As I write this letter, we are in the glory days of spring and through most of the Eastertide season!

One of the springtime activities I enjoy is watching the community of birds expand and diversify in our backyard.   Most of my knowledge of and appreciation for birds is the result of my husband Peter's passion for bird watching.

The year round residents can be spotted most easily during the winter on the birdfeeders outside our kitchen window.    Chickadees, house finches, goldfinches, sparrows, blue jays and a pair of cardinals compete with the squirrels for the food on the feeders.   The juncos and the morning doves take advantage of the seed left out on the ground.

With the arrival of spring, the avian community grows.  In early March, the robins returned from their winter home.  Red wing black birds and cedar wax wings stopped to rest before continuing on to their summer home elsewhere.   In mid-April, the earliest of the warblers started to appear, some will visit briefly and others will stay for the summer. 

The journeys that bring various birds into our backyard remind me of the types of journeys that bring folks to our church, here in Lebanon.  Some of us are year round, always-been-here type of folks.   Others arrive after moving toLebanon.  Some are prompted to enter the church doors by a life changing event, many having been stirred by the Spirit through the invitation of a friend.   And yet others, like me, have stopped for awhile before continuing on their journey to another place.  Our community is richer for the variety of folks who come to call our church "home" - whether it is a home for a long time or a short while.   

On May 1^st Sharon returns from her sabbatical, rested and renewed for her ministry with you.  After 5 weeks of providing pastoral coverage during her sabbatical, I will return to my role as pastoral assistant.  I trust that my search for a position as a pastor of my own church will come to fruition in the next couple months, which means I will soon leave Lebanon, most likely in mid June.

My heart is full with the gladness that comes from having been welcomed so fully by you into your church home so that it has been my church home too - for this part of my journey.  

Faithfully,

            Pastor Ruth