A journey of a thousand miles begins….

Dear First Pres SLO Family,

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Messiah, the one who walks alongside us even in our most difficult times.

For a while now I’ve been staring at a stack of books to read. Some are for sermon and teaching prep, a few more are to help me understand the rise of nationalism in our country, and others are just for pleasure reading. What they all have in common is this:

I don’t seem to be able to find the time to read any of them.

There are a handful of reasons for that, I suppose. Life has been busy lately—in addition to my regular work, we went on our honeymoon for a few weeks, and then my son got married. It’s been a challenge to find the time and focus that a good book demands.

A lot of life is like that, right? We have important things that we need to do, whether it’s jobs or relationships or something else. But sometimes it’s hard to give them the attention they need. That attention starts with, well, starting. What’s the saying? A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Maybe that’s some helpful advice today—I know it is for me.

Maybe if I zeroed in on starting a few of these books, instead of getting them finished—maybe then I might actually learn some of the things I need to know. It’s worth a try.

I have so much to learn, and so much that I want to understand better. My pile of unread books is reminding me of that today. Might be time to start one of them, even if it will be a struggle to get it finished.

How about you?

Blessings to you as you enter into this month of June.

Pastor John

Reminder: Our Grief Support Group will meet tomorrow (Thursday) at 2pm at the church.

Grief Support Group Meeting June 6 at 2 p.m. in Wilson Hall

We don’t have to walk alone. Our goal is to provide a space where we can reach out to each other with love, understanding and hope. If you are navigating feelings of grief in your life, we invite you to come—to share and to listen—as we move through this season together.