Tag Archives: Montavilla

Please welcome Daily Bread Express to the Montavilla building!

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Please welcome Daily Bread Express to the Montavilla building!

Established in 1992, the Daily Bread Express (DBX) provides meal delivery for low-income, home-bound individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Seven nutritious meals are delivered weekly throughout the six-county Portland metro area. They provide approximately 300 meals a week, serving over 40 people. They will be using our kitchen to prepare meals during the week.

Change can be hard. It involves a lot of adapting, personal reflection, and grieving of what used to be. There often is a leap of faith, not knowing what lies ahead, and new relationships that are built. It is also very exciting to have a new partnership and to watch the spirit lead us to a new adventure. This is Ministry that Matters!

Elissa Noble, Office Manager

Grace Frees and Unites Us

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I love to reflect on grace. It calms my soul and gives me purpose for living and for all my experiences. Grace frees and unites.

Why do I ignore this grace and listen to the lies? Somehow I believe that what I have isn’t good enough. I worry that if I give it away and it isn’t received that there is something wrong with me. Life is full of many opportunities to get lost in the interruptions and find other ways to live that are about hard work, proving my worth, and finding happiness. Finding joy and purpose are good things, but without receiving grace, I miss out on an internal love and peace that shapes all my connections.

Receiving grace doesn’t always seem simple to me. Often I experience it when I take a risk and make mistakes or through conflict with other people. I learn to give myself compassion and pray for wisdom in the next step. I find when I am kind to myself, I want more to be kind to others. In my humanity I become more humble before my God. This can give me courage to break down the walls with my fellows and go deeper in conversations. My fears and struggles can be a bridge to bring me to the Spirit and to others in my community. Often I see them as barriers in my life, yet without them, I wouldn’t have experienced God’s grace.

The beauty of the shared journey

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Some days it is very hard to see the beauty in what is going on around me. People close to me are declining in health, struggling with addictions and mental illness, and so much conflict everywhere it can be exhausting. I often feel overwhelmed, sad and anxious, as I try to deal with circumstances and compounded grief. Seeing a newborn baby, a beautiful blue sky and the leaves changing bring light into my world. It is easy to find the blessings in the amazing creation and indescribable blessings.

The blessing and beauty of growth though is harder for me to sit with. Often the growth and the character traits I desire come out of the hardships of life. Not the perceived hardships where I am comparing myself to others, and feel deprived because I don’t have what I want, but the hardships where pain is unbearable, whether emotional or physical, or the moments where I feel like I am sitting still and powerless to help others or myself in human suffering.

The human story is a combination of the environmental beauty and the beauty within all of us. It is a story where our paths connect and create something new and more profound than our individual stories. We see our common struggles and joys, and give each other hope and love. We can find the blessings in our physical environment of the beauty created by others, as well as the beauty created by a God that loves us. Even in the middle of the brokenness and pollution of our city, there is a God that is greater and exists in the air we breathe and the water that brings life. May I hold on to Life and Love. Elissa

Making my Circle Wider

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Today as I was doing a forgiveness meditation, I physically felt a lessening of my physical pain in my back. I sat for a moment, feeling the Spirit at work in me, opening my heart to the people I love. I could feel this forgiveness for a person that had hurt me (intentionally or unintentionally) and for myself for causing hurt to other people.

When I open my heart to the Spirit and healing, I open myself up to more people around me. My experience is that I can be intentional about creating space and spending time in the spiritual dimension with a personal God, but often the healing is a dimension where the spirit brings a new type of restoration. Forgiveness is an ongoing process, and something I have sought from a pretty young age. It is layers and layers of woundedness often so complicated that I can’t grasp the impact, and don’t see how it builds up to create walls where I shut others out and allow self destructive habits in. For some reason, the ability to forgive myself and others is something that brings unity and peace. This is perhaps why Jesus emphasizes God’s grace in forgiving us, so we can be freer to love and forgive others.

Immediately after feeling this amazingly healing moment, I felt a desire to reach out to some people around me. I pray that I will hold onto this moment, where I can remember the grace given to me, and want to share this freedom and love with those around me.

In Grace and Light, Elissa

The Living Water

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I have been planning on blogging on Pastor Becca’s series on the Spirit at the same time as she was preaching.  I have created a new section on the web to reflect on her sermons called Wisdom and Faith (under Worship tab) so those who want some inspiration could have a place to go. It can become discouraging in this pandemic to be in this space of endurance without a clear vision of what the future might entail.  Though I can’t always see the path, I find hope in connecting with the Spirit.

Regardless of what is going on in life, the living water rejuvenates me.  Just as taking a shower revives and cleans me, sipping the living water revives and cleans my soul.  In my day to day life, I often don’t reflect on the amount of water I take. I take sips of water throughout my day, and it is often part of the foods I eat.  Generally I might be falling short of what my body needs, and choose to live with less nourishment and energy than is available to me.

My spiritual intake has a similar impact.  In the morning, I spent some time before my God in mediation, reading and journaling.  Throughout the day however, I can get lost in my activities and anxieties, that I don’t see nearly as much of God’s living water that I am surrounded by.  I can see it in nature and the beauty around me, but I truly only see a spec of the life that is waiting for me.

I pray today, I might slow down to see a little more of that living water.  As I enjoy the rain outside, I also find the spirit inside of me and in you.  May I continue to find ways to fit in the water I drink into my daily life, so I can be reminded of the gifts freely given that bring healing, peace and restoration to all that is broken.

In Spirit and Life,
Elissa

Connecting at Bible Study

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It can be easy for me to feel isolated these days, with the restrictions of Covid and not being able to socialize with people in person.  I miss my small groups of hearing people share and the time to socialize or go deeper with people before or after a more formal gathering.  I learn so much about myself through the stories of others, and enjoy learning new truths and new resources that help me see beyond my current reality.  Nothing feels greater than being loved by others, and sensing a spiritual connection and unity in a room.

I find that for me to really connect in a new church, I need to find ways to be involved.  I am grateful that Montavilla has several virtual groups that I can connect with to learn more about the people here.  I have been attending the church Bible Study, and have enjoyed learning more about Pastor Becca and going deeper into the weekly sermon topics.  I also have been amazed by the experiences and insights of the other people attending the meeting.  It can take time to really feel connected, but as I put myself out there, and take some risks, it will happen in time.  The United Methodist Women are also doing a book study this month, so I look forward to another opportunity to read a new book, and meet some more women here.

It can be hard to go out of my comfort zone at times, but often this is where I grow the most.  Being intentional about things that help me grow spiritually brings me a joy that I desperately need during times of so much sorrow and hardship.  I can choose to share a little more with others, even if it feels different on a Zoom call than in person.  I can reach out and call people or find ways to be of service in the here and now.  I don’t have to wait until we return to a building, I can make the most of the gifts available to me today.

Blessings and love, Elissa