{"id":8656,"date":"2023-11-07T10:16:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T18:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/?p=8656"},"modified":"2023-11-07T10:16:12","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T18:16:12","slug":"thanksgiving-letter-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/thanksgiving-letter-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving Letter 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/fall-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"542\" height=\"341\" src=\"https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/fall-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8658\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5894428152492668;width:574px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/fall-2.png 542w, https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/fall-2-300x189.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 542px) 100vw, 542px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Dear Friends,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, I am reminded of the many blessings received throughout the year. Despite the challenges and hardships we\u2019ve faced, we still have a lot&nbsp;to be thankful for.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This Thanksgiving, I encourage you to take a moment to&nbsp;reflect on the goodness of God&nbsp;and the many ways in which God has blessed us. Let us give thanks for our families, our friends and our church community. Let us be mindful of those who have been affected by disasters, violence and wars as we pray for their healing and restorations of peace. Let us also remember those who have lost their loved ones which makes holidays more poignant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we gather around the table to share a meal with our loved ones, let us remember that we are all part of one family in Christ. Let us be grateful for the love and fellowship that we share, and for the ways in which we support and care for one another.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am thankful for each and every one of you, and for the many ways in which you have contributed to the life and ministry of our church. Your prayers,&nbsp;your generosity&nbsp;and your commitment to Christ are a source of inspiration and encouragement to me, our staff, and church leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May God richly bless you and all the people you care about with health, joy, and deep satisfaction during this Thanksgiving. May God\u2019s grace and peace be with you always.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Christ,\u00a0<br><em>John <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">*This time of the year we rely on generous Thanksgiving offerings to meet the needs of our many ministries we provide to our church families and to the community. We enclosed a Thanksgiving offering envelope for you to bring to the church on Thanksgiving Sunday, Nov. 19 or mail it to our church office. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Watsonville United Methodist Church<br>229 Stanford Street, Watsonville, CA 95076<br>Phone: (831) 724-4434\u00a0\u00a0 office@watsonville1stumc.org<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/fall.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"901\" height=\"133\" src=\"https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/fall.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8657\" style=\"aspect-ratio:6.774436090225564;width:1206px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/fall.jpg 901w, https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/fall-300x44.jpg 300w, https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/fall-768x113.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 901px) 100vw, 901px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Friends, As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, I am reminded of the many blessings received throughout the year. Despite the challenges and hardships we\u2019ve faced, we still have a lot&nbsp;to be thankful for.&nbsp; This Thanksgiving, I encourage you to take a moment to&nbsp;reflect on the goodness of God&nbsp;and the many ways in which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":8658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Thanksgiving Letter 2023 - Watsonville First United Methodist Church | Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Watsonville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/watsonville1stumc.org\/thanksgiving-letter-2023\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thanksgiving Letter 2023 - Watsonville First United Methodist Church | Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Watsonville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear Friends, As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, I am reminded of the many blessings received throughout the year. 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