“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable.” -David Augsburger
Welcome to the month of Deep Listening!
Tomorrow marks the first day of October. Lately, I have been feeling the time move both fast and slow. September felt like a whirlwind to me. There are minutes and hours that seemed to just inch along. However, the month, overall, felt incredibly transient.
As much as I will miss the opportunities to see friends and family comfortably outside, I am looking forward to this season. When I am not enjoying the colors outside, I love reading, painting, carving pumpkins, and making soups. The coziness and introspection of fall brings its own opportunities for intimate togetherness. I hope that those of you living with children create some special memories. Sometimes all we need to feel a sense of closeness is slowing down to listen to one another.
Before it gets too cold, I would love to reconnect with your family from a distance at a park or your yard. I will be reaching out in the coming week via phone and email to check-in and gauge the interest in this. I know some of us are craving in-person connection, and the opportunity to distance outdoors feels safe to me. It would truly brighten my day getting to see you too!
Please know that I am just an email or a phone call away. While I am no longer holding virtual “office hours”, you can reach me on my personal phone at 507-995-7929 or by email at cfddirector@uumankato.org . If I do not answer, I encourage you to send a text or leave a voicemail. Currently, I am available for daytime meetings on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. I also do have availability most other weekday evenings. I will continue to do my best to serve as a resource to our community, through connecting you to one another and of course, directly. Being a light in the lives of others is as important as ever, and I hope you will stay connected.
Thank you,
Macey Forsyth
Reminder to register!
Registration for children and youth for participating during the 2020-21 school year is now open. While we are generally only seeing one another virtually, it is still important to us to have emergency, contact, and background information. The form should only take 1-2 minutes to fill out. Please consider staying involved virtually. Thank you for your time!
Go to UUFM Child Faith Development Registration 2020-2021:
https://uufm.breezechms.com/form/67ef5a56899
Please consider joining our private Facebook group:
UUFM Children’s Faith Development
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/1404655806251029/). This group is intended for families and congregants who are involved in Children’s Faith Development. My approval of new members’ access to the information there is what makes the group a safe space for sharing. I will be sharing our weekly stories as Facebook videos on my personal page publicly and sharing them in the group, as well as short prayers and meditations.
Link to the stories:
Our virtual Stories for All Ages are now available on the UUFM YouTube Channel. At least one new story will be available by Sunday, each week.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNwWkbABO6HpDlw5Po2TdQA?view_as=subscriber
Virtual Children’s Chapel
Our Children’s Chapel will meet this Sunday, October 11th, from 11:30am-12:30pm. More details to come next week.
Youth Group
Our Youth Group meets next on Wednesday, October 7th. Because we had low attendance over this last weekend, we plan to re-write our Youth Group covenant during that time. I am also excited to explore the Soul Matters theme of Deep Listening during the month of October.