We created an incredible word cloud together through our “One Word About Desert Mission” survey! The finished product is posted here. The words folks submitted are a great way of checking in with our mission as a community: to improve people’s lives by becoming the best of who God created us to be. And speaking of improving people’s lives…it’s Labor Day tomorrow, and we’d like you to consider engaging with the holiday in a new way.

Today’s activity was inspired by an improv game, and while it does not require you to perform onstage, it does push you to think creatively and to release any “scripts” you might be leaning on when you pray. We’re calling it “Alphabet Prayer.”

In service of shaping Family Time into a more community-centered time, we will begin peppering in activities that focus a bit more specifically on ways to build connections within the Desert Mission church community. And the first one requires us all to utilize what may be a new skill for some folks – the ability to scan a QR code – in order to access an activity that is designed to help us create something new together!

If you haven’t heard of National Son and Daughter Day, you are not alone. The day is of murky origin, though there is an apocryphal story about its founding involving a child in Missouri in 1936 who was heard asking why there was a Mother’s Day and a Father’s Day but no day for kids. And while it is “officially” celebrated on August 11, it never quite caught on (perhaps because if you have kids in your life, most days revolve around them). Regardless, today we invite you to lean in and celebrate young people and your role in their lives.

Nature is healing – literally. This week, reap the benefits both personally and communally and walk outside, being mindful to take it ALL in!