You’re lucky. Let me tell you a story about why.

As I consider the upcoming program year being a “Year of Welcome”, I have been tasked with considering how this theme (and core value) can be carried out in worship and in our Caring Ministries.

I love meeting with my friends, it’s so much fun greeting one another and catching up with each other. Meeting someone new is still a little scary for me. I’m not a natural at meeting new people, and yet God has placed me in the position to do this almost weekly. I have to remember to do things that make others feel welcome and remind myself of what I should say. If God has given me the courage to help make people feel welcome in our church, he can do the same for you.

Like many people did during the pandemic, I used this disruption in my life to reflect on what I discovered was important and then decided how I can keep those things going forward. Things like how much I enjoyed having dinner with my family each day, or working outdoors at home really was helpful for reading and creativity. One thing I realized I missed while we were all separated was teaching, so that became one of the three things I decided to focus on as we returned to in-person opportunities.

Have you ever wanted to make a special effort to reconnect with an old friend, a distant family member or an acquaintance that you’ve always wanted to know better?

Have I got a deal for you!

The image that keeps coming to mind as First Lutheran returns to in-person worship, offers in-person Vacation Bible School (August 1-5!), gathers for in-person OWLs potlucks and prepares for in-person confirmation and Sunday School in just a few weeks is… a lawn mower. Have you ever tried to start an old lawn mower after a long cold winter? That first pull can feel like trying to pull a sword from a stone. The second pull may be no better. By the 10th pull, I wonder whether this thing is ever going to fire up!

For years now, as I continue to study human behavior, I have heard from people far smarter than myself about the importance of making time to think a regular part of your daily routine. On those days when I manage to carve out such time, I find that I am better able to face whatever comes my way, so when Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit and Smarter, Faster, Better, said this thing during an interview, I shouldn’t have been surprised. It certainly shouldn’t have stuck with me days later. Except that I don’t remember my other teachers making the connection between deep thinking and productivity so clearly. Except they did, if we consider productivity to be more about staying connected to your “why” than about getting more things done. I haven’t finished listening to the interview, mostly because I keep going back and listening to sections again, but I have been led more deeply into the connection between deep thinking, productivity and my “why”, which is nothing more than another way to think about living out your values, stating your purpose statement, your personal purpose statement.

The First Lutheran Foundation Fund Committee is excited to share with you some news of how we are reaching out to help people in our community. Recently, we awarded grants to several worthy organizations, including Causeway Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater La Crosse, Holmen Area Community Center, Coulee Region Hunger Walk, Lutheran World Relief, Sugar Creek Camp Counselors, along with our very own Prayer Shawl Knitters, First Teen Clothes Closet and First Helping Hands Fund, We also are supplementing painting the “house”, owned and used by First Lutheran. In May, we awarded scholarships to five deserving high school seniors who are members of our church.

Since January 1, 2021, First Teen Clothes Closet (FTCC) has hosted 44 guests and given out more than 628 items (clothes, shoes, toiletries, hair care kits for black teens, and accessories. In January, we reopened by appointment only, and in mid-May, we returned to open shopping on Monday nights.

The Mabel Anderson Scholarship was established from a generous bequest received from the estate of Mabel Anderson between 1989 in memory of her parents, Peder and Johanna Anderson. It was Mabel’s wish that this monetary gift would enable further growth of our church, its ministries and stewardship within the community.

First Lutheran is cautiously returning to gatherings. Worship continues to be offered three ways: indoors and live streamed Sundays @ 8:00 and Wednesdays @ 6:15. Sundays at 10:30 are a mixture of inside and outside. Small groups are feeling more comfortable, too, as more and more of our members are reaching ‘fully vaccinated’ status.

Easter is messy, the Spirit said as I was working on the backdrop for Easter. It was the day before Easter, the sermon had been written and there she was: Easter is messy.

Below are the comments I made Mar. 14 as worship began indoors, in-person for the first time in a year. A number of people asked if I’d share them in print. Thank God for the newsletter!

March 14, 2021:

52 Sundays ago, exactly a year ago tomorrow, we were among the first church families in the area to cancel worship in response to COVID-19. It was a difficult decision.

“I can’t wait for Easter!”

I have heard some form of this comment from several corners of my world. This deep need for the resurrection story. It feels as if the world has been in the tomb and resurrection day is nearly here. I too feel it in myself, in my body, this need for the resurrection story. Some days it feels like my bones are jumping around, eager to be free of their confinement, or maybe that is my spirit longing for days when being free felt differently.

The First Lutheran Foundation Fund is proud to be able to help support ELCA organizations that are continuing the work of First Lutheran Church. One such worthy and deserving organization is the Sugar Creek Bible Camp.

I’ve been on more than a few road trips in my life. As a kid, I remember driving from northern Illinois to Orlando. For my Youth Gathering, it was a 24-hour drive from Medford, WI, to New Orleans. A few years ago, I led our family on the well-worn path from our area to Yellowstone and back.