Free Methodist Medical Fellowship

As my parents are now in their eighth decade, I have become more aware of
the privilege of each visit in their home.  Mom is now almost entirely
confined to a wheel chair and Dad is now the “home maker” who sees that the
house is clean and the meals are prepared.   With each visit I find myself
looking back, and they are always willing to indulge my reminiscing.  My
mother is especially so inclined, as she shares with me a melancholy spirit.
  Though my Dad has his own stories to tell, he is more the forward
thinking, always the optimist, not so much interested in the feelings but
the doing.

It occurs to me that in our spiritual journeys we need both the
contemplative looking back and the looking forward.  In retrospect we see
many lessons we learned or should have learned, even though much of what we
remember is colored by nostalgia.   But then there is the future.  Having
learned from the past, we look forward to a future filled with hope, a hope
that is founded in our shared faith that Jesus the Christ, once having come
as a baby, will return for his people.  He is now preparing a place for us.

With this as our shared hope, I wish you all a Happy New Year.  Thank you
for being a part of the fellowship this past year.  I trust that we will be
able to share together through the Fellowship in significant ways in this
year 2002.