Earlier this week I was watching a YouTube series called Here's the Thing when one of the co-hosts, Angel, said this year has been "a whole lotta Inshallah." I could not agree more. “Inshallah” is an Arabic phrase primarily used by Muslims but also Arabic Christians meaning "God willing" or "if God wills." They state this before or after mentioning any plans as a reminder of who is in charge. It made me remember something my mom and grandma used to say a lot and still do when talking about the future: "God willing." I thought that meant "hopefully," but it does not; not quite. If 2020 has taught me anything, it is that we are in control of little.

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I began 2020 with a theme song. I typically choose a word for the year. I honestly cannot remember my word because this year has been so different from what I envisioned. Wait…that was my word: VISION. I digress. My song of the year came from the widely anticipated Frozen II, called “Into the Unknown.” All of 2019, I felt God was preparing me for some big changes and leaps of faith. I guess I was right, but I was also really wrong.

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We want to provide an update to everyone on our plans for in person service, and thank everyone for filling out the survey for your worship preferences at this time. As of right now we are going to delay in person services due to the warning issued by Peoria City County Health Department.

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2020. Woof. Am I right? To give you context about my 2020 and how it’s already shaped me, first I’ve gotta tell you a bit about 2019.

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We are excited to welcome Heather Robertson as our new pastoral intern for the next academic year. Heather will be with us for the next year as she finishes her final year of seminary online through Garrett Theological Seminary.

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In a sense, the anxiety I have experienced throughout most of my life has prepared me for this moment. In my head, I would dream up scenarios such as this, so this pandemic seemed inevitable. When COVID-19 hit, while it became harder to not let those fears consume me, I also felt prepared because this anxiety that most people are experiencing right now is my normal, everyday life.

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The search committee is continuing the process of finding a new co-paster to work alongside Josh. In our last update, we had chosen four candidates to move on and had Zoom meetings with each.

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Check out the second week of enneagram voices with Bryan (2), Justin (3), and Vicky (4) share about their home type within the Heart triad and how they have journeyed with the Enneagram.

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If someone had asked me 5 years ago if I would be working out of a hospital-based program to counsel victims of violent crime in the most underserved parts of Peoria, I would probably have looked at you funny. Then, I wouldn’t have been aware enough of my own privilege to know how privileged I was to work my part-time hours in a group private practice with people who could well afford my psychotherapy services. There is a place for that work, but I was soon to learn that there are other needs that need to be met for justice to get a little closer.

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