Suuki's First Hour with Grandpa

Suuki with a flower in her hair 8-16-17

The writing on the card says it all.

Suuki's grandpa, Larry, loves to take pictures and write funny stories about the picture. This is just the first hour of her stay. The next 12 days of her visit will be filled with wonderful surprises.  Her mommy and daddy, Kate and Mark, are vacationing with friends at the shore.

Larry, Kate, Suuki, Mark - July 4, 2017

Life Through the Holy Spirit





Pastor Renee Ford and Mikayla Castellano

In this morning’s sermon, Pastor Renee Ford talked about “An Apostle’s Tale: Freedom” from Romans 8:1-11.
 

In these verses, Apostle Paul talks about the freedom of being released from condemnation when we believe in Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for our sins so we could be forgiven when we sin against God.

Through the Holy Spirit, God ministers to us, enabling us to make changes in our lives. The Spirit empowers us to do the work of God, and even though we will die a physical death, we will live forever in God’s kingdom.

With the Holy Spirit, our growth will help us share God’s love with others.

We had a special visitor today, Mikayla Castellano, who was a camp counselor this summer at Camp Kanesatake where she ministered to 30 girls, ages 8-16. Mikayla is returning to Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) where she will graduate in May 2018 with a degree in Special Education.

Pastor Renee Ford is the pastor for Grays United Methodist Church, Houserville House of Hope, and Woodycrest United Methodist Church. She is also an Instructional Designer for the Department of eLearning Design and Innovation Group in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State.

Painting Brings Back Childhood Memories

Painted by Amy Hoffmann Ritter

 

Amy’s painting pulls me in and makes me feel as though I am standing right inside her picture. It took me a while to understand the emotions her picture stirs in me, but now I understand.

Her painting brings back precious childhood memories.

Jar of pink peonies on my Mother's grave

The off-white flowers remind me of a long row of dark red, pink, and white blossomed peony plants that edged our yard and bloomed in time for family grave decorations on Memorial Day at the Salem Methodist Church my family attended. My mother (her name was Lillian) and her sister, my Aunt Ruth, would gather these flowers and arrange the different colors in glass jars to sit on our family graves. After the Memorial service, people would congregate inside the church and outside in the graveyard to catch up with family they hadn’t seen since the past Memorial Day. People often traveled more than a hundred miles to attend the services. Memorial Day was always been a big event for my family and we would have a meal at our family home where people would stop by to eat after the service. A jar or two of peonies would grace the dinner table and fill the air with their strong fragrance.

The blue sky in Amy’s painting reminds me of times when I would lie on my back, as a kid, in the fields on our farm and look up at the skies during the long summer days. I could spend hours looking at the blue sky and the white fluffy clouds that drifted through the sky. Sometimes, I would chew on a dry piece of straw. It was quiet and I could hear birds chirping, cows mooing, and an airplane flying overhead. It created a time for me to daydream.

Amy, thank you for creating this painting. It helped bring back childhood memories that I have not thought about for a long time.

Your paintings are gifts of inspiration from your heart. Keep painting. Keep inspiring!

Do You Wrestle with Decisions?

Pastor Renee Ford

Pastor Renee Ford, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, blessed us this morning with a sermon on "Wrestling" from Genesis 29:15-28. This sermon finishes her 10-week series on "The Dog Days of Summer."

Before she started her sermon, she asked the congregation if they wrestled with their brothers and sisters when they were growing up.

I grew up on a farm where I had to wrestle calves to get them back into their stalls when they escaped from the barn. When the opponent is stronger than you are, it's hard to hang on and stand your ground.

Pastor Renee was trying to lead us into another realm of thinking about times we wrestle with decisions, whether small or hard ones, and how the outcomes may prepare us for something bigger later.

Jacob and an angel wrestling

In the above cited Biblical passage, Jacob wrestled many hours during the nighttime with a traveling stranger, an angel directed by God. As dawn approached, the stranger asked Jacob to let him go, but Jacob wouldn't let him go until the stranger blessed him.  The stranger blessed Jacob with the name "Israel" which means "One Who Strives with God." The stranger then touched Jacob's hip socket which threw his hip out of joint causing Jacob to let go.

How would God use Jacob who had stolen his brother's birthright? Jacob could not get to where he needed to be to do God's work unless this wrestling match happened. In the end, Jacob was given a new name which would be a significant part of his journey.

Why do we wrestle with decisions?

Is it God's way of inspiring our faith journey? Is God preparing us for something bigger that we don't know about?

Pastor Renee Ford is the pastor for Grays United Methodist Church, Houserville House of Hope, and Woodycrest United Methodist Church. She is also an Instructional Designer for the Department of eLearning Design and Innovation Group in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State.

Father Unexpectedly Bumps Into Younger Son, Frank, at Dallas Airport

Left to right - Eric and His Son, Frank, on Plane from Dallas to Denver

Today, our son, Eric, was flying from his home in South Carolina to Denver to stay a few days with his older son, Eric, Jr., who relocated there recently for his job.

At 7:50 p.m., Eric sent me a text that said, “Guess who I met in the Dallas airport?”

I called Eric right away to see if I could reach him before he boarded his next flight. Here is his story.

He was walking around the terminal in Dallas when he rounded a corner and saw a young man who looked like his son, Frank, from State College.

Believe it or not, it was Frank.

Both of his sons had coordinated a plan that Frank would meet his Dad at the Dallas airport and surprise him.

Our son Eric was so happy. I wish I could have recorded his voice so I could replay it over and over.

Eric will spend a few days with both his sons and will explore the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Daughter Follows in Mother's Footsteps

It was a happy moment, yesterday, when I saw Christina Ripka-Hodges, a friend, and her daughter, Maggie, standing in front the South Hills table set up with new student name tags.

They were at the school to attend the New Student Luncheon held for the incoming Fall Term students.

Enrolled in the Graphic Arts Program at the State College campus, Maggie will start school on August 28.  How excited she must be to start her first day of college in the exciting Graphic Arts Program.

Maggie is following in her mother's footsteps.

Her mother, Christina, who is employed in customer service at Jostens, graduated from South Hills in 1998 with a degree in Business Marketing and Management.

Maggie, congratulations on choosing South Hills to go to college. You are going to love it there.



Tammy Speaks to New Students

Tammy McCoy

Tammy McCoy, a second year AP (Administrative Professional) student, was invited to speak at the New Student Luncheon for fall term, held August 3, 2017 at the State College South Hills school.

 

 

 

 

Gleaning from her wealth of work and school experience, Tammy spoke about: 

"Tips to Help Start Your First Year Right."

• Budget Your Time
• Attend All Classes
• Don't be Afraid to Ask Questions
• Expect to Learn New Things and to Meet New People

Both popular and focused at school, Tammy can be found studying with other students in the Commons Area when she is not in class.

As you can see from her picture above, she always welcomes you with a beautiful smile. We are blessed to have Tammy at school. She brightens everyone's day.