Making Connections
Posted on Jan 14, 2021 by Heather Lewis
I have always been a bit obsessed about connecting with people. As an Army kid in the '70s and '80s, that meant writing letters when I moved away from my friends. When I went to college in 1989, I wrote to 16 pen pals every week, including my parents and grandparents. I still send 200 Christmas cards every year, and leave my walls plastered with the photo cards of friends until at least March.
And then, just as I was taking down my 2019 Christmas cards, a pandemic shut down our lives. We faced months without my favorite place to connect: Salem Lutheran Church worship. I made videos like crazy to help us stay connected, hoping comforting music and pictures of our families would help us get through this. We provided worship online, hoping our friends would still find meaning and hope in God’s word.
In June, the joy returned. We came back together safely. We celebrated our 3rd graders taking first communion and our 8th graders being confirmed. We spent the summer organizing, said goodbye to our buildings, and continued connecting in our beautiful new worship space in Shawnee.
Have you felt connected this year? Did you reach out, or did others reach out to you? I feel so blessed to have music to help me provide the comfort that I want to share with you. Is there a song that brings you peace, joy, comfort? Please tell me so I can bring it to you in worship. I cannot wait to see your faces beginning in February. Happy new year, friends!
In Christ’s love,
Heather Lewis
Director of Music and Worship