solace in ways I don’t understand, which gives him peace. I, however, have always been a believer in Christ. When I was in Junior High, I started going to a Presbyterian Church in Eugene, Oregon where I grew up. I went with a group of friends since my parents couldn't reconcile their differences about their beliefs. This adventure of five teenage girls following Jesus Christ launched my lifelong affiliation with organized religion. I went to several different churches over the years, including Episcopalian and Lutheran Churches, before finding my home again at First Presbyterian. During this time, I heard something about Deacons but never really understood what they were, what they did, and how one could become one. ​

I was still pretty much in the dark about this until I got a call from our previous Pastor, Craig Sumey, in 2021 asking if I would serve on the Deacon Board. I was very excited, although unsure about my role, so I did some research. I found a great article from The Presbyterian Leader that states, “For those who want to follow in the ministry of Jesus Christ, there is no better office to assume than that of Deacon in the Presbyterian Church”. As the Book of Order notes, “The office of deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of sympathy, witness, and service after the example of Jesus Christ. Persons of spiritual character, honest repute, of exemplary lives, brotherly and sisterly love, warm sympathies, and sound judgement should be selected for this office.” It is a ministry of caring, love, compassion, prayer, and community service.

The specific duties of the Deacons at First Pres are to focus on the congregation primarily, especially those members who are having difficulties.  These may be health-related, suffering a loss, experiencing loneliness, having mobility problems, or struggling with loss of independence. In an effort to address these issues, the Deacons have several subcommittees that they serve on. 

Friends at Home 
 As the name implies, these generally are members who are no longer able to attend church due to age or physical disabilities. They are each assigned a Deacon who will send cards, visit by phone or in person, bring them treats, and let them know we are thinking about them and praying for them. They may be offered transportation to and from church on Sunday.  The Deacons have a contract with a local taxi service that will transport our needy members. 

Office Uplift 
All Deacons are expected to volunteer for this service one month a year. It includes preparing a surprise for the office staff, which might include lunch, goodies, gifts or anything creative that they might enjoy. This is to show appreciation for all they do. 

Sonshine
Each month one Deacon is assigned the job of sending cards to members who are undergoing difficult times or are requesting prayer. We get the names primarily from the iPray List, which is in the weekly newsletter. This is perhaps one of my favorite assignments. It is very gratifying to be approached by one of the Sonshine recipients during coffee hour after the service and to be thanked by them for our cards and good wishes. Making a difference in the lives of our congregants is one of our main goals.

Communion
One Deacon is designated as the leader for the year. The leader will train new Deacons on the procedure of setting up the elements and cleaning up after the service. This is once a month for the 9:00 service and every Sunday for the 10:30 service. The leader will maintain the schedule and remind the scheduled Deacons the day before the service of their commitment. Supplies will be ordered and maintained as well by the leader. 

Christmas Families Dinner and Chili Cook Off
In December, the Deacons plan and prepare for this church-wide event. This involves a lot of time and effort. Food is purchased and prepared by the Deacons, and gifts are purchased for the children of families that have been referred by Family Promise and The Neighborhood Closet. These needy families are also given a sizable gift card to use at Fred Meyer’s for food, clothing, or whatever they need. Each child in the congregation is offered an age-appropriate gift as well.  The gym is decorated festively. Ornament and Cookie Decorating stations are available for all the children. A photo booth is available for the kids to take a picture with Santa Claus!

Kick Off Potlucks
The Summer and Fall Kick-Off potlucks are also planned and prepared by the Deacons. They set up the gym, provide decorations, and purchase the food and drinks. We have a BBQ set up and offer hamburgers and hot dogs to all who attend! The potluck is also a place where members of the congregation can bring their favorite dishes to share. This year, for the first time, the Elders have been included in the planning and helping with the event. The Deacons are grateful for their assistance and advice. Our next event is coming up soon. Hope to see you on June 1st after the 9:00 service as we celebrate the coming of summer, our relationships with each other, and our faith! 

So all of these events, duties, and supplies are paid for by the Deacons, who rely entirely on donations from the congregation to fund these committees. There are donation envelopes in the pews that are marked Deacon Fund, and we encourage you to use these as you are able. To make these envelopes stand out a bit more, we are placing circular colored stickers on the envelopes. You may also make donations on the First Pres Website. Thank you all for your help in maintaining our ministry. We are here to serve all who are in need. Please let us know if you would like a call or a visit from one of us or if you know someone who might benefit from our attention. 
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In His Name, Ellen

formalized as the official singular holiday that we recognize today on the last Monday of each May. While the dates and ways of commemorating our fallen soldiers have evolved over the years, the need to remember and honor their sacrifices for those still living has been a consistent pulse of the American heartbeat since our inception as a nation.

Alright, the history lesson portion is over — but I felt it was important to summarize. Personally I didn’t know any of that stuff until I looked into it. Though I was unfamiliar with the historical origins of Memorial Day, I’ve always had a place in my heart for it since I began to understand what a veteran truly is and why the sacrifices of our fallen soldiers over the years are so very important to remember and honor. I had the opportunity to write an editorial for my local newspaper for Memorial Day when I was 19 years old, and I’m honored to be able to do it again now for you. 

I’ll never forget the time Jenny and I visited Washington D.C. in 2008. The World War II memorial had just opened to the public four years prior in 2004. When Jenny and I walked nearer to the beautiful memorial that sits at the end of a long and solemn reflecting pool and underneath the watchful obelisk of the Washington Monument, I remember feeling a certain hushing sensation not unlike when walking into a large cathedral. One can’t help but feel deeply the immense respect commanded by the many names and quotes etched into the nearly 17,000 perfectly cut granite slabs that compose the memorial in the shape of a large oval. I remember seeing an older gentleman leaning weakly against one of the pillars with one hand as he wept into a handkerchief with the other, and how his family stood around him laying hands of support on his shoulders without saying a word. What words could one offer at that moment? From my candid viewpoint I felt both deeply grateful and deeply sad. What cost he paid I’ll never know, but I could see that it was great. And he was there to honor the even greater costs paid by those who remained deep in his own memories. 

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, President Roosevelt broadcast a prayer to the nation as the many thousands of troops prepared to offer their lives to the cause of liberation. They are some of the most beautifully written words I’ve ever encountered, and a portion of it goes as follows:

So much of Roosevelt’s prayer mirrors what Christ Himself endeavored to do for our entire world. Christ came to expel the forces of darkness and liberate all mankind from the clutches of eternal death. He knew the battle would be costly, particularly for Him, but that it must be encountered — that there was no other option. For the people of the world in 1944, there also appeared to be no other option. The battle had to be fought, and it would cost dearly. I can’t help but consider in humbling awe how so many men and women rose up and met a more earthly but similar calling to liberate so many others during those dark days of the early 1940’s. The parallels are many.

Jesus wanted the nations to cooperate and live harmoniously, and though war seems to work directly against Christ’s hope for us, I believe President Roosevelt was correct in his assessment. Even though soldiers are uniquely geared up and trained for warfare, the mission during this period of time was exactly as Roosevelt described it -- war, but only to end war. And it reminds me of Christ, who willingly traversed death in order to liberate our souls from it. We will still traverse the threshold of death ourselves at some point, but Christ’s open arms are waiting for us on the other side. This is the victory He won for all mankind -- and we’ve remembered Him for 2,000 years for it. And may we remember Him until His return. 

On our own flawed and earthly scale, I feel it is also important to honor and remember those Americans over the years who endeavored to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of humanity. I believe that through their selfless actions they honored Christ in their sacrifices for us who live today. War is always to be avoided, but through their humble sacrifices and love for future generations whom they would never meet, we are a little closer to that seemingly distant harmonious world today. One day of the year to remember those who gave all is the least we can give to honor their memory and sacrifice. Let us always remember to honor them, and may they find peace and rest in the healing hands of Jesus forevermore. 

Thank you to our veterans and to those who gave all. Happy Memorial Day.

Dalton ​

I’m not there yet. In Tacoma, we purchased a home in 2014 that had once been owned by a master gardener who hosted the neighborhood garden parties. Sadly, the home turned into a rental for many years, and only the shell of the garden remained. Dalton and I were proud of what we were able to bring back to that garden before we moved. I learned a lot in that yard, and I like to think it was grateful that we uncovered it again. 
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Fast forward to our move to Coeur d’Alene when we purchased a home in Dalton Gardens. This home is similar - clearly loved in the past, but after a long rental history, the house and garden were in complete disarray. In fact, one of the first purchases that arrived at our new home was a riding lawnmower. We later learned that our neighbors across the street secretly celebrated to learn that this yard was finally going to be mowed!

Every year in spring, I await the return of my perennials. I cross my fingers and sometimes stand over them and talk to them about how they really need to come back to life (this is not always successful). Ask Dalton. It makes me pretty mad (or it makes me feel like a failure). 

This past fall I decided to finally plant some bulbs throughout our garden. I’m not sure why, but this is not something I have ever done. I planted many different kinds, but the dominant choice was daffodils. As many of you know, the daffodils have recently come out to say hello, and as I type these words, I am staring at a whole planter box of daffodils in my front yard! They make me so happy! 

Yes, they are pretty, and they are happy, and they make our yard look cheerful and welcoming. However, the thing that makes me the most happy is that — it worked! I planted them. They did their magic below the surface, and they showed up for spring! It’s like magic. This new life. The recipe was easy to follow, and the results were successful. 

In spring, we see new life everywhere. New flowers, green grass, baby birds hopping around the yard, beautiful speckled fawns learning how to stand on shaky legs (and how to feast on our gardens …). New life always comes, and it’s always amazing and magical. And there’s something particularly magical and humbling about a new life you had a hand in. 

It must be no coincidence that we celebrate our mothers during spring — a time when new life is everywhere, when the perfection of God’s many recipes is on full display. 

As a mother myself, I am constantly in wonder and awe over my two children — these beautiful blessings that Dalton and I have received in these two amazing humans. It’s truly a humbling experience to watch your children grow up and become who God has intended them to be. He knew who they were before we did. We just get the joy of discovering them every day and year after year. 

It reminds me of the well-known verse from Psalm 139:13-14:
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The rewards are plenty in becoming a gardener (or at least pretending to be one). This year, I am amazed at how these small little brown balls turned into beautiful daffodils! I understand that the recipe is relatively simple — I see them all over town. But seeing them grow in my own garden is even more beautiful to me. 

As we celebrate Mother’s Day, these simple flowers in my garden remind me of the beauty and perfection of God’s creation and, in turn, the deep love and amazement I have for my children every day — the most perfect of God’s recipes!

In His Name, Jenny

​Easter doesn’t seem to dissolve like that. Perhaps, because the renewal and hope of Spring is fast on the heels of Easter, bringing the annual resurrection of nature offering an echo to the resurrection of Christ. Yet especially this year, Eastertide seems even more precious and vital than in years past.

This year, with much of the framework of our external world in such deep dysfunction, I was compelled — by the need for courageous truth and compassionate love — to take the opportunities of Lent seriously. I wanted to be an active participant in revealing the reality of the hope-filled victory of Easter. How might Christ call me to be an instrument of peace, a tool in healing, or a witness to Love in this time of division?

Interestingly, when problems seem overwhelming, it becomes easy to imagine that solutions would need to match the immensity. Doubting we are equipped for a situation; we feel God would probably need to provide an ‘Emmaus Road’ miracle. We forget we had faith in the story of David’s victory over Goliath. The light coming from the tomb is dimmed by shadows of despair. Such was the current of hopelessness I realized I was swirling in as we entered Lent. Yet, oddly — or maybe not so oddly, it seemed to be perfect timing. For if I was to extract myself from this whirlpool of dismay in order to see God’s equipping for courageous truth and compassionate Love, I would need to stand up, look for and step into the practices of Lent.
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When I googled ‘Lent’ I found:

Fortunate for me, as a part of the body of First Presbyterian Church CDA, I am surrounded by an ocean of Easter people and the opportunities for ‘reflection, repentance, fasting and spiritual preparation’ are plentiful.

Let me start with the idea of ‘fasting’. The traditional idea of giving up sweets or other preferred foods is NOT the definition I would promote. Anyone who attends the Contemplative Service has witnessed my quick exit from the sanctuary to Krueger Hall in order to scope out an old-fashioned donut and will confirm that ‘abstaining from treats’ is NOT my working definition of fasting.
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Rather, to consider spiritually active fasting, I’m pleased to share the piece below by Pope Francis (Lent 2017). This was gifted by Donna Brundage at the start of this Lent:

With my intention to seek courage and compassion, reviewing this list daily and selecting one fast as that day’s breath prayer was both an inspiring and tangible start in the morning. So again, I send gratitude to Donna.
Next, repentance, reflection and repentance through reflection. ‘Repentance’ seems such an old-fashioned word and even an antiquated idea to my 21st-century American mindset. I mean, have I really been so sinful that I need to stop, turn around, and seek forgiveness by practicing repentance? Hmm… well, it turns out the answer is: YES. But this conclusion wasn’t realized by going head first, rather, it had to be approached through the heart. A heart softened and prepared through reflection on God’s word and how that understanding affected the lens of real relationships and experiences. Which brings me to my gratitude for the wonderful teaching and speaking truth to power by our pastor, McLane Stone.

The Lent sermon series on the Prodigal Son was personally heart-opening and powerfully hope-filled. By recognizing my reflection in the prodigal daughter, the prodigal sister (most especially) and the prodigal mother, I could find the courage and (self) compassion to consider my own need for and deserving of the liberation of repentance. Once free of my fear of inadequacy to hear how Jesus might call me to do my part for truth and compassion, I was amazed and humbled by the whisper of His call. Instead of a grand, humongous, Nobel Peace Prize-worthy task, my sweet Jesus simply repeated that I should “love my neighbor”. And that right now, my neighbor means my own sisters. And then, it all became so very clear. Once I could love my sisters well, then I would be ready to practice loving strangers well. That’s my small part in putting a drop into the bucket to move the level of courageous truth and compassionate love.

May this Eastertide continue to hum the message of resurrection and redemption in your ears.

Peace, Yvette