Dear Solomon’s UCC Family and Friends,

May the Peace and Joy of Jesus be with you! September is approaching quickly and soon, Autumn will arrive with all the colors, scents and sounds of the season. I pray that you are having a lovely and meaningful summer, along with some fun and happy activities with family and friends. 

I think we all cherish the time we can spend outside in summer surrounded by the beauty of all that God has given us. Yet, Autumn has its own sweet offerings and new beginnings. Memories of each new school year for me and my siblings as well as my own children’s school days come flooding back. The new shoes and school clothes including uniforms, the new pencils and classrooms, the reunion of classmates as we/they began each new grade. For my children, I remember waving to them as they started a new year of learning and hoping they would have a good learning experience. I treasure the memories of helping them with homework, getting snacks ready for their after school time and getting them to all their new school activities. 

We can begin again with each new day. We don’t have to wait for New Year’s, or for the beginning of the school year, or for the beginning of a new job, or the beginning of a new relationship. Every day can be a new beginning with God. Each day brings us the opportunity to begin again, to think new thoughts, to create new visions, to go in a new direction. 

We simply need to ask the Lord to give us new thoughts, new understandings, new energy, and new creative ways to approach each day. Although we think of Autumn as the season of letting go like the leaves do, let us think of it as a season of letting go of what no longer serves us or helps us to be better people. Let us be thankful to God for the beautiful summer that we have had and let us be grateful for all that lies ahead of us as we go into the month of September. 

Be sure to enjoy all the wonderful aspects of the approaching season, as we look forward to apple crisp and pumpkin pie, beautiful leaves and crisp fall days, azure skies and light breezes. 

May you know that you are loved and may you share that love with others. I encourage you to take a walk, visit a friend, go to the park, stop at the coffee shop and share the love of God with everyone you meet. May you see the beauty of the world all around you that God so generously gives to us. How blessed and fortunate we are! You are loved! 

May God’s Richest Blessings Be Yours! And we ask God to bless and protect our children and teachers, support staff as well as all our administrators as school begins anew. 

Blessings and Love,

Pastor Marian