Dear Friends,

Last Wednesday morning, my day started with a bang. Literally! As I was walking Java down South Ocean Boulevard at 6:00 a.m. — in the dark, thanks to daylight savings — I whacked my head on a palm tree sticking out into the sidewalk.

In just a few short days, we will celebrate a truly special moment in Bethesda’s history—the 100th anniversary of the laying of our church’s cornerstone. On Sunday, March 16, following the 11:00 a.m. service, we will gather on the lawn for a brief ceremony with music, prayer, and fellowship as we honor this milestone.

Dear Friends,

One of my closest pals is an expert editor. I don’t mean she pores over magazine spreads; instead, she edits her home regularly. Her place is always fresh and inviting. There’s almost no clutter! She’s ready at a moment’s notice to welcome guests.

For many years, I tried to follow the ritual of denying myself something for the season of Lent. Sometimes this spiritual discipline yielded new focus, but often it led to a lot of time yearning for the thing that I was missing. It was a challenge of New Year’s Resolution proportions to think of this year’s object of denial, and it was just as large a task to try to follow it for the duration of Lent.