"The Final Third"

We are approaching the end of "March Madness" where there is talk of the "sweet sixteen", the "elite eight" and the "Final Four". At the end of this process someone will win. Every basketball fan is glued to the TV from Thursday night to Saturday for each weekend in March and into April. Work stops, there are predictions of how one's favorite team is going to fair, the "remote wars" are at a fever pitch. But soon this will end and basketball fans will begin looking for next year. Imagine that one of the kids that plays play basketball in the ReCreation Center ends up in the Final Four. How exciting that would be. But more important, what if playing basketball in the ReCreation Center helps shape a life of one young man or woman to live a life of greatness. That is far more important than the annual madness that comes into our lives every spring. As we enter the last year of the Deepen Our Roots campaign, we need to continue to lift our sights high to make this ReCreation Center possible. We need each person on the team to make this happen.

One of the shining markers on the way to the next year was the recent Second Anniversary Dinner. There were so many people who helped make the night such a success. Our emcees, Rod & Randy Halvorson, Kevin Leakey, Mike Rohrbach, Grant Goodeve, Normando, Pastor Naomi, Pastor Scott and Hilary, and the Cathedral Adult Choir, as well as Rich Skinner were those in the spotlight who kept the evening fun and inspirational. There was such a sense of community. Those who provided the food, Pastor David and Nancy Miller and their team. Melissa Tyskinski, Cathy Baird, and Diana Smith who made the arrangements for dishes, decorations, etc. Teresa Fernandez, Kaitlin and friends who made the programs, plus the many people who served the food and did the clean-up: Jannette Backlund, Ed & Jana Goad (sound), Toni Firth, Lanny & Deborah Vanderhoeck, Allan & Laurie Wenzel( welcome tables), Bob, Cathy & Becky Baird, John & Melissa Tyskinski, Pastor Michael & Teresa Fernandez and family, Fiona Monaghan, Mike & Tara Roth, Glen Horman ( photographer), Jackie White, Amy Williams, Pam Seymour & Nancy Jo King (phone calls), Lesley Mulkey, Lolita Cederblom, Karen Haverkate, Denise Espeland,Gale Brink, Patty Chapman, Riley Frazier, and all the staff, Pastor Scott, Pastor Naomi, Pastor Linda, Pastor David, Pastor Michael and Pastor Tim. Pastor Sally Jo Holmes and the Prayer Team. And a special thank you to the Deepen Our Roots Follow-up Team. This dinner was a shining example of the team spirit here at Washington Cathedral.

As we enter the final third, we challenge you to become part of the team. If you can't give we need your prayers. If you can give, every gift no matter how big or small is the same in God's eyes. We need both. Let's take this to the end.