Grand Valley United Methodist Church
March 2025 Newsletter
Don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead 1 hour before bed on Saturday, March 8th!
In this newsletter:
1. From the Pastor
2. Ash Wednesday
3. In Loving Memory
4. Wednesday Lenten Study
5. Birthdays
6. Calendar
7. Group Details
8. Church Reports
9. Just for Fun
10. Easter Lily/Spring Bouquet form
From the Pastor….
A well-known baseball coach was quoted in the Kansas City Times as saying, “Some people are born on third base and go through life strutting about as though they hit a triple!” As I read that, I thought of various people who were “born with a silver spoon in their mouth,” or were given a large inheritance and acted as if they earned it all. They self-righteously criticized those who didn’t succeed as being “lazy” or “stupid”. It occurred to me that there are no “self-made” men or women, even those who went from “rags to riches”, because all of us have had people who helped us or encouraged us along the way. However, there is more than material success at stake here.
I think of emotionally mature adults who came from emotionally secure homes. I think of great Christian lovers who were loved by at least one person who introduced them to the Master in a most effective way. I think of hard-working folks who had a father or mother or employer who showed them the value of good, honest labor. The list of examples goes on. Where were you born?
Lent is a time to examine “where you were born”, a time of reflection, looking in the “mirror” of who you are, we spend most of the year in activities of doing, “looking outward”, focusing our energies on “making it”. However, rarely do we actually sit down and reflect on our lives and where we’re going. I would like to suggest three practices that can help us look in the mirror:
1. Thanksgiving. Lent shouldn’t be simply a time of looking at my faults and ought-not-to’s, but reflections on how I am so gifted. Who helped me get to where I am? To whom am I deeply and profoundly indebted for my life? Who are the four or five people who, if it weren’t for them, I would be much less than I am today? Lent is a time of writing notes of thanks or long distance phone calls to those special someones who may not even know what they did.
2. Sacrifice. Giving up something is important, but so is giving back something. Giving up a luxury, to save the money, and give back to someone who wasn’t “born on third base.” Often we can’t give thanks directly to someone who helped us—but we can pass it on and perhaps become that “someone” for another who needs it.
3. Discipline. Doing something intentionally that I don’t normally do. It could be giving up a food, drink, or habit that is destructive to me, or adding a habit or style of life that would be most constructive. It’s a time of “spring cleaning” old (bad) habits and “remodeling” new (healthy) habits.
However, none of these can be done without a healthy dose of looking in the mirror and seeing that down deep inside, each of us is wonderfully gifted by others. Each of us has wonderful gifts to pass on.
What are your “Lenten reflections”? What do you see inside? Where were you born?
Michael
We will be holding an Ash Wednesday Service at 5:00 p.m. We hope you can join us.
In our annual tradition, we will be displaying Easter Lilies or Spring Bouquets for our Easter Service on April 20th. If you would like to bring in flowers in honor of or in memory of someone, please fill out the form at the end of the newsletter and return it to the office no later than Wednesday, April 16th to be included in the special insert on Easter Sunday. These forms will also be available as inserts in the bulletins starting on Sunday, March 23rd.
It is with great sadness that we report the death of Roberta “Bobbi” Prentice. She passed away on February 12th. Bobbi had moved to Fruita a few years ago to be closer to her sister, but will always be a part of the GVUMC family. She will be greatly missed.
Our Wednesday Bible Study group will be doing a Lenten Study starting on March 5th. The study is titled: The Way – Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus.
We invite all to attend.
March Birthdays
10 – Lisa Waszak-Koning
12 – Timothy Botkin
15 – Karen Dornan
29 – Jessica McElroy
Our Seekers Class(Adult Sunday School) meets every Sunday morning at 8:30. We invite all to attend.
Join us for Bible Study every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. or 5:30 p.m. (starting up again March 12) in the Fellowship Hall. We hope you can join us.
Choir meets at 4:00 on Wednesday and bells meet when needed. We are always looking for participants, so if you would like to join either of these wonderful musical groups, please contact the office at (970)285-9892 or by email: office@grandvalleyumc.com
Prayer Partners meet the 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 10:30. If you have anyone that you would like to add to the Prayer Partner list, please contact Bert Botkin at (970)216-8682.
Our Ambassadors (Care Team) meet on the 2nd Friday at 11:00 in the Fellowship Hall.
Church Council Report
Council Musings
The Worship Committee has ordered some new banners.
The Trustees have contacted a business about the possibility of putting a handicapped opener on the front door.
Finances are good.
Mission & Outreach
There will be a potluck on Sunday, March 31st (5th Sunday) right after the worship service. Please bring a dish to share and join us in fellowship and good food!
Mission & Outreach will be having Easter dinner immediately following the worship on Sunday, April 20th. They will supply the ham and mashed potatoes, and ask that you bring a dish to share.
Treasurer
January was a Financially Good Month
The Church started the year off well. Remembering that budgets are estimates based on prior years income and expenses, giving was under budget, but only by $600. Total income was also under budget by $870 partly because it was budgeted that the Pentecostal Church would be paying the higher rent that has been negotiated starting in January, but they will start in February.
Expenses were under budget by $200. The final bottom line was the Church had net income of $1,187, a little less than budget, but good.
The long-term investments increased by $3,400. The Church has more than one year’s expenses in unrestricted assets. So, it is in good shape.
Financials are available on the bulletin board outside the fellowship hall.
More fun puns…..
– Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
– Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: “You stay here; I’ll go on a head.”
– I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
– A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center read: “Keep off the Grass”.
– The midget fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
– The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
– A backward poet writes inverse.
– In a democracy it’s your vote that counts. In feudalism it’s your count that votes.
– When cannibals ate the missionary, they got a taste of religion.
– If you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you’d be in Seine.
Will finish up next month…..
Church Contact Information
PO Box 125
Parachute CO 81635
(970)285-9892
office@grandvalleyumc.com
www.GrandValleyUMC.com
OFFICE HOURS:
Wednesday – Friday
9:00 – noon
EASTER LILIES / SPRING BOUQUETS
You are invited to help decorate our sanctuary for Easter with Lilies or Spring Bouquets. Please complete the following and place it in the collection plate. On Easter Sunday there will be a bulletin insert acknowledging all our arrangements. You may designate your flowers in memory of a departed loved one or in honor of a loved one still living.
______________________________ will provide flowers for Easter
(Your name)
Please use one line for each arrangement you intend to provide.
One arrangement may also be used for more than one person.
In memory / honor (circle one) of _________________________________
In memory / honor (circle one) of _________________________________
In memory / honor (circle one) of _________________________________
In memory / honor (circle one) of _________________________________
In memory / honor (circle one) of _________________________________
The last day for notifying the church of your Easter flowers is Wednesday, April 16th.
Please deliver your flowers to the church on Thursday, 17th or Friday, April 18th between 9:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Also remember to put a small tag with your name on your flowers so you may take them home after the Easter Sunday service.