Dear Friends in Christ, I have taken up the practice of starting each day with the daily devotional from The Upper Room.   Here is this morning's post that graced my email inbox along with many messages about our participation in the wonderful Westford Community Garden.  We are sowing and reaping a lot more than vegetables!  We are building community, developing relationships with our neighbors, and fulfilling God's call to invest in those relationships as we put our faith in action and share the Good News.   Happy gardening everyone! Jody Clark Senior Warden The Upper Room daily devotional: Sowing and Reaping

Read John 13:34-35 You reap whatever you sow. - Galatians 6:7 (NRSV) Today's Devotional Getting acquainted with neighbors can be an adventure. Across the street lives a lovely 91-year-old woman, a widow, who is almost totally blind. The first time we talked, she ended our visit saying, “God bless you.” My ears perked up. Later, she told me she was a Christian but she didn’t go to church because of her vision impairment. She is also unsteady on her feet from sciatica and another problem with walking, so being in crowds is dangerous for her. I offered to visit her once a week and read to her from the Bible. I wanted to help fill the void left by her inability to attend church. I’m not sure now whether God opened the door so that I could minister to her or so that she could minister to me. As I read scripture to her, her positive attitude and love of the Lord become an inspiration to me. When she found out that I write Christian literature, she asked me to read some to her. She always responds with encouragement or a challenge. God took a situation I thought was for my neighbor’s good and brought joy to both her and me. How blessed we are that God makes all things work together for good for those who love the Lord! (See Rom. 8:28.) Shirley McCoy (Florida, USA) Thought for the Day: God calls us to invest in relationships with our neighbors. Prayer: Thank you, dear God, for the many ways you bring peace, joy, and a sense of purpose to our lives. Amen. Prayer Focus: MY NEIGHBORS The scripture quotation, unless otherwise indicated, is from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.