A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAPLAIN

Dear Sunset Wood Family,                                                   April 12, 2020

The Gardener

15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). John 20: 15-16

Amid the turmoil in our lives at this time, the world keeps on turning and the seasons keep on evolving. Spring is here! People have been out in their respective gardens tending to the ground, pulling up weeds, allowing the perennials to grow unencumbered, giving room for annuals to be placed alongside and to add to the garden’s beauty.

The rain, soil, and sun are allowing the flowers to be fed as they are beginning to spring forth with their wondrous colors and hues. Our Gardener is doing the same thing with us during this Easter season, especially this one. SPRING is here😊 Rejoice! Our Savior is risen!

Our Gardener is here with us forever creating something beautiful within us. As the song says, “Every morning’s an Easter morning from now on!” and it is! We are the flowers in our Creator’s garden. Each of us unique in our own stunning way.

Each of us add to the exceptional diversity of the garden the Gardener has provided for us. Within our extraordinary existence, we each have a place in this orchard filled with a scenic view that the Architect of our lives has offered to us to revel in, grow in, and multiply in.

Can we not understand the joy that has been afforded to us? Let us take time to sit back and unlock the resurrection of our Provider. What does it mean for us at such a time as this? Shouldn’t our colors be brighter, our hearts be bigger, our lives be more worthy?

Because of the grace of our Lord’s resurrection, shouldn’t we be more prayer filled, joy giving, laughter making people? We are coming through the valley of the shadow of something of our own making and by God’s unending grace we are surviving! We will survive! A

 blight has hit the Gardener’s treasure trove of beauty. Some have died along the way. More flowers are starting to show their stalks through the tilled soil where seeds have fallen. A new beginning, a new start to try and be better, grow stronger to live in the gracious light that is always there and always giving hope to a new day. We are the resurrected people. We are the Easter people. We are the Gardener’s favorites.

He spends so much time with us, pruning, watering, feeding, and watching us mature under His care. Be the beauty, the grace, the wonder, the hope for those that may not quite see to whom they belong. Be the Easter people of the great garden that our Savior has tilled, loved, and adored every second of every day of our lives! AMEN!