Dear New Life,

I hope yesterday's baptism service was a blessing to you. I've worked here for a long time so I've seen a lot of baptism services, but I'm struck every time with how beautiful one life is. It moves me and reminds me just how true it is that God cares for each of us. He is moving in our lives and He weaves other people's stories into our own to bless us and cause us to grow. Every day is a new part of the canvas of the picture He's working on that is "us."

I can sometimes get into moments where I'm overwhelmed by how many things are going wrong in the world, but God is at work even on the worst days. Especially on the worst days. Life change is real and possible because of Him. He takes the hurt parts in me and the hard parts of my story and He redeems them for good.

I believe He's doing the same for you, too!

Joel VanderSchel, on Behalf of the Elder and Minister Team