Dear Islington United Community,

In this short, yet full, week, we made it to Friday. In just the past four days, among several other things, we have had

• two tapings of services for the coming weeks
• two funerals
• two recording sessions for Jason and the musical team
• two Bible study sessions for We Make the Road by Walking
• two new videos created for the kitchen campaign
• two COVID-19 cases in schools of our staff team’s children
• two events reinvented to meet Stage 2 guidelines (Faith Formation and the Run for Refugees)

It feels like there is just TOO MUCH to navigate right now. So, when I get overwhelmed, I remember we are in the middle. Brené Brown calls it Day 2, the messy middle, the point of no return where you are navigating what’s next and why it’s always best to stumble forward together:

Listen to Brené’s Podcast about Day 2

The theme of this week’s chapter of We Make the Road by Walking is “It’s Not Too Late.” With all that’s going on it has been a helpful phrase. When there is too much on our plate, we make mistakes or poor choices, unintentionally harm with our words or actions, double book, forget something, miss a phone call or think we can juggle it all, we remember God continues to do a new thing. God’s grace comes to us in the most unexpected moments and people. God keeps giving to us, and asks us to be open to receive. We can’t go backwards, we can acknowledge we are in the messy middle and it’s not too late to try a new way. We can also trust God is with us in the messy middle, asking us to hear the invitation, may the words of the prophet Micah be our prayer together: