Trees that looked bare not long ago are now leafing out and stretching toward the light and into warmth. Seeds hidden in the soil are beginning to stir and push upward. The lawns have greened and it is mowing season again. Flowers are blooming. What was once dormant and even appeared lifeless is now coming alive. This is a picture of resurrection.

Immanuel has just crossed the finish line! Along with our community, we completed our first winter season as a host site of the Warren County Emergency Warming Response (EWR). EWR is a warming shelter system that includes the greater St Charles/Lincoln/Warren counties. Immanuel viewed her role as a supplementary warming center to complement Anchor House/Liberty Belle of Warren County, which is a 24hr shelter to our West, and St Charles EWR to our East.

As the season of Lent begins, we are invited into one of the most honest and hopeful practices of our faith: confession. In a world that often teaches us to hide our struggles, defend our mistakes, or carry our burdens alone, Lent gently calls us to a different way, the way of truth-telling, humility, and grace. Confession is sometimes misunderstood as an exercise in shame, but at its heart it is actually about restoration. To confess simply means “to tell the truth.” It is the sacred practic