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12 | November 21, 2018 | The Mokena Messenger faith
mokenamessenger.com
Faith Briefs
St. Mary’s Catholic Church (19515 115th
Ave., Mokena)
Church Service
5 p.m. Saturdays; 8 a.m,
9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6:
p.m. Sundays
St. John’s United Church of Christ (11100
Second St., Mokena)
Traditional Service
8 a.m. traditional mass,
9:45 a.m. contemporary &
traditional music in a service
of praise and reverence. Supervised
childcare available.
For more information, call
(708) 479-5123.
FUNERAL SERVICES DIRECTORY
Kim O’Neil Golob
Kelli Hartseil Mores
Kelly Furlong Foresman, Secretary
It was easy to
decide on cremation.
Now, what about the
rest of the decisions?
Colonial Chapel
Funeral Home
Private, On-site Crematory
15525 S. 73rd Ave.
(155th/Wheeler Dr. & Harlem)
Orland Park, Illinois
Family owned for 40 Years
colonialchapel.com
708-532-5400
The Cremation Experts.
Mokena United Methodist Church (10901
LaPorte Road, Mokena)
Service and Sunday School
10:15 a.m. Sundays.
Church service and children’s
Sunday School will
be held. For more information,
call (708) 479-1110.
Marley Community Church (12625 W.
187th St., Mokena)
Church Service
10 a.m. Sundays. Childcare
is provided.
Sunday School
9-10 a.m. Sundays.
2017 WINNER
"BEST FUNERAL
HOME"
©2006 Copyrighted Material
Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church
(10731 W. La Porte Road, Mokena)
Worship
9 a.m. Sundays.
Mokena Baptist Church (9960 W. 187th
St., Mokena)
Sunday Services
11 a.m. and 5 p.m. For
more information, call (312)
350-2279.
Parker Road Bible Church (18512 Parker
Road, Mokena)
Worship Service
10:30 a.m. Sundays. Arrive
early to enjoy a cup of coffee.
Grace Fellowship Church (11049 LaPorte
Road, Mokena)
Spanish Church
12:30 p.m. Sundays.
Worship Service
10 a.m. Sundays. All are
welcome.
Have something for Faith
Briefs? Contact Assistant
Editor Amanda Villiger at
a.stoll@22ndcenturymedia.com
or call (708) 326-9170 ext. 34.
Deadline is noon Thursday one
week prior to publication.
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YOUR
FUNERAL
SERVICES.
Contact Classifieds at
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Robin’s Nest
Choose an attitude
of gratitude
Robin Melvin
Contributing Columnist
All is good in the
Melvin home. Like
you, we have our
challenges. Our lives are a
mixture of the easy and the
difficult. But it’s all good,
because God is good.
One of our brightest
blessings is 2-year-old Alex.
In the morning, he likes to
help me open the window
shades. He’s full of questions.
“Where’s the moon,
Meema? Where’s the sun,
Meema?” I assure him that
even when they hide behind
rain clouds, they’re still
there.
Life gets cloudy, doesn’t
it? I see it in faces everywhere
I go. On top of our
personal challenges, we are
bombarded with local, national
and world news that
stirs up all kinds of emotions.
We are wise to limit
our exposure and remember
there’s way more hope for
humanity than they
report.
Many mornings, four
little sentences printed on
my favorite coffee mug help
settle my mind: “It’s a new
day. I am alive. I am loved. I
am thankful.” When I wake
feeling low, I say them out
loud and simply start by
thanking God for the mug of
coffee warming my
hands.
Gratitude sets our minds
on the right track. When
we stop letting burdens
overshadow our blessings,
something beautiful happens.
We rise above them
where God is, where there’s
courage and clarity. He
speaks to the chaos in our
minds and creates
calm.
Year after year, fall rolls
into winter. This silent,
powerful rhythm reminds us
He’s in control and there’s
something bigger happening.
God’s always doing
something new in us and
around us. And that something
is good. Even when
we can’t see it. Even when
we don’t always understand,
we know we will be OK. No
matter what. There’s mystery
in this depth of faith. It
takes a soul-deep trust that’s
hard to explain.
Peace of mind shows
up when I reassure my
grandson that the sun’s still
there. It’s a new day. We are
alive. We are loved. We are
thankful. God’s still here,
though rain clouds try to
hide Him. May we continue
to cultivate a thankful heart
and watch it change us from
the inside out. Gratitude is
contagious. Watch it change
your little corner of the
world.
Peace and joy for your
journey, my friends.
For more with Robin,
visit robinmelvin.com/con
tact or on Facebook, Robin
Melvin, Author.
The thoughts and opinions
expressed in this column are
those of the author. They do
not necessarily represent the
thoughts of 22nd Century Media
or its staff.