I recently heard that 2015— according to Chinese astrology—is the “Year of the Sheep”. This, apparently, is not such a great thing if you are a couple considering bringing a child into this world. 2014 was an auspicious “Year of the Horse.” Sheep, though, are meek creatures, and raised for nothing more than slaughter. The thought is that children born this year will be followers, not leaders. Many Chinese believe they will be destined for heartbreak or failed marriages and that they will be unlucky in business, too. Have you ever noticed Christians call every year since the birth of Christ, “The Year of Our Lord”? Of course, Our Lord is likened in Scripture to a lamb… led to slaughter. The meekness of Christ is at the core of his ultimate power: the power to take the world’s abuse and transform it into peace, love and strength. For us, every year is a Year of the Sheep!…

By the time this newsletter is in your hands, we will be right in the middle of the twelve days of the Christmas season of the Church. We will have sung Joy to the World, decorated the trees and opened presents, made and eaten and given away yummy cookies, spent time with family and friends. While we will still be in the midst of Christmas the world will have moved on. Yet, after weeks of waiting, we still celebrate the birth of Jesus. That celebration culminates on January 6th with the celebration of Epiphany, the day when those wise people from the East came to visit Jesus.…

Years ago as a family, when my girls were small, we would go ice fishing. Perry would open up several holes to fish in and start fishing, while I would try to fish and watch the girls playing in the snow. The girls would run around, make houses in the snow and play with the fish being caught. We would remind them often to watch out for fishing holes and not go too far from mom or dad. As they would play one of them or both of them would step into a fishing hole and get one or both feet wet before it was time to go home. I was usually prepared for this and brought with us dry socks and bread bags. We would change out of the wet socks, put dry ones on, with bread bags over them, and the feet would go back into the boots, after dumping all the water out. Getting your feet wet was the cost of being together as an ice-fishing family, and being prepared for wet feet was part of that.…

I remember greeting my first care receiver with those words about six years ago. Since then I have had the privilege of serving two other care receivers, each in a totally different difficult life circumstance. When the first Stephen Minister class was started at First Lutheran, I thought it may be something I would be interested in, but I just wasn’t certain. Would I be capable of the training? Would I have the time? Is this what I was called to do? I passed on that opportunity, but the idea of serving just wouldn’t leave my mind. When the second class was started, I knew I was called to serve. I was compelled to serve....

The return of MP3 Night! (Movie, Pizza, Pajamas, and Popcorn). Featuring the movie: The Sandlot or Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (I’ll let you and the kids vote, most votes wins)...