My daughter, Sarah and I served food at the Salvation Army; we had a wonderful time, and I left feeling as if I had been in church worshiping. As we serve others, our serving becomes worship when it’s done with gladness. As we serve, we come into God’s presence. Serving and worshiping are intertwined When you do one, you are doing the other. When we serve by ushering, reading, serving communion, teaching, playing music and singing, we are really worshiping our God at the same time.

May got us off to good warm weather start with our trip to Winona on the trolley and a fun potluck showing old photographs and telling stories of summers past. A good time and great food was had by all.

We will kick off June with the Potluck one week earlier than usual. Out potluck will be held on Wednesday June 10th, at noon in the fellowship hall. Our speaker for the program will be Gerald (Jerry) Bonsack a well-known photographer and Environmental Engineer in our area. Jerry recently returned from a cruise to Alaska where he used some exciting new photographic techniques to capture the glaciers and landscapes of the Alaskan cruise. If you are a photographer you will be interested in the techniques Jerry uses to capture the images in his program. If you are a travel enthusiast you can just sit back and enjoy the view with Jerry’s interesting insights. We will meet in the fellowship hall so we can view the presentation of the large screen.

The month of May is typically set aside for First Lutheran celebrations; for graduates among us; for our Preschool at Springfest; our mothers on Mother’s Day; and our beloved war dead on Memorial Day. In May our choir sings their top 5 songs, our confirmands celebrate a year of instruction completed, and on May 24 we celebrate Pentecost (wear red!). In the wake of Easter, we live into abundant life in many ways.

When I was in seminary, while doing my Clinical Education one summer, I was introduced to the healing power of art. One whole day we spent creating art as we prayed, talking about how people could use art as a way to heal from trauma and as a way to connect with God. I was hooked. My primary paper in a class on prayer centered around how we pray using music and painting. I led youth and adults in a devotion that required them to paint images. Even as immersed in this thinking as I was, I never imagined that art would become for me the primary way I connect with my own self and with God. A little over a year ago, while in the midst of an intense week of Emotional Intelligence training, all I could think about was being in the Monet gallery at the Art Institute (I had just been there the previous October). It actually became a way for me to experience and process my learning. Monet’s haystacks became a symbol to breathe, to allow space for emotions, to connect on a deeper level with those around me. Thus began an ongoing engagement with art in a way that I had never imagined. There is one piece in particular that haunts me in a good and surprising way. Jackson Pollock’s Greyed Rainbow at first glance looks like a mess. It is one of his famous abstract paintings. You know, the kind that you look at and wonder how it is possible that this is hanging in a museum. Except, well, it is compelling in a way that other abstract paintings aren’t. Here is the description from the Art Institute gallery....

We have a new name, but our mission is the same: serve our teen community in need. We have free, gently used teen clothing, including jeans, dresses, hoodies, shoes, shorts, dress shirts, dress pants, ties, purses, hats, athletic wear, toiletries and more.

I hope everyone has been able to enjoy the warmer weather we’ve been having. Spring is always an amazing time. We have new life in Jesus’ resurrection and we are reminded of this as we watch the buds on trees begin to form, flowers burst from the ground with renewed determination, the warmth of the sun on our faces and baby animals seem to appear everywhere. God graces us with so many gifts. It’s our job to slow down and recognize all the blessings that surround us. Our young youth group will be able to do just that. We will volunteer at Clearwater Farm where we’ll have opportunities to work with the animals and work in their garden, on Tuesday, May 26 from 5–7pm. RSVP on our Facebook event page.

Summer opportunities for the Young Youth....