I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
                                                                                    Philippians 3:10-14

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright once told of an incident that seemed insignificant at the time, but had a profound influence on the rest of his life.  The winter he was 9, he went walking across a snow-covered field with his reserved, no-nonsense uncle.  As the two of them reached the far end of the field, his uncle stopped him.  He pointed out his own tracks in the snow, straight and true as an arrow's flight, and then young Frank's tracks meandering all over the field.  "Notice how your tracks wander aimlessly from the fence to the cattle to the woods and back again," his uncle said. "And see how my tracks aim directly to my goal.  There is an important lesson in that."

Years later the world-famous architect liked to tell how this experience had greatly contributed to his philosophy in life. "I determined right then," he'd say with a twinkle in his eye, "not to miss most things in life, as my uncle had."

As we prepare for our Annual Charge Conference, goals are on the minds of a lot of people.  Our goals relating to 2021 were pretty basic—let’s just get through the year.  As I was preparing for this year’s Annual Charge Conference, downloading forms from Desert Southwest Conference and trying to find information about last year’s conference, I came across that story about Architect Frank Lloyd Wright and slowed down a bit.  

Even though goals are important, I thought we should have a theme by which those goals are developed.  I don’t want to lose sight of who the goal-giver is for me and I believe that God has set forth a theme to which all of our goals should fall right into place (whatever they are and will be).  To coin a phrase that has been circulating throughout our campus, how about a theme as we move forward of “This is Spirit of Hope UMC-Loving God and Each Other.”  This theme definitely supports our mission of Glorifying God, Gracing Others, and Growing Disciples.

At our Annual Charge Conference, we will set some more goals for us to achieve this year as a church.  I look forward to what God has in store for us as we “Love God and Each Other.”

Pressing on in God’s name,

Pastor Deborah Schauer