I hope this finds you safe and warm. It has been another hard week.

Blessings upon everyone who is struggling through these cold days. Blessings upon all of you who are reaching out and helping your neighbor. Many of you have been helping with our Salvation Army warming station. And many of you have helped turn the Hub into an emergency shelter. You’ve brought food and water, and provided a warm place for people to spend the night. Thank you. With your help, the help of local businesses, and the help of the McKinney Fire Department, we have been able to share the Heart of Christ in a crucially important way.

It was an unusual Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, to say the least. Nevertheless, Lent has begun. Outside our expectations and as a new experience Lent has begun. In the dead of winter, in the face of a pandemic, Lent has begun.

This year, we are going to talk about receiving grace. After a year of suffering, heartbreak, and sacrifice for those we love, we aren’t asking you to give up anything for Lent, or take on a new discipline. We have given up so much already, and we have taken on new disciplines that would have seemed unimaginable a few years ago. Those sacrifices continue. But for Lent, we will ask God to give us grace. Grace for ourselves, and grace to share with our neighbors.

On Sunday, we will remember that grace received gives us the ability to hope. We see spring in the midst of winter. We see life in the midst of death. Light shines, love reigns. Hope lives, because Jesus is the light of the world.

God bless, stay warm, and keep checking on your neighbors.