​Earlier this month, as many of you already know, I ran my 12th marathon. And this one was more of a unique marathon for me. Now I believe I’ve shared with some folks before my love/hate relationship with running long distances. The amount of time, training, and dedication to really any distance, but especially the longer distances, can be incredibly hard. It’s not like you can throw on a pair of running shoes and just go out and run. The longer distances require months of building up mileage so that your body and mind are ready for race day. From the different kinds of running shoes, socks, shorts, and tops to what kind of fuel to take while training, there are a lot of things that go into running for several hours.
 
And why I do this to myself…well my friends, the payoff of crossing the finish line is unlike any feeling I’ve ever felt in the world. Exhaustion (sure), relief (finally I can rest), but ultimately the best word to describe the feeling is JOY. Joy for accomplishing something that felt so impossible at the beginning. For those months of training in hot, cold, rainy, and even perfect mornings. It’s the conclusion of a journey that when you truly put in the work, it means so much that it has all come together. Joy!
 
So, what made this one so unique for me? Well, this race I was helping one of our closest friends (Katie) run her first marathon. So, my whole process was wrapped up in helping her accomplish this goal. Katie had run a few half marathons, so she was already halfway there. But helping her with the even higher mileages, working on her training plans, different types of fuel she can take, how to carry water for longer runs, and even running most of the longer runs together…it was indeed a different process to go from a runner to a coach. Helping her fix her eyes and mind on not only finishing the marathon but working through the process so that she was truly ready to tackle the marathon. And watching her cross the finish line was indeed just as rewarding as it was for my own finish!
 
Friends, in Hebrews 12 the Bible talks about running with perseverance the race set out before you. Just as Katie and I fixed our eyes on crossing the finish line…Hebrews talks about focusing your eyes on the prize, which is Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. This life is a marathon. There are ups and downs. We need fuel along the way. We need to support each other. We need our brothers and sisters. I am thankful for the people who have poured into my life to help me along this journey of faith. And I’m thankful for this Northbrook community for always praying and encouraging me, even when I do crazy things like marathons. I am truly grateful for you all.
 
With gratitude,
Allen Whittaker
Executive Director
 

You can always find God’s goodness in your life, if you slow down and take time to observe!
I was reading the Parable of the Evil Farmers, in the Bible, during my devotional time. I don’t think I’ve ever read this passage of scriptures—or this is the first time the scripture reading really spoke to me.   Read Luke 20:9-19

Christianity THEN & TODAY
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Jesus Christ tells a story about a vineyard carefully prepared and generously entrusted to others. Everything the farmers needed was already provided—the land, the protection, the opportunity to produce fruit. Their responsibility was simple: be faithful with what was given.

The tragedy of the farmers wasn’t ignorance—it was entitlement. They knew the vineyard was not theirs, yet they acted as if it was. And that is where this story speaks directly to us today.
 
The vineyard represents all that God has given—our lives, our gifts, our communities, our faith. The owner prepared it carefully, protected it, and made it fruitful. Then he entrusted it to the farmers, expecting faithfulness, gratitude, and obedience.
 
But instead of honoring the owner, the farmers claimed the vineyard as their own. When messengers were sent, they rejected them. When correction came, they resisted it. And when the son arrived—the ultimate act of grace—they chose violence over surrender.
 
God still sends messengers today—through Scripture, through conscience, through wise counsel, and through the quiet prompting of the Holy Spirit, when we slow down enough to receive His grace.
Jesus ends the story by reminding us of the cornerstone—the stone once rejected that becomes essential. What we dismiss as inconvenient truth is often what God intends as our foundation.

So today, let us respond differently than the tenants did.
Let us receive correction with humility.
Let us honor the Owner with faithfulness.
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And let us remember: the vineyard flourishes when we serve God, when we receive His gentle guidance and not when we replace Him with things in this world.
May we be found as faithful stewards, not stubborn owners.

Today’s Prayer:
Lord, help me remember that all I have comes from You. Teach me to be a faithful steward, open to Your truth, and willing to honor You with my life. Amen.

With gratitude and grace,
Phyllis Baskin
Office Manager

​Well, it’s a new year, which always begs “What is your New Year’s resolution?’ What do you want to fix, or what promise do you make to yourself about your health, wealth, or personal growth? I like the comic where one friend asks another, “Have you made a New Year’s resolution?” and the other answers, Yes….don’t make one!”

What if, instead, we focus on a word or an attitude that we want to embrace, incorporate, embody? Not something you can track with hash marks or schedule on a calendar, but it requires a daily commitment to try. Do you have a favorite word? Some of my favorites are grace, joy and contentment. Joy is certainly associated with Advent, in the songs we sing, on decorations, and our special pink joy advent candle that we light on our Comfort and Joy concert day. Some may think that it has lost its meaning due to overuse. What does it mean to you? Is it an emotion, or an action item?  Can you lose your joy, or is it a part of who you are? Can you bring Joy? Spread joy? Kill joy?

The word joy can in fact be a noun; contentment, a verb; spreading joy to all we meet, or an adjective; filled with joyfulness or joyousness! It is used in the bible 63 times; roughly two times more in the Old Testament than the new. Mother Teresa advises that if we do our work with joy, we can bring many souls to God. She describes joy as a prayer, as a sign of our generosity; that joy is evident in our eyes, our faces, our actions.  Pastor Jenny once said in a sermon, “One cannot have joy without God.”

At the root of joy is gratefulness. Joy doesn’t make us joyful, gratitude does. It comes from the Holy Spirit, abiding in God’s presence and the hope he gives. May this be a resolution for us all.
 
I Thes 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Yours In Christ!

Christy Merritt
​Director of Children's Ministry
 

My strength is dried up like a piece of broken pottery.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
You’ve set me down in the dirt of death. --Psalm 22:15
 
No one who knows me would be surprised to hear that I would NOT call 2025 “my year”.  That’s not to say everything was bad. The 4 people in my house have been mostly healthy and thriving and we love each other and laugh together so often. I have so many dear friends and have had so many joyful moments here at Northbrook and in other parts of my life. BUT… my dad was diagnosed with brain, kidney, and lung cancer in late May, and it became a cloud over the year. He wasn’t in any pain, but he was scared and there were very noticeable differences in his abilities. We knew that any treatment was buying a small amount of time and so all plans became tentative or were made with a “well if Daddy is really sick or has passed” addendum. And after feeling “on hold” for a while, he went downhill rapidly and died early fall. That felt like enough for one year to me. Then the week before Christmas, I broke my pinky finger requiring surgery and 6 months of pins and a huge bandage protecting the pins. It’s a tiny finger in the grand scheme of things for sure, but it has been a literal pain (man does it hurt) and made everything just a little bit slower and more complicated. By the time I sat down to rest post-Christmas, I definitely felt like “the dirt of death.” 
 
This past year’s clouds aside, there have been many times in my life when I’ve felt my strength was dried up spiritually and emotionally – 7th grade when all of the girls in my class learned how to “mean girl,” my first year of teaching when I felt like I failed more than I succeeded, just before I became a children’s minister when I was stuck in a job that I hated and was sinking me into depression daily. We all have times when we GET the laments of David and Job. (And sometimes I even have days when I want to sit and wallow in their laments.)
 
Anytime I begin approaching the “dirt of death,” I turn to the Psalms. I find some pain and read it. I find my own hurt, pain, exhaustion, and anger there. But once I’ve done that, I also find my comfort, peace, encouragement, strength, and love there. I let my heart embrace the songs of David’s heart. I let myself swell with the beauty of his words to God and about God. I worship as he worships. I am renewed in his renewal. I can let my broken, dried-up, exhausted self dwell in the place of God.
 
How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young--
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you. --Psalm 84:1-4
 
How awesome that we serve a God who has a home for the sparrow, a nest for the swallow, and a dwelling place for the weary!
 
I pray that each of us can find time to dwell with God when we feel broken. I pray that we can find God and let God fix our broken pieces, shore-up or weakness, heal our pain, and strengthen our souls. I pray that we will always find ourselves yearning, even fainting for God so that he can always renew us.
 
May we be ever praising,

Leslie Bowers
Director of Creative Services