LAF Weekly Announcements

In God's Grace,

Susan, Wes, Maila & David

 

DON'T FORGET TO TURN BACK YOUR CLOCKS ON SATURDAY EVENING-ENJOY YOUR EXTRA HOUR OF SLEEP!

DEVOTIONAL: 

How to Get Up When You’re Feeling DownLaura MacCorkle, Crosswalk.com Senior Editor

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31, NIV

At this time of year, a lot is heading downward. 
Leaves are falling. Temperatures are dipping. And with this coming Sunday’s time change, the sun will be setting a little earlier. For many, these changes bring about depression, lethargy, fatigue and other problems. In its most serious form, it adds up to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
But symptoms such as these don’t occur just in the fall or only at times when there is less sunlight. In their lesser form, these feelings can come about quite easily in day-to-day living.
Like when an unkind word from a co-worker crushes your spirit and sets the rest of the work day into a tailspin. Should you be surprised? Or when your best friend is the one who is getting married or having a baby or got a promotion. And you got . . . nothing. 
Or perhaps you’ve said “yes” to organizing and leading every church committee, every parent-organized school event, the community Bible study and your neighborhood’s monthly block party.  Your mind is mush, your body is shutting down and you have nothing left to give. 
See? We can quickly sink to the depths of despair in our spirits or become quickly fatigued taking care of everything and everyone else and not ourselves. We’re tired and weary, stumbling and falling. And . . . we’re human, after all.
But thankfully, when we are feeling weighted down, the Lord will help us to soar. He is the one who raises us up. And not any twelve-step plan, self-help book or audio tape series. Now while these are worthy aids—and God can work through systems and processes designed by men—we must look to him and his Word first for direction in how we should live. 
David was a man who understood this. Many passages in the book of Psalms read like his personal diary of sorts and record the times when he felt down and sought the Lord. 
He had it right when he said in Psalm 62:5-8: “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”
When we focus on our circumstances and on what is or isn’t happening in our lives, we will feel down. Like David, we need to go to the One who will lift us up. It is in God alone that we will rise above and find our rest.

CHURCH NEWS YOU CAN USE:

PRUMC Families - Save the Date for the Advent Workshop - Sunday, Nov. 27, 4:00 –6:00pm Fellowship Hall
Join us for crafts galore as we kick-off the Adven tSeason.  Come for fellowship, decorating fun and Pero’s pizza!  Bring children’s hats, gloves and scarves for Christmas Kindness.  Register at www.prumc.org<http://www.prumc.org/ by Friday, November 18.  Contact Noel McCullough at 404-240-8221.
We need volunteers to help with set-up, man the crafttables, registration and take down.
Please email noelm@prumc.org to volunteer.

CURRICULUM: 

This week, the Dickeys will lead us in a discussion on "Grieving Well:  Dealing with grief in a way that is healthy, holistic, and true to our faith traditions."  We tend to associate grief primarily with major life traumas such as a death in the family, a divorce, or an illness. But grief may also emerge in response to any change or loss, including those that we might view as largely positive. Moving away from a place you have lived for years to begin a new job elsewhere, graduating from school, leaving home to get married--even though all of these events are normally considered to be positive life changes, they are still major changes, and as such they may entail mourning for friends, experiences, and places lost. Learning to grieve well means learning to recognize that losses, large and small, are occasions for grief as well as learning to deal in healthy ways with the never-ending presence of change and loss in our lives. 

SOCIAL:

Thank you so much to everyone who attended the Halloween Costume Party this Sunday!  It was a great event and the costumes were priceless! 

Please join us for lunch on Sunday, November 20th following class in the Fellowship Hall.  We realize this is a busy week with Thanksgiving approaching however if you are in town, we would love to get together to start off the holiday week. 
 

NAMETAGS:

If you are newer to the class and would like a nametag please email Lauren Borowsky (laurenmccoy@hotmail.com ).  The nametags are $5 each - check to Lauren payable to PRUMC (or cash).

 

NOVEMBER  BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES:

PJ Wade - 11/2

Natalia Kelly - 11/6

Malia Metzner - 11/7

Jen Linneman - 11/12

Collins Easom - 11/12

Kathryn Spencer - 11/16

Amy Register - 11/21

 

The Spencers - 11/5

The Blackwoods - 11/23