Grace Waves

Friends:

You did what you could until you knew better, and when you knew better, you did better.  Maya Angelou

The Animal Blessing & Pet Festival was pure delight!  The spirit of the day, the presence of so many beautiful creatures, the commitment by many to care for wounded animals was matched by those who are diligently training animals to serve the blind, the lonely and those with Alzheimer’s.  A family came from Davis, a PLTS Seminary professor came with her basset hound, and Duke the Great Dane/Therapy Pet attended.  The music in the Courtyard was outstanding:  dueling pianos, tuba, brass and flutes, the matching dalmatian Hounds of Heaven and John and Toni Baker. Great burgers.  Wonderful auction items and special interactions with those whose pets were blessed.  Such a wonderful gift this St. Francis Day is to us and for the community!  (Be sure to check out the photos on our website and on Facebook.)  Our thanks to Maili and Kersti Malvre who inspired the Pet Festival years ago, to Greg Grebe and Pam and Chuck Fisher for oversight and organizing the event and to all the Peace Members who ‘made it happen’:  Pr. Elizabeth, Charlene McPherson, Marlene Garrity, Libby Flynn, …….and all the other nameless saints who contributed.
The Partnership Committee invites you to join them for Dinner and Conversation this Sunday, October 13 from 4–6 pm at Peace.  This is an opportunity to learn more about the needs and contexts of our Partners in Nicaragua and South Africa.
The Women of Peace have met and enjoyed a time of relaxation and conversation about the various ministries of Peace.  We continue to meet on the 2^nd Wednesday of each month.
The Internship Committee held its first meeting with Seminarian Brock Klobe this week.  Those serving on the Committee include:  Ken Budesa, Nancy Carlston, Ron Elsdon, Tom Hall and Gun Johnston.  They will meet monthly with Brock for reflection about his work among us and at the prison until his work concludes in June.
Congratulations to Jack O’Neil on receiving his Eagle Scout Award!   An amazing accomplishment.  Jack shared his thanks with the members of Peace this past Sunday and also with the Church and his friends in Lwamondo Parish, South Africa who inspired his major project.  Way to go, Jack!
In our prayers:  Lars and Margit, Luis Garcia, Ari, the vulnerable children in our world, those who have dedicated their lives to working for peace, those searching for work, artists on the edge, medical and spiritual healers, those living with depression, for an appreciation of the vastness and wildness of God’s Creation.
Shokoor’s Exhibit:  Art of an Afghani Refugee.  Shokoor Khusrawi’s Art Exhibit will continue at Peace for the next 2 months.  Our thanks to Bill Carmel for mounting this engaging exhibit.  Encourage your friends to see and absorb this creative work.  The paintings and calligraphy are available for sale and some have already been sold!
Sunday’s Forum–Website:  Vehicle for Community, Communication and Outreach!   Join us as our Webmaster Dabbie Bowron and the Connections Committee lead us through all the possibilities our new website is offering us for increasing awareness and connectivity with our ministries, educational gems and goals.
Spoon Jackson has sent us a letter of gratitude for making appeals to Gov. Brown for Spoon’s release after 35 years in prison.  Please keep Spoon in your prayers.
“Sing Out!” – Jazz at Peace Theme Song:  New Recording on Sunday, October 20 at 5:00 pm.  Community Chorus participants desired!
Nette has prepared an outline of the Shoe Box Ministry for your review below.  Items for the Shoe Boxes (but no more shoe boxes) are needed.  Focus Date: Nov. 18–25.
The Power of a Simple Gift—step up, step in!  Make a difference! Donations must be delivered to Peace Lutheran Church by November 9^th.
Since 1993, Samaritans Purse – Operation Christmas Child has delivered more than 100million shoe boxes filled with books, toys and treats to children in more than 130 countries all over the world. The receiving children have often been displaced by war, persecution, or genocide. Take your pick, whenever really poor decisions are made, children are at the receiving end of a situation they didn’t create and have no power to control.  They often live on city dumps or in shanty towns, sewers, or refugee camps, trapped in poverty, illness and hopelessness.
The idea is so very simple:  grab an empty shoe box, fill it with books, school supplies, toys, toiletries and treats—in short, anything you think a child should be blessed with.   Finally, please include a check for $7 or more to cover the transport of the box to its final destination:  a laughing child who, very often for the first time, receives a gift of any kind!

• When you pack a shoebox, please select one of these three age groups:  2-4, 5-9, or 10-14
• The checks for the postage should be made out to Samaritan’s Purse
• For more information on the suggested contents of a shoe box, please go to www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

If you prefer to participate with donations other than packed shoe boxes, please feel free to bring the following items to church:

• Board books suitable for toddlers   (Half-Price books is a good resource)
• New or as-new stuffed toys
• Crayons or big markers
• Toddler tooth brushes
• Toothpaste
• Hard candy (Please – no chocolate as it might melt during transport)
• Small miscellaneous toys

The donated items will be packed into shoe boxes for toddlers and will be delivered at an official pickup location during the week of November 18–25.
Never has reaching so many children, with so little effort, been so easy!  Step up, step in – make a difference!
Blessings,  Pr. Steve