1. The photographer will only be here for 3 days, June 7 – 9. You’ll need to select from there.
2. Go to the following website, LifeTouch.
3. Follow the instructions listed there.

While surely it is a joy to see perky daffodils, forsythia lined highways and flowering trees beginning their blooms, I do have to wonder if it might be a sign of potential drought for the summer, since we had such little precipitation this winter.

Of course there is no use worrying about a drought because there’s nothing we can do to prevent a drought, at least in terms of making the sky rain. But once we’re in ‘drought conditions’ there are many things we can do to lessen the impact and length; like taking shorter showers, creating a cistern to collect rain from our gutters, watering in early am and late night, mulching our gardens etc…

But the idea of contending with a drought has me thinking about spiritual drought. Like a water drought, spiritual drought often happens slowly over time. It can happen when we don’t take time to ‘water’ our faith. Our spiritual/faith journey seems important to us but then it gets pushed to the side with things that clamor for our attention. And we leave it for ‘tomorrow.’

Sometimes though we might even have regular spiritual practices but then something happens beyond our control. We’re dealt a harsh blow in a relationship, a health issue erupts for ourselves or someone we love, or there’s a change in our work or financial status, a beloved friend or neighbor moves away, or the death of a beloved pet. These are events that test and strain our faith. While some are able to stay the course, some of us, when bad events happen assume “God is punishing me.” Then we stop prayer. We slack off in our church attendance, our contributions in time and talents or even get “snarky” in meetings. Need I go on?

Here’s the good news!!!!

First, you are not alone. This is a regular pattern; the closeness and distance we feel with God is like the ebb and flow of tides. If we wait long enough, the tide will turn. But you can also help that process by returning to prayer, as meager as it may be. You can turn or return to scripture. Personally I find the Psalms the most helpful, because every range of emotion is articulated in the Psalms. Check out Psalms: 8, 22, 23, 46, 51, 103, or 139 to start.

Consider making a commitment to coming to one of the special worship services we hold during Holy Week; Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. I know, I say this every year, but I know many people are blessed by these services in ways only God can explain. Why not get out of your comfort zone and come to one?

Palm Sunday is our third annual Palm Sunday breakfast and parade with St. John’s. This year they’ll host the breakfast, (we’ll bring the bagels) and we parade from St. John’s for FCB together. It’s fun, full of fellowship and a powerful way to start Holy Week.

Maundy Thursday we hold two events; The Seder and then Worship with Communion and Foot Washing. This is the 6th year we have done these two events and they continue to grow in popularity and meaning. They are ideal events to bring your kids to and the food is fantastic!

Then there’s Good Friday, the Tenebrae service, which is a powerful service where we retell the Passion in 7 readings as we douse the candles until we are total darkness. This is another special service that youth (grades 5 and up) can appreciate. The fact is… they see scarier stuff on television and video games every day…

So saints, whether you are feeling nourished or parched, there are many ways/means for you to feed your soul. Watching for the living waters with you,

Jen

The criteria for the scholarship are good school achievement, financial need, good character, and background experience. The Session has set the amount of $500.00 for each award.

Scholarship re-application forms are also available for qualified individuals.

Please call the church office at 973-334-3535 or e-mail at office@fpcboonton.org for application forms for the student, the school, and the church; these need to be completed by March 1, 2011 (dead line) and sent to First Presbyterian Church at Boonton, P.O. Box 149, Boonton, NJ 07005.

• Scholarship Application 2012 Form A
• Scholarship Application 2012 Form B-Pastor
• Scholarship Re-application 2012

Saturday, April 28th, 5:00 – 10:00 pm

At Elaine Oussoren & Lisa Mazzel’s home near Lake Valhalla

Spend some time socializing while an expert weighs, values, and if you choose, purchases your gold jewerly.

The Gold Party is an event that will allow you to cash-out your old gold. The jeweler makes a minimal commission and the church asks you to contribute a minimum of 15% (all is welcome) to our fund-raising goal.

Licensed, insured and Bonded Jeweler: Michael Anthony

Naturally it has been flourishing with direct sunlight and proper watering. Every day when I come downstairs to start my day, the sun is showering these shoots with warmth and love and the fuchsia green fronds always catch my eye. It is a wonderful talisman of the hopefulness that is available to us when living an intentional life with Christ.

That said, as I write this I am aware of many of you who are struggling. You are struggling with your own health or someone you love. You are struggling within your family and with your children. You are struggling with relationships at work, with friends and neighbors. You are struggling with finances and uncertain futures and regrets in the past.

As a result, many of you are secretly ‘not into’ Lent. You want to be. You are just overwhelmed or bewildered or even wondering where God is in the midst of your struggles.

This is what John of the Cross refers to as “the dark night.” But some people confuse what John was speaking about: “the dark night” with what some refer to as “the dark night of the soul.” They are in fact two different kinds of spiritual struggle. The “dark night of the soul” is a time when one’s pain or suffering far outweighs one’s ability to act or even trust that God is present in our lives. In short, the feeling that God has abandoned us.

“The dark night” that John of the Cross referred to is ‘oscura’ or the obscuring of what God is doing. This is God’s intention because it’s just not time to reveal it all, right now. That’s not great news for anyone who is currently in the dark night and really bad news if you are also not particularly patient.

Perhaps you may think it is easy for me to talk about this and it is in part, because I am not currently in “the dark night.” But trust me, I have been there many times before and am sure to be there again. I will also surely experience “the dark night of the soul” when life’s suffering again blinds me to God’s movements and presence.

Again sadly, I know quite a few of you who are struggling in your lives and with your faith, and wondering when is God going to show up and answer your prayers. You wonder when is God going to take away the burden, the guilt, the shame, the worry, the anxiety, the depression, the lost feeling, the confused feeling, the frustration, the hopelessness???

The answer? I don’t know WHEN but I know that God WILL.

The proof you ask? Well I could tell you to come and participate in the many Lenten activities we have in the hopes that you will find some insight, comfort or even answers.

Or… I could simply remind you again about the mysterious plant that I found in my garage that had been growing even without any water or light since last September. The very one that is now growing in the warmth of my house facing East.

Why?

Well…It turns out that the plant is not mysterious any more…

It’s actually an Easter Lilly…

Waiting for the Resurrection
with you in Christ,
Jen

Wow.

Most of the time the window graffiti I see are things like “Go Bombers” or “State Champs” “We’re #1”, etc.

I got a brief look at the driver but there was nothing remarkable about him — at least on the outside. But I now think there’s something remarkable about him on the inside. As I drove along the boulevard, I wondered what his life is like, what he does for a living and what his spouse is like. I wondered how they spend their time, if they have children, and how they originally met. But mostly I wondered what inspired him to drive around with that written on his car.

For the cynics who are reading this, yes I know, it may not be his car. Maybe it’s his wife’s, his daughter’s or his neighbor’s car. Maybe he’s a car mechanic giving it a test drive before returning it to its rightful owner. But still…there’s at least one couple who is happy, proud and honored to share with the world that they have a happy marriage that they want to celebrate.

February is traditionally marked as the month of love and the 2012 stewardship campaign.
“12 months of Giving” is sharing that theme as well. And I believe it’s a good one. Some people, relationships and even communities are easier to love than others.

It may surprise you to know that as we sweep up the final pine needles and seek to preserve our poinsettias, that Ash Wednesday is February 22nd. This is the beginning of Lent, a time to intentionally show God that we love God by recommitting ourselves to prayer, penance and forgiveness.

Forgiveness, I think, is the hardest work of all to do. Yet, it is crucial for our personal growth, healing from old wounds and disappointments and the pathway for deeper, more honest relationships with God, ourselves and one another.

“US News and World Report” did a study about 10 years ago with 100 couples seeking data about what preserves marriage. 50 of the couples were still happily married, 50 couples were unhappy and teetering on divorce. When polled about how the unhappy couples dealt with conflict, the vast majority said that unresolved personal insults during conflict were the cause. When the happy couples were polled about the same issue, the vast majority responded: being able to forgive and move on.

Easier said than done.

Lent is an important time for us to ponder, especially the ways in which we do not love others as God loves us. Along with Lenten bible studies, special worship services and lay witnesses in worship I invite you to start thinking about your own Lenten focus and how forgiveness can play a part in that. And when you can’t seem to find the courage to even consider forgiveness, ask the One in whom forgiveness and restoration is the very definition of Love.

Loving and forgiving with you in Christ,
Jen

The twelve days of Christmas and the “Feast of Epiphany” are often more highly celebrated in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity than they are in Protestant circles, where the magi are often tacked on to the Christmas story.

However, if you read Matthew 2:1-12 the wise men seeking Jesus (and Herod’s dastardly plan) is a separate event in an unknown timeframe after the event of Jesus’ birth. Check out the two different nativity stories told to us in only two of the four the gospels, Matthew and Luke.

The reason that I bring this up is that most of us probably consider Christmas as a glorious and mammoth single day and we are often exhausted and relieved when Advent and Christmas are over. I don’t know about you, but by late December my Christmas tree is as dry as a bone. My ornaments are falling off of branches that are now concave. Pine needles have found their way into my washing machine and I have finally opened and sent my last Christmas card. I have found time to rest and relax and visit and celebrate, but the story of Christmas is far from over. In fact, it is just getting started.

The Magi are only now getting on their way to seek Jesus. And so should we. As tired or relaxed or overstuffed as you may be feeling, I encourage you to try to mentally and spiritually follow along with Matthew’s story of the magi who now commence their journey to worship Jesus.

This fallow time is indeed the ideal time to be intentional about seeking Jesus ourselves and pay Him the homage He is due. I wonder….how much homage did we really offer Jesus on Christmas as we sped from house to home bearing treats and gifts? Were we really able to acknowledge the grace of God choosing to dwell among us as we ate to our fill or tried to be thankful for gifts we might never enjoy or use?

I have seen (and participated) in extravagant gift giving, tireless efforts to decorate and celebrate, and even our stock market that relies on ‘Black Friday’. The question I ask you to now consider, in these twelve days of Christmas is…are all of these plans, preparations and celebrations equal to or less than how much we actually pay homage to the new born king? I think for most all of us, I already know the answer…

Paying homage with you because of Christ,
Jen

The first is a series of TV commercials for a large retailer with an overly “caffeinated” woman in a red sweat suit, who is beyond obsessed with shopping fever. She seems driven by some internal demon to commence her Christmas shopping marathon in time for December 25th. It could have been funny if it weren’t SO overdone, making the woman seem to be almost mentally imbalanced. And that’s not OK.

There’s even a worse advertisement series, by another retailer, that displays a disturbing “in-your-face” attitude even to Santa Claus himself! This TV commercial shows the shopper home on Christmas Eve, slyly eyeing Santa, who is unable to put even a single gift into the Christmas stockings—because they are already filled to the brim. She arrogantly offers Santa the empty stocking of the family dog for ‘leftover’ gifts which stuns and alienates Santa. She proudly turns to go off to bed remarking to Santa “…awkward…”

I realize advertising is very subjective and as a pastor I am hypersensitive to the way Christmas is portrayed in secular culture. I am all for giving gifts and am always happy to find wonderful gifts in affordable price ranges. I am all for being generous and understand the pressure that we put on ourselves to “get it all done.” But these commercials brought me to another place…if there’s no room for Santa to place his gifts in our stockings because we’ve already ‘got it all covered’ …I wonder……How can God give us what we won’t allow?

I wonder in our anxiety to hunker down and try to endure on-going, unprecedented, world economic times, if we’ve decided to take matters into our own hands.

I wonder if because our lives are ‘not back to normal’ we have bailed on God as our Sovereign, the giver of all gifts.

I wonder in our compulsive efforts to handle it all, solve it all and buy it all, we have gone astray from the path of God and jumped right back on the treadmill of self-importance and self-reliance.

I wonder what we’re teaching our children and our neighbors and our friends about God — when Advent and Christmas becomes a time just to ‘get through’ not a time to slow down, notice, observe and celebrate. I’m not saying Advent and Christmas-time is easy. For most of us it is a mixed time especially if we’ve had loss, illness or even intense disappointment in this last year. And for many the decreasing hours of daylight exacerbate that. But I think celebrating Christmas in the darkest 6 weeks of the year has a lot of purpose. If we observed Christmas in the light the spring or summer, how could we fully enjoy the beautiful lights of our trees, the candles in our windows and the sparkle in our children’s eyes?

In the warmth of Spring and Summer how could we fully notice, appreciate or enjoy the endless LIGHT that comes to us in the deepest dark, cold night? Friends, there are gifts from God to us waiting to be explored, shared and received; but only if we make space in our stockings and time in our lives to notice Emmanuel, God being with us.

Watching with you for Christ,
Jen

However, friends of mine put their house on the market just two months ago and after only a one open house, and four separate offers, they will happily close on their home in two week’s time, at close to the original asking price.  What’s even more remarkable is that the buyer’s home inspection came back with a list (like they all do) but they were all minor requests (my friends say ‘miniscule’)  Why? Because for the 40+ years that they owned it, they cared for and maintained their home with time and money, on a regular basis.  This helped to produce a wonderful result for them in this normally difficult housing crisis.

The same can be true for our faith.  If we attend to our faith on a consistent basis, it can produce wonderful results for us when crisis strikes.  But for most of us, it doesn’t even occur to us to tend to our daily faith walk or if it does, it still gets short changed.

One way to attend to our faith regularly is consistent attendance in worship. But it seems that for many of you, Sunday worship gets dwarfed by travel, sports and even emotional or physical fatigue.  Another way to tend to your faith is to set aside a daily routine of prayer and devotional time.  But again for busy lives, this plan, well intended, also can get pushed aside.

This is why we offer many different types of Christian Education opportunities at First Church Boonton.  There is the Thursday Morning PW Bible Study, the Monthly Evening PW Bible Study, Sunday School for children ages 3–9th grade, youth groups (for grades 5–8 and 9–12) and the monthly Lay Listening Group starting up again in October.

There will be two additional bible studies this fall. The Men’s Bible Study, Saturday AM, studying the book of Hosea and a Sunday Morning Bible Study after worship, led by Rev. Jen and Seminary Intern John Molacek.

I know for some of you, you feel that “you don’t know enough to attend” but that’s not true.  None of us knows it all.  We are all on this faith journey together and every teacher has to prepare and ‘look stuff up’ because the bible is an enormous, never ending source of both information and history but most importantly, food for the soul.

If your faith is struggling or you’re struggling even to get to church, it’s probably due to being disconnected to God and others, and God’s word.  Trust me when I tell you, regular weekly worship attendance is tough!  And maintaining a daily prayer and devotional life is even harder, if you’re going it alone.  But I can also tell you that it’s delightful and life-giving to take and share the journey together.

Besides, how are you going to answer your children’s and grandchildren’s questions about God, if you don’t know who God is, first-hand?  Don’t go it alone.  Get yourself and your kids involved in studying God’s word and see how much more meaningful your life becomes.

Learning with you in Christ,
Jen

learn more about the Beatitudes…

• connect faith with your daily life…
• discuss some of the most difficult issues facing the world today — hunger, poverty, the economy, justice and peace and a woman’s role in society?

If you answered YES to any part of this question, make your move and meet us at 10:00 AM Thursday, September 15th in the church library.

We will meet each Thursday from 10 AM til Noon for 9 weeks and will study CONFESSING THE BEATITUDES by Margaret Aymer.

Books will be available after worship each Sunday beginning August 28.