Ellsworth United Methodist Church

Dear Friends,

Happy August!

In late May and early June, we are always busy buying suntan lotion and bug “dope.”  Perhaps we also buy new beach towels or a bathing suit. We dig out our favorite flip flops, T- shirts and shorts. After really long deep digs, we unearth lawn chairs, coolers, “freezer blocks,” maybe even “noodles,” a row boat, rubber raft, or canoe with paddles.

In late May and early June, our thoughts dance with plans of days at the pool, ponds, lakes, streams, rivers, or ocean.  We exercise in preparation for hikes on trails where we will hear nothing but our own breath, our own footsteps, bird calls, and the movement of animals through the woods. At the start of August, we still mark our calendars with “beach days” and woodland escapes, bonfire, bbq and sparklers, outside concerts and dances under the stars. We tend our gardens: flowers and veggies planted after the last threat of frost. We pick berries, harvest our early crops. In the first days of August, there’s a “nagging” feeling: “The Lazy Days of Summer” are becoming fewer and we’ll no longer be humming “Summer Time,” but perhaps “Autumn Leaves.”

As always, we must appreciate each new day and try to make it special. In August, I always take the challenge of making each day wonderful very seriously. Here’s a confession: in August I
open up my clothes drawers and dig deep to the bottom for my oldest and most favorite T- shirts, ones which I have pledged to wear every year but maybe I have forgotten until,  “whoopsie daisey,” it is now August. “Every favorite must be worn,” I think. “What a shame to skip a year without putting each one on, at least once.” One I yank out is “Coyote Moon.” I have worn this shirt ever since my baby (who is turning 25 this August) was still riding around in a “Snugglie.” Wearing the favorite “old memory” outfit is a must.

Each August my stomach muscles clench up and in the deep cells of my brain I imagine a clock is ticking. I know the reason. For many years (about 18 years) before 1996, I spent summers in Maine. Sometimes we stayed 4-6 weeks. And, at the end of those visits, there were always many tears shed knowing we had to pack up and leave the special place we loved so much. Even now, after nearly 17 years of being year-round Maine residents, the old “nudge” of “we have to leave” returns. Silly, but true.

August begins as an extension of July with fun, sun, picnics, walks, and care-freeness. As the days go by and fairs begin, veggies ripen, “School Supplies Sale” signs go up in stores, August begins to feel more and more like Autumn gold. As August deepens, newly mown fields are sweet, meteor showers are brilliant displays across our dark skies, and cords of seasoned firewood is delivered ready to be split and stacked.

This August, enjoy blueberries, all those wonderful farm fair delights from sheep herding to fried dough and go to the music festivals with dearest family and friends. Record each amazing day in your heart. Press four leaf clovers, purple asters, Queen Anne’s lace and beach rose blooms in your favorite book or the journal you keep. And treasure the memories of long ago and those yet to be made — the wonderful times of celebration, new beginnings begun on the last official month of summer.

And should you be in Ellsworth, Maine, on a Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m., please stop in for worship at EUMC. We would love to meet you! Here’s the schedule for August:

8/4 — Introit: “Bind Us Together,” Psalm 107, Opening Hymn: “Blest Be the Tie That Binds Us”;
Hymn of Preparation: “We Are the Church”; Scriptures: Ecc. 1-2, 12-14; Col. 3:1-17; Luke 12:13
-21; Sermon: “A Team Works Together”; The Great Thanksgiving (Holy Communion open to all);
Closing Hymn: “Go Now in Peace”.

8/11 — Introit: “Gather Us In,” Psalm # 33, Opening Hymn: “This is my Father’s World”; Hymn of
Preparation: “Be Still, My Soul”; Scriptures: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:
32-48; Sermon: “Faith is Patience in the Night”; Closing Hymn: “Wonderful Words of Life”

8/18: Introit: “In His Time,” Psalm # 82 Opening Hymn “In The Midst of New Dimensions,”
Hymn of Preparation: “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus,” Scriptures: Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke
12:49-56; Sermon: “How to Interpret the Present Time?”; Closing Hymn: “Lord, Speak to Me”.

8/25 — Introit: “Cry of My Heart”, Psalm # 71, Opening Hymn: “What a Friend We Have in
Jesus”; Hymn of Preparation: “We’ll Understand it Better By and By”; Scriptures: Hebrews
12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17; Sermon: “Living in Community”; Closing Hymn: “Sanctuary”.

Every Sunday we enjoy coffee hour before and after worship — currently we are featuring goodies from our new cookbook! We welcome everyone and invite you to come as you are to meet our family-size church. Most Sundays, Bruce Clark plays “Gathering Music.” Our choir is directed Amy Briggs. No Sunday School until fall, but we have plenty of things to keep young children busy. AND every Sunday, during “Time for the Young at Heart”, the children are usually our best teachers.

Have a wonderful August. See you in September right here on the web? I hope so. Until then, May God Bless you all.

Yours,
Pastor Susan Yaruta-Young (Pastor Susan Y-Y)