As Our Story Continues...

Thank you, Gretna, for the warm and caring welcome this past Sunday. My family and I are deeply grateful for your open arms. We are looking forward to celebrating many birthdays and milestones with you all—it was a joy to have Ethan's first birthday as our first celebration together!

Your generosity, care for one another, and dedication to your community give me hope. As we spend more time together, I know we will experience many ways that God is present in our lives. I can hardly wait!

God asked Jonah to do something unexpected and unimaginable. I believe God is calling Gretna to continue its wonderful work and be open to new opportunities. As we get to know God and each other better, we can look to the future with awe and excitement for what God has in store for us. Don’t forget your marveling glasses!

Thank you for being willing to continue writing the story of Gretna UMC with me.

Gratefully yours,

Pastor Marissa

July 16, 2024

To My Gretna UMC Family

Thank you so much for how you have loved me and walked with me these past four and a half years. Your resilience is inspiring. Your ability to release what needs to be released and hold on to what needs to be cherished is a beautiful and unique gift.

Your generosity to me, as your pastor, and to all who need to be reminded that they are loved by God plants seeds of hope. As your pastor I was able to see firsthand the impact you have on lives – lives that need to be reminded that they are not alone, lives that need to be reminded that they are worthy of healing, lives that need someone to show them that joy can be restored.

Thank you so much for the wonderful dinner and generous gifts. Enough memories to last a lifetime! Most of all, thank you for being so generous with your love and encouragement. I bring all that you have taught me into this next chapter of my life.

For certainly, the journey continues.

Much love,

Jo

Our Home in Him

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be “at home.” As we add yet another box to the stack of boxes waiting to be moved to “our new home,” a part of me isn’t quite sure where home is. Is it really where my heart is? Where my stuff is? Where my family is? Is it where my friends are?

How do we make a house a home? Hang our favorite pictures? Unpack all of the boxes? Cook meals in the kitchen? Even with bare walls and more and more boxes lining the walls, this place still feels like home. As I struggle to define what “home” means to me I think of what I tell friends who come to visit… “Make yourself at home.” What I mean is, be comfortable, be yourself.

As I grow in my relationship with Jesus, I must also confess that feeling “at home” means that it is okay to sometimes feel uncomfortable; it sometimes offers the invitation to evolve into your truer self. Learning to cook, learning to sew, learning a healthier lifestyle, learning to fix things, learning to let go of things…

Someone once said, “Home isn't where you're from, it's where you find light when all grows dark.” What brings comfort to me during this time of transitioning from one home to another is knowing that in Jesus I am always at home. Jesus invites all of us, as siblings of God, to “make ourselves at home.”

Pastor Jo

June 5, 2024