Dear friends,
We find ourselves in the midst of the Lenten season. This week I start First Communion class with 17 of our children grades 1 – 6! I am super excited. We will celebrate their completion of class, and for some, their First communion on Maundy Thursday, April 17th at 6:00 p.m. The kids will be making communion bread and creating their own communion cups they will use. It is a special time of learning, growing and completing another milestone in their faith journey!
Lent finds itself, and often feels like an in between time. In between Christmas and Easter. In between winter and spring. In between life and death. In between the earthly kingdom and the Kingdom of God. The in between is a time of waiting, wanting, watching, and so much more. How do you feel about the in between times of life, seasons, church?
During the in between where do you find hope? Where do you find joy? Where does your courage to keep going come from? What scares you during an in between time? Who do you trust and where do you turn? Wow…. That’s a lot!
I often don’t slow down enough to recognize an “in between” time and that isn’t a good thing. There is value, lessons and growth that come from these times of In between if we but let it be so. I have been thinking a lot about how, then, we feed our souls not just in the in between times, but also in the busy times, the dry times, the chaotic times. In response to my reflecting and a request from busy parents, I am going to try something new. New to me and perhaps Our Savior’s in a way.
In the newsletter you will find an invitation to consider joining others in an online formatted Bible/Book study. I am excited to try this format. A format that will be open to all and hopefully attractive to our busy families, parents, working folks, retired folks and anyone who wants to connect, but finding time to be in person every week just doesn’t work. Let’s gather online to study, pray and learn together! Check out the information inside the newsletter!
There is a lot to be praying about these days. There is a lot to be worried about these days. There is a lot these days. Remember to take care of yourself in the midst of it all. Remember that you are not alone. As we watch family members, friends, community members and so many others under attack, at risk of being eliminated, being hurt, stay vigilant to the Word, pray fervently and know that God is our ruler, Jesus is who we follow and the Kingdom of God is near!
Peace to you! Easter hope and joy! Easter is coming….
Pastor Liz
Our Savior’s and friends,
Grace and peace to you as we enter the Advent Season. There is something about Advent that brings a sense of peace and calm among the hustle and bustle that surrounds us. Here are a few suggestions to help bring more peace and calm and less hustle and bustle this season.
An opportunity to set aside time each day to write down three things you are grateful for. This is a great way to start the day or even a way to end your day!
Drown out the societal messages of “do this” and then “do that” by choosing to shut off the television, the radio, put down the newspaper for a set time at least one day a week. Enjoy the silence, and pick up your Bible and read the Good News instead!
Visit with someone you haven’t seen, talked to, or sent a letter/email to in a long time. If you do this once a week for four weeks, you will have reconnected with four people! There are always shut-ins on our church list who would LOVE a visit!
Enjoy the company of family and friends. Set up a time to invite friends over for a good ol’ fashion visit. Coffee and treats, dinner together or something simple like tea. Not at a restaurant, not out in public, but in your home!
Notice the little things this Advent Season. Take time, as we say in the summer, to “smell the roses,” but instead of roses, get out and smell the freshly fallen rain/snow, the scent of the pine trees. Notice the glimmer in the night stars, or the sun cresting the horizon on its way up or down each day. Get outside and breath in that fresh air of God’s great north woods!
Take each day one at a time. Do not worry about what tomorrow will bring, focus on today. Don’t get caught up in the busyness of to do lists, shopping lists and all that brings on chaos and noise to your life. One day at a time. Christmas will come whether we are ready or not so you might as well choose joy, choose love, choose hope, choose peace this Advent because that is what will ultimately bring you that sense of peace and calm this season!
May you have a blessed Advent!
Pastor Liz
Grace and peace to you friends!
I hope your summer has been going well for you! The weather has been a little wet, but we have also had some nice warm days, which I enjoy the most!
As we enter into our last month of “summer,” what do you most look forward too? Have you had enough summer company and you are looking forward to some rest? Perhaps your summer company is yet to come and you look forward to hosting. Fishing, camping, vacation, gardening, house/yard projects. It sure seems like we cram as much in as we can in the three short summer months we get to enjoy here in God’s great north woods!
Summer at our house has been full of travel! I was in Guatemala for two weeks in June. River was in Europe for 10 days in June. River and I went to the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans in mid-July. Now we are shifting to getting River ready to move to college! A bittersweet moment for me!
Amid the busyness it is so important to find the time, make the time, and to stop and take a breath. Stop and breath in God, allow the Spirit to enter in and offer rest for our souls.
A favorite verse of mine comes from Matthew, where Jesus invites us to come to him, all that are weary and carrying heavy burdens and he will give us rest. YES! Rest! We don’t have to do this thing called life alone! We have God on our side. We have God who has promised they will share the yoke with us. God will come alongside us. I find this gospel to be of comfort and peace in times such as the middle of summer!
Thank you for showing up, friends! Thank you for coming together to “be” the body of Christ. Thank you for your love and support, your caring for one another and for your steadfast faith! I look forward to the routine of fall, the colors, and most of all seeing more faces in worship as folks make their way back to “town” from the lake! But for now, we have a few more weeks to enjoy summer!
May you find solace and peace as we enter into the last days of summer!
Peace to you~
Pastor Liz
Spring Greetings!
This in between time of seasons, both spiritually and in the cycle of mother earth, can be long, drawn out and difficult. I long for warmer days, sunshine and the song of the birds. I long for green grass under my feet, flowers in bloom and bees buzzing about. I long for the Word of God to soak into my heart and the voice of the Spirit to lead me along the way.
While we wait for green grass, the Word of God can provide wisdom and nourishment. While we wait for blooming flowers and singing birds, the Word of God can be music to our ears. However, sometimes even the Word of God can come seem like an in between time. Can seem like we are waiting to hear, and are open and listening, but nothing is there. We wonder where is God in our broken world, in our hurting lives, in our grief stricken environment. We wait on the Lord with patients and with love, with curiosity and with imagination.
This in between time of seasons, stands to remind us that even when we feel we can hear, see, taste, feel God, God hears, sees, feels and tastes us. God is with us and God is indeed leading us through this in between time. Things are happening, our faith is deepening and our curiosities are coming alive, we can trust that to be true!
What will your intentions for the month of May look like? Can you find time each day to dwell in the Word? Can you find time each day to pray for two or three people that you haven’t seen in church or around town lately? The power of prayer moves people and you can be a part of that movement. If you prayed each day for just two people by the end of May you would have witnessed and held in prayer 60 different people and who knows what kind of movement the Spirit would be empowered to do in their lives, in your life!! Try it!
Set your intentions for the month and might one intention include prayer and might another be happiness and kindness!
WHY I WAKE EARLY
By Mary Oliver
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the miserable and the crotchety –
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light-
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
May happiness and kindness be yours to find, enjoy and dwell in this spring! Remember May 19th is Pentecost, wear red and plan to attend worship for fire in the font, the wind swirling around like the Spirit and the breath of the choir – singing come, come, come, holy spirit come!
See you around! Pastor Liz
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