Sunday, December 25, 2016

Sunday Supplication - The Savior of the World

Eternal Father, you gave your incarnate Son, Jesus, to be our salvation. Place within our hearts, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world.

Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ Jesus.  Help us to extend forgiveness to each other and help us grow into a redemptive and healing community. Help us to have a redemptive and healing impact on the world around us.

Help us, O God, to find ourselves in you. Give us faith that makes us able to commit all things to you.
Give us hearts to love your will and to serve your purposes. Shape and strengthen us to follow Jesus wherever he leads. Whether by life or death, may Christ be exalted in us. Help us to press on to take hold of all you have in mind for our lives.

We pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Friday Favorites - Christmas at Valley

Looking forward to worshiping with friends and family at Valley this year. You're invited! Take your pick of either Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning. We'll be doing the same one-hour service both times. Merry Christmas!




Thursday, December 22, 2016

Thursday Thinking - Healing and Social Good

Thanks to my wife, Cheri, for sharing the link to this thought-provoking and helpful interview. Let me encourage you to, as you watch it, consider how your faith and your commitment to a church community could both comfort and stretch you.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_can_a_divided_america_heal?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2016-11-12&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_content=talk_of_the_week_image

How can the US recover after the negative, partisan presidential election of 2016? Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt studies the morals that form the basis of our political choices. In conversation with TED Curator Chris Anderson, he describes the patterns of thinking and historical causes that have led to such sharp divisions in America — and provides a vision for how the country might move forward. CLICK HERE OR ON IMAGE ABOVE

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Wednesday Words - O Emmanuel


O come, O come, and be our God-with-us
O long-sought With-ness for a world without,
O secret seed, O hidden spring of light.
Come to us Wisdom, come unspoken Name
Come Root, and Key, and King, and holy Flame,
O quickened little wick so tightly curled,
Be folded with us into time and place,
Unfold for us the mystery of grace
And make a womb of all this wounded world.
O heart of heaven beating in the earth,
O tiny hope within our hopelessness
Come to be born, to bear us to our birth,
To touch a dying world with new-made hands
And make these rags of time our swaddling bands.

"O Emmanuel" by Malcolm Guite, from Sounding the Seasons, © Copyright 2012.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Tuesday Tome - Dickens

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is one of the most popular stories of the Christmas Season. Movies, plays, musicals, animations, even Muppets--this story has probably been told and retold in more ways that just about anything besides the Bible. And just as the Bible, it is one of the most purchased and least read books in the world. Dickens' A Christmas Carol, though a well-known story, has not been read as a book as often and as widely as it deserves to be. That's too bad because it is a truly beautifully written novella, and no retelling I've seen is as rich and interesting as the original.

If you've never read the book before, let me encourage you to get a copy and make it one of the special things you do this Christmas season. It won't take you long to read, because it's only just over a hundred pages. You can download it to your Kindle or Nook for free, and you can buy paper and ink copy for less than $10.

My recommendation would be that you choose the good old-fashioned book option. Read it in the evening by lamplight in a comfy chair when the house is nice and quiet. Being near a fireplace and having a cup of hot tea close at hand are also recommended for best results.

You will find this classic story to be well worth your time, and you will discover there is much more to this old story than you had imagined.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Sunday Supplication - Your Presence with Us

Heavenly Father, make us aware of your presence in our lives and purify our hearts and minds. We pray that we would find our identity and our home in your Son Jesus Christ as we await the Day of his appearing. Sustain us and shape us by the power of your Holy Spirit.

Thank you for your grace and mercy. Lead us away from temptation.  Deliver us from evil.  Forgive us our sins. And give us the grace and courage to forgive others just as we you have forgiven us.

Thank you, O God, for your promise to be with your people. Give us an awareness of your presence with us today. Grant us the strength and the faith we need to face the challenges and circumstances of our lives. When we are frightened, guard our hearts and minds with the peace of Christ Jesus. Protect us from discouragement, and encourage us, by your Holy Spirit, through your Word, your people, your promises, and all that is beautiful and true. 

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Thursday Thinking - Perspective and Perception

http://www.ted.com/talks/julia_galef_why_you_think_you_re_right_even_if_you_re_wrong?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=tedspread
TEDxPSU February 2016 - Julia Galef 

Perspective is everything, especially when it comes to examining your beliefs. Are you a soldier, prone to defending your viewpoint at all costs — or a scout, spurred by curiosity? Julia Galef examines the motivations behind these two mindsets and how they shape the way we interpret information, interweaved with a compelling history lesson from 19th-century France. When your steadfast opinions are tested, Galef asks: "What do you most yearn for? Do you yearn to defend your own beliefs or do you yearn to see the world as clearly as you possibly can?"

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Wednesday Words - Mary's Poem

When she heard infinity
whispered in her ear, did the flashing
scissors in her fingers fall
to the wooden floor and the spool unravel,
the spider's sly cradle
tremble with love? Imagine

How the dry fields leaned
toward the news and she heard, for a moment,
the households of crickets –
When she answered, all things shifted, the moon
in its river of milk.

And when she wanted to pluck
her heart from her breast, did she remember
a commotion of wings, or the stirring
of dust?


"Mary's Poem" by Kathleen Wakefield from Notations on the Visible World,
© Copyright 2000 by Kathleen Wakefield.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Tuesday Tome - A Lifelong Love

https://smile.amazon.com/Lifelong-Love-Intimacy-Friendship-Marriage/dp/1434708624/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481563606&sr=1-1&keywords=a+lifelong+love
I'm reading this book and watching a companion video series in preparation for a marriage enrichment reading and discussion group I will be starting in January. If you are interested in participating or if you have questions/suggestions, please contact me.

A Lifelong Love: How to Have Lasting Intimacy, Friendship, and Purpose in Your Marriage
by Gary Thomas

From the publisher...
Gary Thomas believes couples often settle for too little when it comes to marriage. We fail to understand how deeply God cares about our spouse. We diminish our need to not only understand what biblical love really is, but also to become a people who excel at it. We let ourselves drift apart instead of making the daily choices to grow closer together.

Whether your marriage needs a complete makeover, a touch up, or just a new purpose, A Lifelong Love promises to set your relationship on an entirely new dimension. You will never look at worship or your spouse in the same way again. You will understand how living for that day will so radically transform the decisions you make this day. And Gary will guide you through the power shifts and seasonal mine fields that blow up so many marriages so that you can grow in your love instead of in your disappointment.

Thirty years of study and two decades of working with couples has led Gary Thomas to his most significant book yet on the relationship between husband and wife. Find out for yourself what all the fuss is about—and why A Lifelong Love is sure to challenge the way the church talks about marriage.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Sunday Supplication - Christ the King

O Lord, move in our hearts with your great might. Work in our lives with your power. Through your boundless grace and mercy, deliver us from the sins that entangle and destroy us.

Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ Jesus.  Help us as we extend that same forgiveness to others who have sinned against us. Help us to be a community of grace. Make us a church that has a redemptive and healing impact on the world around us.

Thank you, O God, for the forgiveness and life we have through Jesus. You have promised that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. May all who seek you find you, O God. Help us to recognize Christ as King. Help us to make room for his saving and shaping work in our lives.

It is in his Name that we pray all these things. Amen.

Friday, December 09, 2016

Thursday, December 08, 2016

Intentional Christmas Giving


A Guide to Intentional Christmas Giving
Some nice tips and insights including "Want, Need, Wear, Read"

Want, Need, Wear, Read: Compassion Style
How the four gift challenge might inform our giving to those in need.

Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Wednesday Words - Made Flesh

After the bright beam of hot annunciation
Fused heaven with dark earth
His searing sharply-focused light
Went out for a while
Eclipsed in amniotic gloom:
His cool immensity of splendor
His universal grace
Small-folded in a warm dim
Female space—
The Word stern-sentenced to be nine months dumb—
Infinity walled in a womb
Until the next enormity—the Mighty,
After submission to a woman’s pains
Helpless on a barn-bare floor
First-tasting bitter earth.

Now, I in him surrender
To the crush and cry of birth.
Because eternity
Was closeted in time
He is my open door
To forever.
From his imprisonment my freedoms grow,
Find wings.
Part of his body, I transcend this flesh.
From his sweet silence my mouth sings.
Out of his dark I glow.
My life, as his,
Slips through death’s mesh,
Time’s bars,
Joins hands with heaven,
Speaks with stars.

“Made Flesh” by Luci Shaw, from A Widening Light: Poems of Incarnation, Regent College Publishing, © 1984.

Tuesday, December 06, 2016

Tuesday Tome - Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting

Thought I'd read this to brush up on some parenting skills and gain some new insights. Kids are a blessing from the Lord. The better we do with our kids the better for our world.

This will be the selection for my next book club at Valley. I'll be starting a Monday night reading and discussion group for parents and grandparents with children between the ages of 3 and 13.

Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting
by Noël Janis-Norton

Publisher's description...
Tired of nagging, pleading, negotiating, or yelling just to get your kids to do the simple things you ask? You don’t need to be a Tiger Mom or a Helicopter Parent. There is a better way.

Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting brings the joy back into family life and helps parents to raise confident, responsible adults.

Based on her forty-plus years of experience, behavioral specialist Noël Janis-Norton outlines a clear, step-by-step plan that will help any parent raise a child who is cooperative and considerate, confident and self-reliant. Transform your family life with these five strategies: Descriptive Praise, Preparing for Success, Reflective Listening, Never Ask Twice and Rewards and Consequences. You’ll begin to see results almost immediately:

• Kids start cooperating the first time you ask
• Mornings, bedtimes, mealtimes and homework all become easier
• Even very resistant kids start saying” yes” instead of “no”

Full of examples and stories from real parents, this book offers the complete toolkit for achieving peaceful, productive parenting. Parents who have read How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk or Positive Parenting will appreciate Noël’s battle-tested methods and easy-to-follow strategies.

Sunday, December 04, 2016

Sunday Supplication - Welcoming Our Redeemer

Merciful God, we thank you every voice you’ve sent into our world to preach repentance and proclaim the way of salvation. Give us contrite hearts and help us to turn away from sin. And give us open and receptive hearts that joyfully welcome the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Help us in this Christmas season to honor Jesus in thought, word, and deed.  Help us to follow him and to walk in the light as he is in the light.  We confess our sins, trusting that you are faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ Jesus.  Make us able and ready to graciously forgive those who have sinned against us.

Restore and renew us today, O God. And make our lives a testimony of your power to restore and renew us. Help us to live by faith. And make our lives shining demonstrations of your promise to save and restore.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Friday, December 02, 2016

Friday Favorites - Gwen Ifill

For many years, Gwen Ifill has been a favorite journalist of mine. I was so saddened when she died last month. I will miss the strong, positive, and kind presence she was on PBS and NPR. 

I just came across a wonderful tribute to Ifill written by her friend and colleague David Brooks. It reminded me of the reasons I appreciated her so much, and gave insights into why she will be so missed greatly.


From "The Life and Example of Gwen Ifill" by David Brooks...
Gwen worked in a tough business, and being an African-American woman in that business brought its own hardships and scars, but Gwen’s smile did not hold back. Her whole personality was the opposite of reticent, and timidity was a stranger to her. When the Ifill incandescence came at you, you were getting human connection full-bore.
CLICK HERE TO READ THIS WONDERFUL TRIBUTE

Thursday, December 01, 2016

Thursday Thinking - Oldest Christmas Sermon

This may be the oldest Christmas sermon ever preached. It's from St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407, Greek: Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος), Archbishop of Constantinople, who was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking.


St. John Chrysostom’s Christmas Homily (386AD)

BEHOLD a new and wondrous mystery. My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn. The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of justice. And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed, He had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things yielded in obedience to God. This day He Who is, is Born; and He Who is, becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassability, remaining unchanged.

And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.

Since this heavenly birth cannot be described, neither does His coming amongst us in these days permit of too curious scrutiny. Though I know that a Virgin this day gave birth, and I believe that God was begotten before all time, yet the manner of this generation I have learned to venerate in silence and I accept that this is not to be probed too curiously with wordy speech. For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of Him who works.

What shall I say to you; what shall I tell you? I behold a Mother who has brought forth; I see a Child come to this light by birth. The manner of His conception I cannot comprehend.

Nature here rested, while the Will of God labored. O ineffable grace! The Only Begotten, Who is before all ages, Who cannot be touched or be perceived, Who is simple, without body, has now put on my body, that is visible and liable to corruption. For what reason? That coming amongst us he may teach us, and teaching, lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see. For since men believe that the eyes are more trustworthy than the ears, they doubt of that which they do not see, and so He has deigned to show Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt.

Christ, finding the holy body and soul of the Virgin, builds for Himself a living temple, and as He had willed, formed there a man from the Virgin; and, putting Him on, this day came forth; unashamed of the lowliness of our nature’. For it was to Him no lowering to put on what He Himself had made. Let that handiwork be forever glorified, which became the cloak of its own Creator. For as in the first creation of flesh, man could not be made before the clay had come into His hand, so neither could this corruptible body be glorified, until it had first become the garment of its Maker.

What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infants bands. But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness.

For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit, that He may save me.

Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been ‘in planted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels.

Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He became Flesh. He did not become God. He was God. Wherefore He became flesh, so that He Whom heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom all things arc nourished, may receive an infant’s food from His Virgin Mother. So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him. Since this day the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star.

To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost, we offer all praise, now and for ever. Amen.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Wednesday Words - Adult Advent Announcement

O Lord,
Let Advent begin again
In us,
Not merely in commercials;
For that first Christmas was not
Simply for children,
But for the
Wise and the strong.
It was
Crowded around that cradle,
With kings kneeling.
Speak to us
Who seek an adult seat this year.
Help us to realize,
As we fill stockings,
Christmas is mainly
For the old folks —
Bent backs
And tired eyes
Need relief and light
A little more.
No wonder
It was grown-ups
Who were the first
To notice
Such a star.

“Adult Advent Announcement” by David A. Redding,
from If I Could Pray Again (1965).

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Tuesday Tome - Soul Keeping

I'm going to be reading through this book with a few friends from church in the months ahead.

Soul Keeping
by John Ortberg

Publisher's Description...
The health of your soul isn’t just a matter of saved or unsaved. It’s the hinge on which the rest of your life hangs. It’s the difference between deep, satisfied spirituality and a restless, dispassionate faith.
In an age of materialism and consumerism that tries to buy its way to happiness, many souls are starved and unhealthy, unsatisfied by false promises of status and wealth. We’ve neglected this eternal part of ourselves, focusing instead on the temporal concerns of the world―and not without consequence.
Bestselling author John Ortberg presents another classic that will help you discover your soul―the most important connection to God there is―and find your way out of the spiritual shallow-lands to true divine depth. With characteristic insight and an accessible story-filled approach, Ortberg brings practicality and relevance to one of Christianity’s most mysterious and neglected topics.

Table of Contents
Foreword by Dr. Henry Cloud
Prologue: The Keeper of the Stream Introduction: Holy Ground

I. What the Soul Is
 1. The Soul Nobody Knows
 2. What Is the Soul?
 3. A Soul-Challenged World
 4. Lost Souls
 5. Sin and the Soul

II. What the Soul Needs
 6. It’s the Nature of the Soul to Need
 7. The Soul Needs a Keeper
 8. The Soul Needs a Center
 9. The Soul Needs a Future
 10. The Soul Needs to Be with God
 11. The Soul Needs Rest
 12. The Soul Needs Freedom
 13. The Soul Needs Blessing
 14. The Soul Needs Satisfaction
 15. The Soul Needs Gratitude

III. The Soul Restored
 16. Dark Night of the Soul
 17. Morning

Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Bible Versions
Sources

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Sunday Supplication - The Light of Your Son

Almighty God, we ask you to help us turn away from sin and darkness, and instead to embrace the light of your Son Jesus Christ who came to live among us in great humility. We look forward to the day when he will come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, and raise us to immortal life.

Help us in this Advent season to honor Jesus in thought, word, and deed.  Help us to follow him and to walk in the light as he is in the light. Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ Jesus.  Make us able and ready to give forgiveness to those who have sinned against us.

Save us, O God, from trouble and help us to trust you completely. Grant us a deep sense of your loving presence when the troubles of life threaten to overwhelm us. Remind us of your faithfulness. Calm our hearts. Help us to be still and know that you are God.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Sunday Supplication - The Light of Your Son

Almighty God, we ask you to help us turn away from sin and darkness, and instead to embrace the light of your Son Jesus Christ who came to live among us in great humility. We look forward to the day when he will come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, and raise us to immortal life.

Help us in this Advent season to honor Jesus in thought, word, and deed.  Help us to follow him and to walk in the light as he is in the light. Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ Jesus.  Make us able and ready to give forgiveness to those who have sinned against us.

Save us, O God, from trouble and help us to trust you completely. Grant us a deep sense of your loving presence when the troubles of life threaten to overwhelm us. Remind us of your faithfulness. Calm our hearts. Help us to be still and know that you are God.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Friday, November 25, 2016

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Thursday Thinking - Newbigin: Jesus & Scripture


“…the confession of Jesus as the unique Son of God who by his incarnation, ministry, death and resurrection has acted decisively for the redemption of the world and for the renewal of the whole creation…provides the hermeneutical key with which I seek to understand the scriptures as a whole.

When we read, and meditate on, and immerse ourselves in the Scriptures, we become aware of the basic tensions within the Scriptures.

Place, for example, the book of Joshua alongside the Sermon on the Mount. Place the exclusivist writings of Ezra and Nehemiah alongside the inclusivist writings of Jonah and Ruth. Put Paul and James side by side on the doctrine of justification, or put Romans 13 and Revelation 13 side by side in search of a doctrine of the state. Plainly, these are simple examples of an immense internal critique which is going on throughout the whole of the Bible.

And that critique is part of the very life of the church, because a tradition remains living when it is constantly wrestling with questions of truth.

And the hermeneutical key to which I have referred—namely, the actual incarnation and ministry, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ—is the point at which this internal tension is historically actualized, which at its very heart is the tension between the holy wrath of God and the holy love of God, the ultimate tension which has its final manifestation and resolution in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, is the key by which we can understand the great internal tensions within the Scriptures.

Which means that when we read the Scriptures, we do not simply read individual passages by themselves and take them as they stand to be God’s Word for us, but that take the Scripture always in its canonical wholeness and read the whole of it within the perspective of its canonical wholeness and with the hermeneutical key of the ministry, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

– Lesslie Newbigin, “Scripture at the Locus of Truth,” The Trinity Journal for Theology and Ministry 4.2 (2010): 43-44


From Boston University School of Theology...
Newbigin, J(ames) E(dward) Lesslie (1909-1998)
British missionary bishop in India, theologian, and ecumenical statesman

Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, Newbigin was educated at the University of Cambridge, where he was brought to Christian faith through the ministry of the British Student Christian Movement, which he later served for two years as secretary in Glasgow. In 1936 he was ordained by the Church of Scotland for missionary work in India. He served as a village evangelist (1936-1947), as an architect and interpreter of the Church of South India (CSI), and as a bishop of the CSI in Madurai (1947-1959). In 1959 he became general secretary of the International Missionary Council (IMC) and guided it in 1961 to integration with the World Council of Churches (WCC), which he served until 1965 as associate general secretary, with responsibility for the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. He then returned to India as CSI bishop of Madras until 1974. During his postretirement years in England, he [was] professor of ecumenics and theology of mission at Selly Oak Colleges in Birmingham (1974-1979), moderator of the United Reformed Church (1978-1979), and pastor of a small inner city United Reformed congregation in Birmingham (1979-1989). In 1982 he organized the Gospel and Our Culture group to explore the form of Christian mission to pagan Britain.

Newbigin was preeminent as a theologian passionately devoted to the mission and unity of the church. The influence of his thought and style are found in countless ecumenical conference reports he wrote or edited, in articles, sermons, and biblical studies throughout his career, and in his books, especially The Household of God (1953) and The Open Secret: Sketches for a Missionary Theology (1978, rev. ed. 1995). At the same time, engagement of Christian faith with the spirits and worldviews of modern society was his constant theme. His Honest Religion for Secular Man (1966) foreshadowed the substantive theology and social analysis of his later works, Foolishness to the Greeks (1986) and The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (1989).

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Wednesday Words - Thanksgiving for Two


The adults we call our children will not be arriving
with their children in tow for Thanksgiving.
We must make our feast ourselves,

slice our half-ham, indulge, fill our plates,
potatoes and green beans
carried to our table near the window.

We are the feast, plenty of years,
arguments. I’m thinking the whole bundle of it
rolls out like a white tablecloth. We wanted

to be good company for one another.
Little did we know that first picnic
how this would go. Your hair was thick,

mine long and easy; we climbed a bluff
to look over a storybook plain. We chose
our spot as high as we could, to see

the river and the checkerboard fields.
What we didn’t see was this day, in
our pajamas if we want to,

wrinkled hands strong, wine
in juice glasses, toasting
whatever’s next,

the decades of side-by-side,
our great good luck.

"Thanksgiving for Two" by Marjorie Saiser, ©2014 by Marjorie Saiser.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Tuesday Tome - Good Grief





I'm reading through this little book and hoping to find it a short but helpful resource to read along with people recovering from loss of a loved one.

Good Grief
by Granger E. Westberg

For fifty years Good Grief has helped millions of readers, including NFL players and a former first lady, find comfort and rediscover hope after loss. Now this classic text is available in a new edition with a foreword by one of the nation's leading communicators of medical health care information. An afterword by the author's daughters tells how the book came to be.

Good Grief identifies ten stages of grief--shock, emotion, depression, physical distress, panic, guilt, anger, resistance, hope, and acceptance but, recognizing that grief is complex and deeply personal, defines no "right" way to grieve. Good Grief offers valuable insights on the emotional and physical responses persons may experience during the natural process of grieving. The anniversary gift edition includes space for readers to record thoughts about their personal experience with grief.

Whether mourning the death of a loved one, the end of a marriage, the loss of a job, or other difficult life changes, Good Grief is a proven steady companion in times of loss.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Sunday Supplication - For Fruitful Lives

Almighty God, we ask you to help us turn away darkness and to put on the armor of light. Today, as we live in this place and in this time help us to hold fast to Jesus. Thank you that he came to live among us in humility. Thank you for the promise that he will one day come again in glory and raise us to eternal life.

Forgive us for the sins we’ve committed. Relieve our guilty consciences. Purify our hearts and transform us that by your Spirit we might turn away from what is wrong and, instead, love to do what is right. Make us ready and able to forgive those who have sinned against us. Make us merciful and forgiving toward others, as you have been merciful and forgiving toward us.

Thank you, O God, for the fruitful lives we are able to live through Christ. Help us to stay connected to Jesus.  By your power and grace, lead, teach, transform, shape and strengthen us, that we might delight in your will, and walk in your ways to the glory of your name.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Thursday Thinking - Watch Your Mouth

JAMES 3:2-13
We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Wednesday Words - Footnote to All Prayers

He whom I bow to only knows to whom I bow
When I attempt the ineffable Name, murmuring Thou,
And dream of Pheidian fancies and embrace in heart
Symbols (I know) which cannot be the thing Thou art.
Thus always, taken at their word, all prayers blaspheme
Worshipping with frail images a folk-lore dream,
And all men in their praying, self-deceived, address
The coinage of their own unquiet thoughts, unless
Thou in magnetic mercy to Thyself divert
Our arrows, aimed unskilfully, beyond desert;
And all men are idolators, crying unheard
To a deaf idol, if Thou take them at their word.
Take not, O Lord, our literal sense. Lord, in thy great
Unbroken speech our limping metaphor translate.

“Footnote to All Prayers” by C. S. Lewis, from Poems by C. S. Lewis, 

© Copyright 1992 by Walter Hooper.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Tuesday Tome - Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting

Thought I'd read this to brush up on some parenting skills and gain some new insights. Kids are a blessing from the Lord. The better we do with our kids the better for our world.

Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting
by Noël Janis-Norton

Publisher's description...
Tired of nagging, pleading, negotiating, or yelling just to get your kids to do the simple things you ask? You don’t need to be a Tiger Mom or a Helicopter Parent. There is a better way.

Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting brings the joy back into family life and helps parents to raise confident, responsible adults.

Based on her forty-plus years of experience, behavioral specialist Noël Janis-Norton outlines a clear, step-by-step plan that will help any parent raise a child who is cooperative and considerate, confident and self-reliant. Transform your family life with these five strategies: Descriptive Praise, Preparing for Success, Reflective Listening, Never Ask Twice and Rewards and Consequences. You’ll begin to see results almost immediately:

• Kids start cooperating the first time you ask
• Mornings, bedtimes, mealtimes and homework all become easier
• Even very resistant kids start saying” yes” instead of “no”

Full of examples and stories from real parents, this book offers the complete toolkit for achieving peaceful, productive parenting. Parents who have read How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk or Positive Parenting will appreciate Noël’s battle-tested methods and easy-to-follow strategies.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Sunday Supplication - Calm Our Hearts

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your promise and plan to restore all things through your beloved Son, Jesus, the Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords. In your mercy, bring freedom and unity to all people. Save us from sin and divisiveness and bring us together under your gracious rule.

Forgive us for the wrongs we’ve done and the good we’ve left undone. Renew us by your Spirit. Help us to turn away from what is worthless and make us able to do what is right. Show us how to live as Christ, and as you have forgiven us, make us merciful and ready to forgive those who have sinned against us.

O Lord, grant us a deep sense of your loving presence when the troubles of life threaten to overwhelm us. Remind us of your faithfulness. Calm our hearts. Help us to be still and know that you are God.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Friday Favorites - Blood Drive Next Week

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1:00-7:00PM
Soon it will be time, once again, for the annual Valley Blood Drive during Valley's Community Action Awareness Week!  We'd love to have you participate this year!! Click Here to schedule your donation.  Or just walk in (17297 Glacier Way, Rosemount, MN 55068) and give a pint!


Volunteers are also needed to welcome and help donors sign in for their appointment as well as help at the refreshment table. Call Sheri Lynch a call at 952-431-5858.