We, the Encourage Committee and the deacons, are together writing this article for the January newsletter, and we want to wish each of you a meaningful and peaceful New Year. We want to invite you to continue to be involved in 2012. We will bring you a list of activities for 2012 and ask you to sign up for those that fit for you. As you read this, we want you to think about your talents and gifts and connect with any one of us to hear more about our work, and also to see how you can participate.

Deacons:

• Rhonda Duncan has been working on the Ask Me Table...
• Cindy Waddington and Jennette Robertson share a new project "Books 4 Kids.
• Peggy Meyer is the secretary. She represents the deacons at the council meetings, and sends information to Jeanie for the newsletter
• Penny and John Hickman prepare the communion elements for the first Sunday and supervise home communion. They also work around the campus.
• Jan Mantle takes the food collected in the food barrels to the Highline area food bank and she and Gerry Flaten work together on the Thanksgiving food drive.
• Beth Williams coordinates friend-to-friend deals with the needs of our members, telephoning and visiting. She sometimes coordinates drivers to get members to appointments.
• Andrew Carpenter and Lisa and Paul Larson make up helping hands, the team
   that provides services to the church (taping services, parking for large events, landscaping teams, etc.).
• Sarah Fox helps new members become acquainted with our church and members through assimilation.
• Lee and Don Weber coordinate the Sunday service transportation.

Norma Kastien and Margarita Suarez, elders;

Beth Williams, deacons' moderator;

Barbara Carlsen, representing the Presbyterian Women;

Jan Cox, who also works with the Health Care Team (they published the monthly Healthcare Team article in this newsletter); and

Penny Hickman, Priscilla Stephenson and Natalie Sarantos.

Please connect with one of us in January.

In the spirit of community and involvement, we wish you a peaceful and meaningful New Year.

Deacon's Doings in 2011 - An Update

Last February the Lake Burien Council, after long hours, requested the Board of Deacons to put into operation several goals. The goals suggested were new member assimilation, visiting, a mission to support children, parking and other service projects to benefit the church, Thanksgiving food bags, van transportation, a deacon to visit the council for communication, homebound communion and some way to provide information to newcomers, visitors and even long-time members. We organized our board into the 10 areas of service: the Ask Me table, new member assimilation, friend-to-friend, Books-4-Kids, helping hands, food collection/provision for Highline Food Bank, transportation and connections. We have elected a secretary and treasurer.

So far, these service units have been active and are doing well. I believe that it is time to provide information about the deacons' activities to the congregation because the congregation needs to start investing time and energy into helping sustain the work of the deacons.

• The Ask Me Table is supportive of what is going on around and within the church. The church calendar is available, as are instructions as to where the nursery is and where the young children are taught. We are hoping to provide meeting information for church functions. Rhonda Duncan is the lead and she would appreciate folks stepping up to help her.
• Books-4-Kids is an on-going request for lightly used and/or new children's books for ages 4 - 14, or pre-school through ninth grade. Cindy Waddington and Jennette Robertson are actively working with Sarah Pham to get books for the children in the after-school program. Our books collected in 2011 were given out to the children at the Christmas party on Dec. 14. Cindy made bookmarks with the children's names. They will be placed in the front of the book that has been selected for the child. This is truly a mission into the community.
• Communication is the domain of Peggy Meyer as our secretary. She attends the first few minutes of council meetings to provide our elders with the synopsis of our meeting. She also gives Jeanie the information to be included in the newsletter.
• Communion/Homebound Communion is headed up by Penny and John Hickman. They are responsible for communion preparation and the elements. Council and deacons sign up to help Pastor Tobin at the communion table. Teams of two go to Judson Park and Wesley Homes to give communion to those who desire it.
• Food Collection/Provision is handled by Jan Mantle. Jan hopes the food barrels will continue to be filled with non-perishable food supplies that go to the Highline Food Bank. The Thanksgiving food drive collected enough food for seven families. She and Gerry Flaten bought perishables with the donated cash and Gerry and Dick Flaten, Jan Mantle and Peggy Meyer delivered the food to the seven families. At least $115 was mailed to the Highline Food Bank. Jan would appreciate volunteers to help her take the food from the barrels in the CE building to the food bank.
• Friend-to-Friend is the neighborly visiting of church members. We believe there needs to be more of this and are praying for members to sign up to extend a helping hand and a grateful spirit to visit. We have also had a need to find drivers to get some folks to doctor's appointments and such.
• Helping Hands, with Andrew Carpenter and Lisa and Paul Larson, provides services to the church in many different ways. They help when large functions need parking directions and in the taping of the church services when needed. Andrew would appreciate some volunteers he can call upon as necessary.
• New Member Assimilation extends a hand to new members and is chaired by Sarah Fox. This unit has hosted new members at a welcoming celebration in the Fellowship Hall. Sarah works closely with the Encourage Committee of the council, but would also enjoy members from the congregation who enjoy working with people. Please consider volunteering with the deacons.
• Transportation involves driving the van to pick up folks from Judson Park and Wesley Homes for church services and returning them. Lee and Don Weber are the ones to contact. With this unit, there are certain requirements. Not just anyone can be a driver.

The deacons this year have been actively supporting the Encourage Committee of the Council with the Presbytery Dinner, the Presbyterian Women's Dinner and Silent Auction, Sundae Sunday, a Sandwich Sunday and a cookie-decorating Sunday, besides completing their own committee work.

It has been a very full year.

Beth Williams, Moderator

Health Care Team

10 Simple Steps to Help De-Stress

There is no shortage of angst-inducing news these days: natural disasters, economic woes, political unrest. Add to this backdrop stresses in our personal lives, layoffs, illness, money woes, temper tantrums, and traffic jams, and it is clear that stressful situations are constant and inevitable.

Just as serious as the stressors themselves are the adverse effects stress can have on your emotional and physical health. Many well-respected studies link stress to heart disease and stroke - the No. 1 and No. 3 causes of death, respectively, in the United States. Stress is also implicated in a host of other ailments such as depression and anxiety, chronic lower respiratory diseases, asthma flare-ups, rheumatoid arthritis, and gastrointestinal problems.

Stress is not all bad. Your perception of a real or imagined threat can spark the stress responses, which prepares the body to fight or flee. That swift reflex was encoded in you for survival. Thanks to the stress response, you might suddenly jump out of the path of a speeding car or flee from a burning house. But when your stress response is evoked repeatedly, your body experiences unnecessary wear and tear - such as high blood pressure - that can lead to poor health.

Even if you only have a few minutes to spare, the stress-busting suggestions described below can make your days calmer, if not easier. While some stress is inevitable, when your body repeatedly encounters a set of physiological changes dubbed the stress response, trouble can brew. Stress may contribute to or exacerbate various health problems, but it's possible to dismantle negative stress cycles. This report can help you identify your stress warning signs and learn how to better manage stressful situations.

Sometimes just thinking about embarking on a program of stress control can be stressful. Rather than freeze in your tracks, start small and bask in the glow of your successes. Give yourself a week to focus on practical solutions that could help you cope with just one stumbling block or source of stress in your life. Pick a problem, and see if these suggestions work for you.

1. Frequently late? Apply time management principles. Consider your priorities (be sure to include time for yourself) and delegate or discard unnecessary tasks. Map out your day, segment by segment, setting aside time for different tasks, such as writing or phone calls. If you are overly optimistic about travel time, consistently give yourself an extra 15 minutes or more to get to your destinations. If lateness stems from dragging your heels, consider the underlying issue. Are you anxious about what will happen after you get to work or to a social event, for example? Or maybe you're trying to jam too many tasks into too little time.
2. Often angry or irritated? Consider the weight of cognitive distortions. Are you magnifying a problem, leaping to conclusions, or applying emotional reasoning? Take the time to stop, breathe, reflect, and choose.
3. Unsure of your ability to do something? Don't try to go it alone. If the problem is work, talk to a coworker or supportive boss. Ask a knowledgeable friend or call the local library or an organization that can supply the information you need. Write down other ways that you might get the answers or skills you need. Turn to CDs, books, or classes, for example, if you need a little tutoring. This works equally well when you're learning relaxation response techniques, too.
4. Overextended? Clear the deck of at least one time-consuming household task by hiring help. If you can, hire a housecleaning service, shop for groceries through the internet, convene a family meeting to consider who can take on certain jobs, or barter with or pay teens for work around the house and yard. Consider what is truly essential and important to you and what might take a backseat right now.
5. Not enough time for stress relief? Try mini-relaxations. Or make a commitment to yourself to pare down your schedule for just one week so you can practice evoking the relaxation response every day. Slowing down to pay attention to just one task or pleasure at hand is an excellent method of stress relief.
6. Feeling unbearably tense? Try massage, a hot bath, mini-relaxations, a body scan, or a mindful walk. Practically any exercise - a brisk walk, a quick run, a sprint up and down the stairs - will help, too. Done regularly, exercise wards off tension, as do relaxation response techniques.
7. Frequently feel pessimistic? Remind yourself of the value of learned optimism: a more joyful life and, quite possible, better health. Practice deflating cognitive distortions. Rent funny movies and read amusing books. Create a mental list of reasons you have to feel grateful. If the list seems too short, consider beefing up your social network and adding creative, productive, and leisure pursuits to your life.
8. Upset by conflicts with others? State your needs or distress directly, avoiding "you always" or "you never" zingers. Say, "I feel_____ when you_____." "I would really appreciate it if you could ____." "I need some help setting priorities. What needs to be done first and what should I tackle later?" If conflicts are a significant source of distress for you, consider taking a class on assertiveness training.
9. Worn out or burned out? Focus on self-nurturing. Carve out time to practice relaxation response techniques or at least indulge in mini-relaxations. Care for your body by eating good, healthy food and for your heart by seeking out others. Give thought to creative, productive, and leisure activities. Consider your priorities in life: is it worth feeling this way, or is another path open to you? If you want help, consider what kind would be best. Do you want a particular task at work to be taken off your hands? Do you want to do it at a later date? Do you need someone with particular expertise to assist you?
10. Feeling lonely? Connect with others. Even little connections - a brief conversation in line at the grocery store, an exchange about local goings-on with a neighbor, a question for a colleague - can help melt the ice within you. It may embolden you, too, to seek more opportunities to connect. Be a volunteer. Attend religious or community functions. Suggest coffee with an acquaintance. Call a friend or relative you miss. Take an interesting class. If a social phobia, low self-esteem, or depression is dampening your desire to reach out, seek help. The world is a kinder, more wondrous place when you share its pleasures and burdens.

Source: Healthbeat, May 3, 2011, Harvard Medical School

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PROPERTY AND FINANCE

2011 Budget as of November 30 

Budget             $337,950

     Income        $288,321