Family Love Letter

Sunday, April 30, 2023

Following the 8:30 and 10:15 a.m. services

No one wants to be a burden on their loved ones. Join us to find out how to be organized and ready for the unexpected. We will also talk about how to be prepared to handle the hurdles of the first year of being a widow/widower or being alone.

This informal session will be led by Linda Gadkowski, Certified Financial Planner™ Professional, and Amy Manley, Certified Financial Planner™ Professional, Financial Advisor. Please e-mail or call Amy Manley to register, aag34@icloud.com or 239.272.6821.

Our group of thirteen that worked on March 10 at Misión Peniel:

Front row: Desma Borland, Cari Rieder, Lee Ryan, Pat Nordbrock

Middle Row: Susan Kogan, Alexa ?, Donna Estler, Barbara Beach, Lois Almquist, Cathy Ickes ?, Heather Cartwright

Back Row: Terry Almquist, Doug Borland

We’re going to Cuba!

Fifteen Presbyterians from five Peace River Presbytery churches are heading to Cuba in May! The purpose of the trip is to renew our Presbytery-to-Presbytery partnership as well as for each of the five churches to renew their church-to-church partnerships. Rex Childs, Amy Manley, Sarah Nichols and Pat Nordbrock will spend time with our partner church, Central Reformed, in Matanzas. We are looking forward to re-connecting with their pastors, their congregation, and to learn more about their ministries, their community, and their hopes and goals for the future.

Cuba is facing increased shortages of just about everything. We will each take the maximum number of suitcases, filled with items like solar lights, hygiene supplies, medications and food. There will be an opportunity closer to our departure date if you’d like to help us fill those bags. Watch the bulletin for more details!

This is the first building and they have great faith that there will be 16 families, who today live in squalor and unhealthy homes, moving into a safe affordable place to live by year’s end. reach of being able to start the second building. hardworking families of Immokalee. contribution of FPCN, Presbyterian Women, and many individual donors. This is affordable housing done right!

This month we are helping to restock the food pantry of Helps Outreach.

Ushers will have a list available as you leave the Sanctuary the first Sunday of April. Food donations will be collected at the 6th Street church entrance on the second Sunday of the month, April 9.

If you prefer, monetary donations can be made online at www.fpcnaples.org/give or checks may be made payable to "First Presbyterian Church" with the memo marked

"Feed the 5,000" and placed in the collection plate.

Suggested items are:

Pasta & Pasta sauce

Canned tuna and chicken

Canned soups and stews

Canned vegetables

Dried beans

Rice

Jam or jelly

Canned milk

Join our work crew on Thursday, April 13 at 7:30 a.m. and ride the bus to our worksite.

We will return to church by 12:30 p.m. Sign up in Spencer Hall at the Missions table or contact Yancey Brame at 239.331.7731 or jybrame@gmail.com.

L to R: Jeanne Perkins, Scott Macdonough, Susan Neal, Tom Tichenor, Susan Kogan, Bob Guyett, Doug Borland, Yancey Brame. Present but not pictured: Don Merz.

The Power Pak program provides meals/snacks for Big Cypress Elementary School students who would not otherwise have enough to eat over the weekend.

You can help support this mission by donating to the “Care Bear,” which resides on the cookie/punch table in Spencer Hall ready to receive your dollars and cents to be used to purchase food for the program. You can also help by delivering Power Paks to Big Cypress Elementary school on the designated days. For information, contact Betty Plum at bplum.790@gmail.com.

Contributions to the Power Pak program may also be made online at www.fpcnaples.org/give. Please select Mission-Power Pak Fund. Thank you for your generosity.

Class of 2023

Pat Collins

Tedi and Gene Fraley

Lucy Koll

Eileen Malstrom

Betty Plum

Barbara and Roger Simons

Susan Sonderby

Deb & Harry Streamer

Class of 2024

Mary Armstrong

Marti Beard

Norman Brown

Pam Fisher

Amy Manley

Sylvia and Jack Marsh

Melissa McClayton

Sarah Nichols

Ali Norris

Gary Root

Liz Speake

Class of 2025

Cindy Esler

Gary Nordbrock

Karen and Roy Parker

Cari Rieder

Sue Shenk

Nancy Walkenhorst

Janice and David Witman

Janet Yanushefski

The purpose and function of Stephen Ministry is to provide spiritual care to those who are struggling with temporary hardships and challenges in life. At these times, it is not uncommon for us not to acknowledge God’s presence even though these are the times when we need God the most. We become distracted by these hardships, and the spiritual care given by Stephen Ministers is designed to help people to see through these distractions and find the comfort and healing only God can provide.

Regularly engaging in spiritual practices is a wonderful way to focus on God’s presence in our lives. Below please find an insightful piece which may help us find the Grace and Peace we are seeking.

to-day life, and leads you into prayer. Don’t rush. Let your morning devotions take as long as is needed.

While a habit of daily devotions is good, it’s more important to let God take the lead each and every time. Habits can be so...habitual. We just want to do the same thing again and again, as though we are following an unalterable formula. We lose sight of the purpose: to actually spend time with God. When we ask God to direct our devotions each morning, we give God the lead to set a whole different tone for the day ahead. If you’re anything like me, the issues confronting the day riot through your mind from the first moment you wake. This “noise” really hinders our ability to put the Lord first. Some sound advice I’ve heard before is to write down the thoughts that are cluttering my mind and lift them in prayer. This way, I surrender the agenda and my mind-space to God. When we let God set the agenda in those moments, his agenda becomes the foundation for the day. Early-morning devotional time lets you get ahead of everything else, and allows you to submit it all to the Lord.

Early-morning devotions give you the chance to turn the whole day over to the Lord. If you’re a morning person, you can give God your best energy. Even if you don’t care much for the morning, acknowledging God first thing, and asking him what he wants to do equips you to deal with the day’s challenges on a more solid footing.

Making time for personal devotions and getting into the habit of daily devotions are perennial challenges for any follower of Jesus. If morning is the time you feel most “with it” and energized—that’s the time to give to God. It’s easy to make personal devotions just another to-do item on your list: “Okay, I gotta read somanychapters of the Bible, pray for at least thislong, and write thismuchin my journal.” However, it’s important to remember that devotions are more about purpose than a specific process. Romans 14:1-9 suggests that the mode of personal devotions is really a matter of conviction. What might work well for one person may not suit another. The point of devotions is not to check-off a list, but to be withGod.

Devotions are about inviting God’s presence into your day. You might sit quietly, with a steaming cup of coffee, to watch the sunrise, sharing the experience with God. Perhaps you choose to wake up by reading a spiritually evocative book. If so, ask God to join in and enlighten you. Maybe the quietness of your pre-sunrise household allows you to better heed the Spirit’s leading as you read God’s Word. If you need some structure, a daily devotion from a regular source or sources gets you into God’s Word, helps you reflect on his presence in your day-

Tom Clark

Isabelle Connell

Walter Gadkowski

Andie Goodrich

Shirley Hagerson

Chris Jones

Jack Marsh

Janeen McClure

Saralene Oldham

Karen Parker

Gary Root

David Witman

Presbyterian Women have kicked off 2022 with three very successful and well attended Gatherings:

January: Author Elizabeth Hoagland discussed her book, Let’s Be Friends.

February: The Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance’s informative presentation along with a farmer’s market of fresh produce from Immokalee and a display of our “Sew and Sews” hand made quilts.

March: “Fashion with a Purpose”, a fashion show narrated by Alina Donahue from Pathways Early Education Center of Immokalee. We decided to take the month of April off allowing us to participate in all of the Lenten Services.

Our PW Circle Groups will meet in April:

Grace Circle: the first Tuesday in April at 10 a.m.

Love & Friendship Circle: the Third Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.

Sunshine Circle : the Third Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.

Peace with Honor Circle: the Third Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. (allcirclegroupsmeetinthechurchparlorandareopentoanyonewhowishestojoinagroupfor study&fellowship)

Please join us for our next lunch and Gathering: May 3 at noon followed by a program that will pull together all that we have had the opportunity to learn through our Circle Study and/or the WOW study on our journey to celebrate the sabbath. Participation in either of these two groups is not needed to attend this Gathering. We welcome all women to join us for lunch, fellowship, and a time to glean some tips regarding Sabbath practices. Reservations can be made in Spencer Hall on April 23 or April 30.

We have been blessed with a Coordinating Team that has volunteered their time and talent to present our Gathering programs, educational opportunities for our mission outreach, fellowship opportunities for the women of our church, the knitting & sewing gifts of love, and welcoming others through our weekly hospitality outreach of cookies and punch. As we look forward to the plans for 2023-24 we are in need of volunteers to help us continue the positive and engaging programs of PW.

All of us hold gifts that can be shared: administrative abilities, hospitality outreach, program designs and/or center piece talents, program ideas and/or implementation, the gift of sewing and/or knitting, etc. Please consider calling a member of our Search Committee to share where your talents could be used to continue the mission of PW. Janet Root: 239.963.9838, Joyce Witt: 404.857.5430, Joan Norris: 239.692.9585

Carolyn Bennett, Moderator

Study when we'll gather for fellowship, exploration of Scripture and small group discussion. During our five week study we'll cover the last four chapters of "The Spirit-Led Heart: Living a Life of Love and Faith without Borders". In these lessons, author Suzanne Eller encourages us to pursue the gracious gifts the Spirit makes available to us in our everyday lives: advocacy and comfort, guidance and counsel, discernment and wisdom, and empowerment. With deep insight and practical wisdom, Eller affirms the loving power of the Spirit which has alreadybeen givenand is waiting to be experienced. We hope you'll join us as we gather again in the loving bonds of our faith and fellowship. Even if you didn't take part in the first half of the study last fall, come along! Each chapter stands on its own and has much to offer. And consider bringing a friend -- all are welcome!

When: Thursdays, April 27-May 25; 9-11 a.m. Where: Spencer Hall (A live morning ZOOM option will also be available)

Sign-up: In Spencer Hall at the WOW table after worship on April 16 and 23 or online at fpcwomen2017@gmail.com. Please include your name and email or phone number; whether you need a study book; whether you'll participate in person or by Zoom.

Study Book: "The Spirit-Led Heart" can be purchased directly from Amazon or copies will be available in Spencer Hall at the WOW table for $ .

Questions?: Andie Goodrich: 404.317.5850 or andie.goodrich@gmail.com.

Roni Haggart, Committee Chair, vhaggart@gmail.com Rev. Rex Childs, Associate Pastor, rexc@fpcnaples.org