Norman speaks to council about future of old church

“I am the vine, you are the branches If you truly abide in Me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing,” John 15:5.

When we first moved into our 96 year old home there was a pear tree that was about 2 feet in diameter and 35 feet tall. It was so old and dead looking that we almost cut it down….until it bloomed and produced the most pears we had ever seen on one tree! The value of a fruit tree is not measured by its age or height but the amount and quality of its fruit. The same is true for Christians. The Bible often uses the metaphor of fruit to describe what our lives produce Fruit can be either good or bad as stated in Matthew 7:8 and Luke 6:43 A fruitful Christian will produce better results: “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,” Proverbs 11:30.

When you ask Jesus to be Lord of your life, He came to live and make a difference in you, through Him That’s you abiding in Him and Him

Fruit is a metaphor for God showing who He is through the changes in your actions as you mature as His disciples. The motives of your heart need to be continually renewed and transformed in to the heart of God Your thinking will be more Christ like as your heart changes to want what God wants. This can only be done by abiding in God’s word Spend time reading, studying, and prayerfully meditating on the teachings of Jesus and allow your heart to change your actions will follow As you step out in faith and believe the promises that Christ has given and obey His commands, you will begin to bear much fruit in your life and influence those that you spend time with to bear much fruit in their life.

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit fruit that will last,”

John 15:16

If you don’t have a Bible please contact me at sfadebbie@yahoo.com and I will provide you one

Longtime Howe community supporter Jean Norman addressed the city council on Tuesday night about the future of the old First Christian Church and the council's need for future approval of interior reconstruction of the building The structure is owned by the City of Howe and was gifted as such by the Collins family in the early 1980s

"One day I'm going to drive out of the post office and it is going to be just beautiful " said Norman "That's my goal."

Norman told the council that her and the Historical Society spent $12,000 on the building back in the early 1990s with replacing windows and painting the structure However, after renovating it, it sat unattended to with broken windows and improper landscaping

"It took a very short time for it to go to nothing." said Norman. "I was old and my committee was older"

Norman's vision of the building is to house weddings and other events, but asked the council to give input She is the president of the "Save the Church" committee who has had professional wedding event planners, caterers and photographers look at the building to give ideas on what the final results should be The events planners were told that the walls would be white and they concurred, but this was before the ceiling board tiles were removed and the 123-year-old original wood was fully exposed The beauty of the original wood changed the minds of city officials who stated they wanted to keep the natural wood look and not paint it This will mean extra lighting in the building as the wood is obviously darker than the white walls Plans call for three chandeliers to hang in the auditorium and for the wood to be trimmed with elegant molding. One of the "yellow" amber windows will be removed for lighting purposes and will be repurposed in the building.

Larry Vincent is providing a blueprint at the request of Boyd Dunn, who is serving as project manager of construction

Norman also requested to bring the bell back to the property from the Community Center where it rests now Plans for the bell are to be located in Mame Roberts Garden area.