Hello My Orchard Cov Family,
This past week I have been in Chicago at our Covenant offices for an executive meeting with our denominational president and other ministry leaders. I had the privilege of opening our time together with a land acknowledgment and a short teaching on how to offer one. After I finished, our newly installed Vice President, Michael White, led our devotional time together. You would not believe how he started! He began by sharing a story about someone being found without wearing any underwear. By the time he asked, “Are you from an underwear-wearing family, or a family that doesn’t wear underwear?” We all laughed and wondered where he was going with this story.
His point by the end of it was about identity. When people see our lives and how we speak, serve, forgive, vote, or care for others, would they say we belong to the family of God, or would they say we belong to something else? When people look at our lifestyle, our choices, our compassion, and the way we handle power, money, time, and the earth, would they say we are a part of the family of God? Or do we look like we belong to something else?
As we journey through the month of November with the awareness that it is Indigenous Peoples Month, I am thinking about what we shared during our executive meeting time, and I am inviting you to reflect along with us. Do you look like you belong to the family of God, or do you look like you belong to something else? The timing feels meaningful, as Indigenous Peoples Month invites all of us to see family in a wider way and to remember the beautiful connections that join people, land, and God together. Indigenous communities teach that the belonging of family extends beyond people. It includes land, water, animals, and all that God has created. Recognizing creation as part of our family draws us closer to God and to one another. It teaches us to live with awareness, to give thanks often, and to treat every living thing as a reflection of our Creator.
Every choice we make tells a story about who we belong to. When we live with love, when we show compassion, and when we care for all of creation, we reflect the heart of the One who calls us family. Let your life carry that reflection everywhere you go. Ask yourself: do you look like you belong to the family of God, or do you look like you belong to something else?
May you live in a way that reveals your family resemblance to our God whom we say we serve.
Grateful to walk with you in the family of God,
Pastor Tamara
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