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Joan Laughrige Funeral Details

Funeral: March 19, 2022 at 10:30.
Visitation at 9:30am before the service.

Mary Joan (Stark) Laughrige of Deltona, Fla., died on Feb. 6, 2022, after a short illness.

She was born Jan. 23, 1933, in Atwood, Colo., to Vera Diel and Lloyd McBride. She married Dr. Craig D. Stark

on Sept. 6, 1952, in Des Moines, Iowa. He died Aug. 11, 1980. She then married Robert J. Laughrige on Feb. 20, 1982, in Ottumwa, Iowa. He died Feb. 11, 2000.

Joan graduated from Eaton High School, Eaton, Colo., and attended Colorado State University. She lived in Traer, Ottumwa and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for many years before moving to Deltona, Fla., in 2019 to be near family. She was previously employed by Iowa State University, First Community Bank and Trust in Traer, and Union Bank and Trust Co. in Ottumwa, before retiring in 1990.

She was a former deacon, elder and member of First Presbyterian Church in Ottumwa and a member of Cedar Hills Community Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was a member of PEO Chapter HC. Special enjoyment came from her family, church, friends, bridge, mah jongg, college sports (football and basketball) and all music, but especially jazz.

She is survived by a son, John (Tina) Stark of Phoenix, Ariz., daughters, Dana Pherigo of Ottumwa, Iowa, Darla (Paul) Bastron of Kenosha, Wis.; Dr. Jennifer (Kevin) Johnson of DeBary, Fla., and Carrie (Keith) Douglas of Cumming, Ga.

She is survived by grandchildren, Heather (Ryan) Thompson of Ottumwa, Iowa, Lucas (Annemarie) Johnson of Wheeling, Ill., Katie (Steven) Kerlin of Jacksonville, Fla., Philip (Ashley) Bastron of Winston-Salem, N.C., Patrick (Jen) Bastron of Racine, Wis., Kyle Johnson of Salt Springs, Fla., Lauren (Jacob Goodpasture) Douglas of Atlanta, Ga., and Samantha Douglas of Cumming, Ga. She is also survived by seven great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. Joan is survived by a brother, Stanley Haywood of Lanagan, Mo.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands; son, James Stark (3/19/18); granddaughter, Anessa Pherigo; and son-in-law, Harold Pherigo.

Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 19, at Cedar Hills Community Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Family will greet friends from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the church before the service.

Burial will be at Buckingham Cemetery in Traer, Iowa. Memorials may be directed to Cedar Hills Community Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Online condolences can be left at www.teahenfuneralhome.com

Lent

Fruit of the Spirit Prayer

For a time of confession and prayer:

Lord, Your Word says…

The fruit of the Spirit is love,
but we have loved darkness rather than light, and loved you too little and ourselves too much.

The fruit of the Spirit is joy,
but we have been sour, and bitter, and the joy of the LORD has been absent.

The fruit of the Spirit is peace,
but we have fretted and worried.  We have forgotten the finished work of Christ and doubted your fatherly care.

The fruit of the Spirit is patience,
but we have snapped at others, and questioned your wise timing.

The fruit of the Spirit is kindness,
but we have been harsh, cutting, and biting, So unlike our Lord Jesus Christ, who prayed for his persecutors.

The fruit of the Spirit is goodness,
but we have often chosen the passing pleasures of sin, over your good laws.

The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness,
but we have been unreliable; we have let others down, and not taken our baptismal vows and marriage vows seriously.

The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness,
but we have been unwilling to yield, and stiff-necked

The fruit of the Spirit is self-control,
but our wills have been weak, and our own sinful desires have got the better of us.

Lord, please show us your mercy.
Lord, have mercy on us
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Uncategorized

Pasta of the Prairie – Noah’s Ark Fundraiser

Enjoy pasta while supporting Noah’s Ark and a small business owned by Cedar Hill’s very own Tyler and Lindsey Steincamp.

Visit www.pastaoftheprairie.com, order some pasta, and Noah’s Ark will receive 30% of the profits.  Order by March 18 and use code “NOAH”.  It will take off the cost of the shipping, and all the orders will be sent to Noah’s Ark Preschool for pickup on March 21.

Want it shipped to your home instead? Pay the small shipping cost and make sure you say it’s for the Noah’s Ark Fundraiser in the “special comments” section on the order page.

Buy 4 of any products, get 1 FREE!
Buy 7 of any products, get 2 FREE!

Have fun, enjoy your pasta, and thank you for helping Noah’s Ark continue to provide a Christian preschool experience at an affordable price!

Cedar Chips, March 2022 Chips

The Math Supports Hospitality

The Math Supports Hospitality

Once again I am challenged with contemplating the importance of hospitality and I encounter my own stinginess as a result.  I love what John Piper says about the power of hospitality:

“When we practice hospitality, we experience the thrill of feeling God’s power conquer our fears and our stinginess and all the psychological gravity of our self-centeredness. And there are few joys, if any, greater than the joy of experiencing the liberating power of God’s hospitality making us a new and radically different kind of people, who live to reflect the glory of his grace as we extend it to others in all kinds of hospitality.”

“The psychological gravity of our self-centeredness” really hits home with me. It seems like all my hesitancy toward hospitality is me-centered.  ‘I don’t have the energy.’ ‘I am too busy.’ ‘My life/house is too messy.’ These are all me-centered excuses.  Now, let’s consider the joy and freedom we feel in practicing and receiving hospitality. What were some of your best moments in the past three months?  I am willing to bet they had some element of hospitality. Maybe your Christmas gathering with family, where you either shared or received hospitality.  Maybe the game night you had with family friends.  I loved the Super Bowl party we had here at church.  We shared games, food, conversation, and even some football!  That party brought such joy to me and my family.  In January, our leadership shared a couple of meals together as part of our weekend-long retreat.  The conversations I was able to have, the opportunity to build and renew relationships, was all possible because of the hospitality we received during the retreat.

To quantify this and illustrate it I want to ask, “How long did it take you to read this article?”  Maybe two minutes?!  Think about all the two-minute conversations you have with neighbors, coworkers, family, and church family.  I think I may have 20 different two-minute conversations on any given Sunday.  Now imagine I invite you to my house for supper.  How much time will we have together?  60-90 minutes at least!  Wow! That amount of relationship-building time is equivalent to 30-45 two-minute conversations!  The math:

1 X 90-minute meal = 45 X 2-minute conversations

That is why ‘conquering our fears and our stinginess’ and practicing hospitality is worth it.  One supper or game-night is worth 45 chance conversations with that neighbor, friend, or family member.  God also honors the sacrifice we make when we get out of our comfort zone. We show we care by offering hospitality and God does the work of healing people’s hearts (including our own).

“…we do the caring and Jesus does the healing” – Dustin Willis

Steve Poole
Director of Youth & Young Adults

What did you think of this article? Let us know.

    Cedar Chips, March 2022 Chips

    Hospitality and Prayer

    Hospitality and Prayer

    What would it look like to be both a prayerful and a hospitable people? Both prayer and hospitality are concrete examples of the greatest commandment, to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.

    Both prayer and hospitality are open and attentive activities.

    Prayer and hospitality mean openness to what guests and strangers bring to us. We receive a revelation from the guest which can change us and enrich our lives and open us to new possibilities and ways of thinking and living.

    Openness makes us welcoming to God and others in our prayer and prayerful in our hospitality. There’s no recipe it just takes practice. The natural posture of an upturned hand relaxed tends towards a fist. There is effort required for it to be opened. There is effort required to be openhanded towards God and to be openhanded towards others. It takes intentionality to nurture intimacy and ongoing dialogue with God, to learn when and how He wants us to respond to a need or a cry.

    Prayer and hospitality also imply attentiveness to the other and to the needs of others, even anticipating their needs. We have to get out of ourselves and become interested in others.

    Often our lack of hospitality is simply the failure to notice and acknowledge others and their needs, the needs of the larger world and the needs of those closest to us. Jesus models attentiveness. He noticed the sick, the excluded, the hungry, those that others passed by.  As we contemplate the ministry of Jesus, we are called to heighten our awareness of others so that we can carry on the ministry of Jesus.

    It’s true that our world is in a constant state of emergency. Jesus responded to crises by healing, feeding, and raising the dead, but the life of Jesus was also a lifelong conversation with His Father. His prayer and hospitality were connected. We are called to practice openness and attentiveness through the disciplines of prayer and hospitality.

    When Jesus becomes more and more welcomed into the conversation of our thoughts and time is set aside for openness to God in prayer, we’ll feel freer to be hospitable in heart and deed.

    Again, there is no recipe here. Learn from Him. Make mistakes. Go back to Him again. Walk with Him through the day, and ask Him to point out His way and direction. Listen, talk, share, and most of all “welcome.”

    Gary Sager
    Ambassador of Care

    Did you enjoy this article? Did you laugh, cry or learn something new? Let Gary know.

      Uncategorized

      Cups of Cold Water to the Thirsty

      Cups of Cold Water to the Thirsty

      My husband and I became volunteers for “Safe Family” years ago. We saw that it would give us an opportunity to serve families when they were in need. Primarily the safe family hosts children while their parents are busy lining up a job or transportation or childcare. Years ago, we hosted a child for four months while his mother got a job, a car, and an apartment in place. This was a great thing to be a part of.

      In October this year we started hosting 1- and 2-year-old little girls. Each week they have become more and more a part of our lives. In November, we were asked by their mother to adopt them. We prayed and discerned that we should say, “YES.”

      Since then we have been working on adjusting to life as a family of six. We are meeting with a lawyer and planning our home study. We have been fundraising to pay for the fees that come with adoption (up to $10,000 is what we were told to plan for).

      And YOU dear church have been caring for us through this process. You have been giving us cups of cold water when we are thirsty. Those cups have come in the form of diapers, wipes, encouragement, a place to share sorrows and joys, clothes, little shoes, funds towards the adoption, and Christmas gifts for the new family members.

      Thank you for the hospitality you have offered us! It’s a joy to see how many are supporting these little girls without even knowing them!

      Lindsey Ungs
      Connection & Communication Architect

      Did you enjoy this article? Did you laugh, cry or learn something new? Let Lindsey know.

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        Glittering Vices: The Seven Deadly Sins

        A sermon series beginning March 6, 2022. Sundays at 8:30am and 11am

        We’ll be looking at the “7 Deadly Sins” and why they have such a powerful hook into God’s people – and how to combat them! In Christ, we have VICTORY! Amen!

        Sunday classes will continue at 9:45am in between services.  Nursery is available for ages 0-36mo at both services, and Children’s Worship is at 11am for ages 3 to 3rd grade.

        Small groups are meeting throughout the weeks of Lent. The videos for small groups are here.

        Easter, Event, Lent, Uncategorized

        Ash Wednesday 2022

        Our Ash Wednesday worship service is March 2, 2022 at 6:30pm.  A dinner is provided beforehand 5:15-6:15pm.  An RSVP is helpful, but not required. (Call the office 396-6608)

        Nursery (ages 0-36mo) and children’s worship (ages 3-3rd grade) will be available starting at 6:15pm.  Children are always welcome to stay with their families in the service as well.

        Come, receive the ashes, and enter into this Lenten season of reflection as we await Easter Sunday together.

        Love. Belong. Serve.