November Message from Rev. Coplin
I want to start by saying how appreciative I am for the care and understanding you have extended to my family during a difficult season. Needless to say, recent developments are discouraging but we are making do. Thank you for your thoughts, your kind words, and for simply being there when words can no longer express how much LSU is stinking it up this year.
Of course, there are other things going on at the parsonage that are even more important than football. We might wish some had never happened, or would simply go away. Maybe you can relate. I have had the privilege of getting to know several of you over these past few months and have learned that many in our church and surrounding community are dealing with significant life changes and new normals. And, as the holidays hurry near, it seems that we all will be experiencing some amount of disruption to the normal routine. Change can often prove to be challenging in a season so tied to tradition and memory.
While reflecting on Thanksgiving, my thoughts drift to days gone by. I think of family and loved ones, crowded but comfortable under one roof. I remember how the ladies’ signature dishes covered every inch of the kitchen counters and how a cool wind hissed through pine trees while cousins tossed the football out back. I remember loved ones who have since passed and of laughter around the table following a well-known story told like only they could tell it. Thinking of Thanksgiving, I’m lured into longing for what once was, and how blessed we were in our abundance.
But at that first Thanksgiving, those gathered were far from familiar circumstances. They looked back upon a year which was filled with scarcity: disease, malnutrition, and adversity had diminished and discouraged their numbers. Yet, faithful of God’s enduring love and provision, they persevered in hope. Having gathered that first harvest, they broke bread, gave thanks, and expected another hard winter. I am confident that their thanks was given not only for the bounty at hand, but also for deliverance from trials past and future.
This Thanksgiving, as we prepare to gather and celebrate, let us hold our loved ones close and remember our friends who are grieving or experiencing struggle. And in all things, let us give thanks to the Lord for blessing us in times of abundance as well as in times of need. His love endures forever.
Grace and peace,
Brian