Trust the Process, and Be Fed
Posted on Jun 10, 2026 by Heather Lewis
I’m guessing some of you remember this if you were involved in meetings with Pastor Dave: many years ago, Salem spent an entire year starting each staff meeting and council meeting dwelling in the Word with the same scripture, ALL YEAR. Every week, dwelling in the same words. I’m sure we squeezed every ounce of possibility out of that scripture many times over!
I thought of it this week as we talk about Jesus sending the twelve out with the authority to do what He had done: heal, teach, and proclaim the Good News. (This was part of our overly dwelled-in scripture.) His instructions were to do everything without payment, and stay with people in the town. I remember discussing shaking dust off their feet, and a sentence with four different animals: sheep, wolves, serpents, and doves. It was a strange combination for one sentence! (Matthew 10:16)
I struggle with patience for things that are repetitive. Those who are involved in leading worship music with me know that I very frequently cut lyrics that repeat over and over. This week I sent a YouTube video to the band of a song we’re singing on Sunday, and they know that we will NOT sing that song for 7 minutes like the video — we’ll be lucky to make it to 3 minutes.
And yet, even with my eye rolling and heavy sighs those many years ago, I did in fact find something new each week in our scripture. I allowed myself to trust the process, and by doing so I accomplished what the whole point of the task was: to center ourselves on why we were meeting in the first place, and to bring ourselves back to God’s will for us. We still start each staff meeting dwelling in the Word, but it isn’t the same every week, for which I’m grateful.
As you make your way through this summer, consider spending time doing what feeds you. That may involve finding meaning in repetitive tasks, or mixing things up a little. You can try going to Atonement’s Saturday 5:00 p.m. worship, or listening to the organ Sunday at 9:30 a.m., or the praise band Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Salem and Atonement are intentionally mixing things up this summer, and we hope you will be fed.
In Christ’s love,
Heather Lewis
Director of Worship and Music
Director of Youth Ministries