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Ramblings from Retirement – Scaredy-cats By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen April 27, 2021 There is a little grey cat that lives next door that thinks she is a mighty bird hunter. In fact she has already killed at least 3 birds at my front yard feeder and at least 2 in the backyard. So we have begun to keep an eye out for her and when she heads into or across our yard we chase her away. The other day she was in the midst of stalking some finches who were feeding. In the middle of her final stalk where she was bunching up to jump I opened the door and hissed real loud. She jumped about four feet, twisted in the air, and ran off like she was shot out of a cannon. It was hilarious and reminded me of a passage that the Apostle Paul wrote his friend Timothy: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV84)” Paul was writing a young pastor who was facing all kinds of struggles within the local church and outside of the churc...

Ramblings from Retirement – Why Struggle? By Lee Hemen, Retired Pastor March 23, 2021 Have you ever known someone who seems to constantly struggle in life? They struggled on the playground trying to find someone to play with, they struggled through Middle School and High School trying to fit in, and they struggled in college trying to find themselves. When they get a job they struggle with coworkers, bosses, and trying to get ahead. When they look for love they struggle trying to find the “right” one to love and they struggle raising their kids and being partnered in a marriage. And they certainly struggle with their relationship with God. Esau was this kind of a person who struggled all through his life from his birth to his inheritance. We could make excuses for Esau and say that his twin brother Jacob was a grasping deceiver but we forget that we all make choices in life and perhaps this is where many of our struggles come from? Esau was impulsive and knew he should have safeguarded...