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Is it just me or does it seem like we’re all stuck in a continuing repetition like the movie “Ground Hog Day?” The COVID pandemic has restricted so much. Typically at the end of the year I like to think of the things we did in the previous 12 months and usually I’m not able to get everything we did onto one page. This year is different. Gatherings for Bible classes, potlucks, showers, singings, and special gatherings of every type have been so limited.

Do you remember our “Drive-in” worship? We had a short-band radio station and broadcast our worship through our car radios. I’m still thawing out from some of those cold Sundays. In April, we were able to have indoor worship again since most had been able to be vaccinated. However, we continued the drive-in worship until June. By May there was a short period where we could worship even without masks. We also made our worship available online.

Have you noticed all the hats Steve Haney wore this year? He worked with Scott Swalwell to make sure our drive-in worship ran smoothly. Then has kept our online worship going. Also, there have been several upgrades made to our system that he has been involved in. He was able to get the teens together for Wednesday and Sunday classes along with devotionals and special gatherings. He also was very involved in Camp Yamhill. He also had an online class on Hebrews that he completed this year. We are all proud of Steve.

Bible classes were resumed in September. Before that I had online classes on “Fortifying Your Faith in a Time of Reconstruction,” “Telling Yourself the Truth” and “Memorizing the Bible.” Facebook was an important part of communicating online. Kyle Murphy has done a great job uploading classes and our worship onto YouTube as well as assisting Steve with the audio-visual.

Our faithful, hardworking secretary Kalene Partlow has been very sick in the hospital. We’re thankful that Lorraine Reynolds has been able to step in and takeover some of her duties.

Eduardo and Aracely did a lot of teaching on Zoom that reached out even beyond our borders as well as doing all the necessary things to keep the Spanish speakers together.

Allen Berreth oversaw much needed upgrades to our plumbing and HVAC.

We had to say goodbye to many of our loved ones: Chris Bilberry (March), Bill Moss (March), Linda Riley (June), Grace Burnham (June), Bob Reynolds (July), Joyce Poyser (July), and Ken Hochhalter (Aug).

We welcomed babies: Lucille Kelly Headrick (May 8) and Savannah Rae Smith (Sep. 6)!!!

Oh yeah, and Young@Heart began meeting again. What else did I forget? What was your favorite memory of 2021? God has blessed us greatly – we give Him all the praise and glory!!!