Dear Members and Friends of the Dalton First United Methodist Church -

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord!

I give thanks to my God always as I remember you in my prayers.  I especially remember your friendship.  As I see you conversing, encouraging and enjoying each other, I am pleased to see your friendship with each other.   I thank God for your friendship - with each other and with Kathy and me.

"Without prayer we become deaf to the voice of divine love and become confused by the many competing voices asking for our attention. When we try to become very still, we often find ourselves so overwhelmed by our noisy inner voices that we can hardly wait to get busy and distracted again. Our inner life often looks like a banana tree full of jumping monkeys! But when we decide not to run away and stay focused, the monkeys may gradually go away because of lack of attention, and the soft gentle voice calling us may gradually make itself heard."  Henri J. M. Nouwen

Dear Lord, on this day - and every day - let me get quiet.  As the quiet envelopes me, precious Lord, the world will scream for my attention - telling me it is more important than my time with you.  Let the monkeys jump, dear Lord, right through a window so the quiet in my soul will open my heart to your Holy Spirit.  And then, Lord, after I have centered my life upon you, let me walk boldly into this world and deal with life in the priorities you have set down.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

On Sunday, November 8, 11:00am in the sanctuary, the church will receive back our World War I Service Flag.  This flag was located in someone's attic and returned to Tut McFarland.  Along with the flag is the printed and hand written list of the 42 persons in our congregation who served in World War I (1917-1918 - USA).  Three of those members died in action.  Tut has contacted families she knows who are represented among those 42 names.  The flag has 42 stars representing those persons; three stars are gold, indicating members who sacrificed their lives.  This flag is a priceless historic relic of our church and will be presented to Blake King, Chair of the Trustees, for permanent display in our building.  World War I ended on November 11, 1918 at 11:00am (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month).  We humbly invite you to  join us for this historic day in the life of our church.

This past Friday, Kathy and I rode over to Ellijay to purchase some apples and friend apple pies.  I will give you only one guess as to who eats the apples and who eats the pies.  While the weather was a little murky, we still saw some beautiful leaves.  On Saturday, we traveled to Cave Spring to check on our Mothers - I am glad to report they are both doing well.

Kathy and I wish to share with you one more big thank you for all the hard work and attendance at the Neighborhood Meetings.  What a blessing they have been.  We went to our final one last night.  During these events, we have learned so much about you.  Everyone was unique and wonderful.  I wish I had done them all through my ministry.  However, this is just the beginning of our friendship.  Kathy and I look forward to our years together. 

Thanks to those of you who invited me to be your friend on Facebook. 

God bless - See you Sunday!

In Christ,

Dr. Robin L Lindsey
Dalton First United Methodist Church
706-278-8494 (Office)
robin.lindsey@ngumc.net