A few years ago, I heard someone suggest that no matter where we find ourselves, or where we are going, God is already there. In the same way, long before we even begin to understand what it means, God’s love is already at work in our lives. The hard part comes when we start to realize that if God loves us more than we can imagine and is always with us wherever we go, we are called then to not just keep moving, but also be ready even before opportunities to have courage and serve others arrive.

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God.” (Romans 8:38-39)

Janie McElwee-Smith is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, she attended both Wake Forest University and Vanderbilt University. She has served churches in Missouri, Tennessee, South Carolina, and southern Louisiana before moving to central Pennsylvania.

She and her late husband, Brad, are parents to twin boys, Lucien and Arthur, and she is a bonus mom grown twins, Taylor and Caitlin. Their family also has two fur-children: Loki and Charlie. She enjoys cooking, movies, travel, board games, and Pilates.