I want to start by wishing all of our wonderful mothers, “Happy Mothers Day!”

I can look back on my childhood and remember many things, but the memories that are the most vivid are those of my parents. I had a wonderful mom and dad and I become more and more thankful for them as time goes by. It has often been said that you can’t fully appreciate something until you lose it. Both my parents have passed and I have experienced that very reality. I have a picture of them on my desk and every time I look at it I am reminded of another life lesson that they taught me. As a matter of fact, I am still learning from many other life experiences.

As we deal with this virus we are going through a time that we will all remember. There are some terrible things that are happening, even death, but through it all there are some valuable life lessons we may have learned no other way. This is not something that we are happy about. When I was a child and my parents corrected me it wasn’t something I was happy about. But as I became a man, I realized that the things I learned through that correction was invaluable. Many times we cannot see the good in something until we are through it. We can drive through a dark tunnel on a bright sunny day and the sunshine cannot be seen until we come out on the other side. The bright sun was always shining but the tunnel was blocking it from us.

We are going to come out on the other side of this pandemic and the sun will shine. We will have many blessings through this time but we may not realize them until we are through it. Keep loving each other, showing works of kindness, and praying that everyone will be encouraged.

Join us Sunday morning at 10:30 on Facebook at The Gathering Place, or on our website: gatheringplacewch.org. Click on “watch live here.”

John Pfeifer

Pastor of The Gathering Place Church