March 31st, 2020

Hello Family and Friends,

What day is it anyway?? I don’t know about you, but if it weren’t for Sabbath, I’m certain I might lose track of the days under present circumstances. Wasn’t the sunshine yesterday beautiful?? It was pure gratitude that flowed from my heart and corners of my eyes as I basked in the warmth of sunshine. I hope that you are able to spend some time outdoors during this stretch of beautiful, higher than average temperatures.

Here is what you need to know for this week:

  • We will have a special service this Sabbath in honor of the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection. Please make sure to tune in at 11am via Zoom. Sabbath School starts at 9:30am so make sure you join us there as well!
  • Reminder that we will have a church business meeting this Saturday evening, starting with Vespers at 7:30pm, meeting at 8pm. Church members may receive access to the agenda & meeting in a separate email this week so keep an eye out!
  • Because we are all working hard to stay home and safe, we wanted to let you know that we have turned on our online giving for our website: https://mountvernonsda.com/giving/. There is also a mobile app: iPhone/iPad users: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adventist-giving/id1305324406; Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.andr.adventistgiving&hl=en_US. Even though we are not having in church worship services, we continue to have church expenses and your support is vital. We know that this is a difficult time for many of you, with uncertain jobs, health concerns, kids home without school and more. If any of you are struggling to put food on the table, or to get the food or perhaps medication, please contact the church office: 360.416.0443 or email: office@mountvernonsda.com and we will see how we can help.
  • Pregnancy Choices has an opening for FutureImpact Director. Job details available – contact Pregnancy Choices directly.
  • We also wanted to supply you with links to access Sabbath School apps:

You know that beautiful day I was talking about earlier? Well, my day didn’t start out bright and sunny. In fact, my eyes popped open at 5am because I had agreed to do a quick trip to Ferndale Gleaners for the Skagit Gleaners and drop off a truckload of excess food. Today’s Bible reading turned out to be almost prophetic though I did not know it at the time. Psalm 40:1-2 “I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set me feet upon the rock, making my steps secure.” I had also determined to spend my 45 minute drive in communion with God, no other distractions. It was a glorious early morning (albeit COLD!) as I watched the full(ish?) moon descend and dawn brighten the sky. I made good time and arrived before the person I was supposed to meet. No problem, I thought, I’ll just sit here for a few minutes and wait. But I had to keep in mind that the truck I was driving was expected back in Mount Vernon by 7:45am, so when no one had showed up at 5 til 7am, I decided to check around back of the building to see if I could start unloading items out of sight from the road and save some time. Whelp, the heavy box truck got stuck in some miry bog as I explored the back area. Too late I realized I was stuck. I spent some time looking for items to use to get traction under the tires and extricate myself, not realizing how heavily full the truck was, without success and even sunk deeper. Finally, the volunteer arrived to help me unload. We decided to try and unload the truck, hoping if it was lighter, I would be able to back out…oh how I wished I had stayed up front of the building and waited. I felt so foolish for getting stuck! Three and a half hours later, I was finally back in Mount Vernon, only two hours past my original projected return time. Thankfully they were able to cover the shift I missed with another vehicle. The irony of my devotion time and Bible study did not escape me on my drive home where I had plenty of time to think about my morning. Friends, isn’t this a time of waiting, of patience? This morning, duty-bound me had tried to push forward in a time of waiting and that is what got me into trouble. Did I mention the front of the building is where we were supposed to bring items in? So we had the extra work of dragging about 50 banana boxes to the front of the building. How many times have we done the same with God? We say we will wait for the Lord, but continue to try to push the timing closer to what we have in mind, instead of waiting on Him. In this instance, I put out a lot of other people because I didn’t wait, including the husband of one of the volunteers who came to help me out of the mud on his day off. Throughout my life, God continues to remind me to “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10. Many of us are abiding at home, only leaving for essential work and needs. I can tell you that it is hard to wait at home, and I have three rambunctious kids bouncing off the walls to remind me lest I forget for a moment. But we have a job to do, and I know that by God’s grace, He will equip us as needed and we must trust Him and His timing. Now my non-waterproof boots(!) will have time to dry out as I stay home as much as possible.

Please stay home and stay well. Keep praying. You are not alone, please let us know if there is anything that we can do to help.

Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Smiles,
Melissa Baskett
Admin Assistant
Mount Vernon SDA Church
360-416-0443
www.mountvernonsda.com