@desertcross.org, so we can create a Desert Cross 2021 Word Cloud.

I will gather the words anonymously and then share the word cloud to guide our year no matter what we encounter. We can lean on each other and learn from each other. I can’t wait to see how you will embrace the new year, your faith, and our mission to share God’s love!

Embracing you,
Pastor Andrea