Joni Mitchell sings a song with the refrain, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” It seems like too often we take for granted the good things that we depend on. We don’t notice them until suddenly they’re taken away.

Our mountains are looking awfully bare this time of year. In a good year for snowfall, the ski slopes open up around Thanksgiving. The earliest any of the slopes opened this winter were more than halfway through December. While the lack of snow pack is inconvenient for snowboarders like myself, it’s alarming for all of us who remember all too well our lack of water and electricity a couple years ago. When it doesn’t snow enough in the winter, we don’t have the reserves to replenish our reservoirs and power our electricity producing dams during the rest of the year. When we’re enduring our typically dreary, rainy winters, we sometimes might complain about too much rain and too much snow. We only appreciate the blessings of our rainy climate when the rain stops.

A buzzword sweeping through spiritual circles, particular in Buddhism, is “mindfulness.” Mindfulness is a state of paying attention to the small things that we take for granted. Meditation and contemplation can help some people become aware and mindful of little things that we don’t even notice. But if those little things were suddenly taken away, we’d be in crisis. Taking the time to be mindful of the air that we’re breathing can be an act of spiritual devotion. We may become more mindful by closing our eyes and focusing our attention to the air filling our lungs, giving us life, and washing away the toxins from our system. Mindfulness can be achieved through meditative awareness of the sounds of traffic and the wind and the almost imperceptible hum of electricity flowing through our lights. Most of us probably don’t notice these things at all until, for some reason, they’re suddenly gone. Then we’re reminded that clean air and peace and quiet and light are blessings that are dear and invaluable.

My prayer for our congregation is that we may become ever more mindful in the coming year. I pray that we may live our faith intentionally, carefully appreciating the blessings that we may be tempted to take for granted. For each smiling face in worship, for the sound of prayerful music, for a sound and secure building in which to minister and receive ministry… all these things are blessings that we too often don’t mention. For each kind word, for the gentle skills of a patient teacher, for the people in our lives who know us well enough to hold us accountable to our aspirations… the blessings that we depend on most are sometimes the blessings that we too easily take for granted. May we be ever more mindful this year that our lives are surrounded by the blessings of God.

A Vote of Thanks

I would like to recognize the generous contributions of time and service by the following persons involved in our church’s financial ministry. In all their work, they strive for accuracy and to assure that procedures followed are in accordance with the Discipline of the Methodist Church as well as Internal Revenue Service regulations. Our thanks to all for a job well done!

JOANNE WEJAK, CHURCH TREASURER, has the time-consuming task of maintaining ledgers and records of all monies received and disbursed. She writes all the checks and prepares monthly reports for the Conference Office and our Finance Committee. She also assists in preparation and monitoring of the church budget.

SARAH MOORHOUSE, FINANCIAL SECRETARY, orders and distributes offering envelopes to members and friends of our congregation. She maintains records of gifts and offerings of each and prepares quarterly statements for them.

OUR FAITHFUL TEAM OF COUNTERS, Joe Chapman, Jim Blattner, Art Campbell, Esther Dean, Pauline Goodman, Patricia Holmes, Wally Johnson, Arch Mallinson, and Jean Yeager.

Each week, a team of two persons from this group takes its turn at counting and properly recording that Sunday’s offering. They prepare a report accounting for the money received for the regular offering and that designated for special giving, such as the furnace fund, Camp Indianola, communion, Christmas, etc. The prepare a deposit slip and deposit the money at the bank.

Thanks to the generosity and commitment of our congregation, we have been able to pay all of our church’s Conference Apportionments for the year.

Worship Committee

Accepting the position of Worship Chairperson was a big step for me to take. As I stated in a sermon a couple of months ago, I am not fully convinced that I am the person for the job but I am willing to give it a try. Every new job is a challenge. Without God new jobs or changes can be frightening but with God they can be adventures. Just as God was with Moses and Joshua, he will be with me, and all of us as we face our new challenges.

With the help and support of Pastor Mark and my committee, I know I can accomplish the task set before me.

If you have concerns or ideas that you would like to share concerning worship, please see me, or any member of our committee. Other members of the committee are Suzette Birrell, Susan Senft, Betty Pursel, Cindy Rattray, Jean Hutchison, Marilyn Romsdahl, Louise Fiamengo, Gloria Frisbie and Joe Chapman.

Our first meeting for 2003 will be held on Thursday, January 9, at 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.

Centennial Plans Beginning for 2004 Celebration

Plans are beginning to form for the centennial celebration of the Woodland Park United Methodist congregation. All church participants are invited to be a part of our preparations. Here’s how you can contribute:

Start thinking about an appropriate theme for our centennial year. Ideas so far center on incorporating the strengths of our past as we move into the future.

Begin to gather stories, and memories and photos of the Woodland Park UMC community in years gone by. There will be more information on ways to submit these soon.

The planning team will be going to the January meeting of the Church Council with a proposal that also invites participation by the many committees and groups of the church. The intent is to have widespread involvement in this program of celebration, so that collectively it will be a community labor of love representative of the character our congregation.

Active centennial preparations will begin in 2003, following the Church Council meeting. Be thinking about how you want to be involved individually and/or as part of a group within the congregation.

Members of the “core” centennial planning team include Arthur Campbell, Pat Dougherty, Cindy Rattray, Dorothy Trenor, Mark Williams, and Jean Yeager. This is an open group. As specific aspects of the developing plan intrigue you, we invite your involvement with us.

United Methodist Women

Our January meeting will be Wednesday, January 8, later in the month than usual because the first Wednesday is January 1, New Year’s Day. Our program will be on Restorative Justice presented by Jean Yeager and Peggy Campbell. The Executive meeting is at 9:45 a.m.

Please join us for our General meeting and program, which starts at 10:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. A delicious lunch is served at noon and the United Methodist Men’s group will join us.

Making Sure Your Donation Is Properly Credited

If you have numbered envelopes, please use them and note your name and amount of your offering. If you don’t use your envelope, the counters must prepare one for you since the Financial Secretary uses the envelopes as her source of information for her records.

If you intend your check to cover both your regular offering and a special offering, please make certain you have clearly indicated this.

If you do not have envelopes, please use one of the pew envelopes.

If you are new to our church have not been issued envelopes and would like to have them, please call Sara Moorhouse at 206-367-0739.

2003 Sale of CD’s Will Benefit WPUMC

The music of David Jones (and many other American composers) can be heard on two new CD's. David has these CD's for sale at church and $2 from each sale will be donated to WPUMC. The performers (Mark Hetzler on trombone and Mike Tunnell on trumpet) are two of the finest brass players in the US.

Developing Settings For Adult Learning

As I look forward to Christmas and the New Year, I look forward to us developing settings for adult learning. I (and those I can recruit) will be asking your input to following:

Content - What should we study? Some possible studies are: Can war be just? Can justice be restorative? How we better understand the people of Mexico? What are the methods used to be more aware of God in our everyday life?

Format - New content introduction. Content to be considered is read/viewed by participants before meeting. Content to be considered is presented by participant at meeting. Content to be considered is presented by 'subject matter expert' not necessarily a participant.

Format - Participant interaction. Most inspired speak and interact with checks that all are heard. Everyone responds to the content before group interaction.

When - It has been a problem to establish a meeting time. Sunday before worship. Sunday after worship. Sunday over lunch. Tuesday evening. Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon. Saturday over dinner before Seattle Folklore Society concerts at Phinney Ridge Community center.

Many Thanks

Our thanks to all of you who put lovely flowers on the altar in 2002. If anyone finds it too difficult to do this, call me and I could buy flowers and arrange them for you.

It has been our pleasure to serve God and the members of Woodland Park United Methodist Church this past year.

Merry Christmas!