Dear brothers and sisters,

As I rose early this morning for work, I asked what is it Lord that you have in mind for me today? What do you want me to accomplish today? What mission do you have for me today? How can I encourage and love someone today? All these questions led me to think of the family we have at Hillside. I could not get past the love and encouragement that my family receives from this wonderful group of people. I cannot express in words how much of a blessing this is for my family. The only way I can possibly do this is to love and encourage you back. As I prayed this morning about all of this I came to realize more than ever that we are part of a wonderful family.

As the morning proceeded I started to think about writing this blog and came to wonder should I sign my name. I prayed about it and the prayer transformed to a prayer that anyone of us at Hillside could write these very words. I pray that anyone that walks through the doors at Hillside receives the same love and encouragement that my family has received. I also started to wonder why should it be only to those that walk through our doors; it should be everyone that we come in contact with. We should love and encourage all that we encounter, at work, at the supermarket, at the gym, at the park, at the mall, walking down the street, I could continue to write other places that we could love and encourage people, but I could never make it complete since it can simply be put everywhere! So brothers and sisters I encourage all of you to join in prayer with me that anyone that encounters a member of Hillside feels nothing but love and encouragement. Lets not stop at Hillside, pray for all of the Church as God intended it and pray that all of God’s people will share the same love and encouragement that we are a part of everyday day at Hillside. I look forward to being with all of you tomorrow and being able to sit there and look around and wonder who wrote these words, could everyone of us at the table express the same thoughts and feelings. We love all of you and look forward to loving and encouraging all of you and receiving this very thing in return.

With love,

A brother or sister from Hillside