Here's Your Sign(s)

On a church:

"Come in for a faith lift." (Just try to say it without sounding like you have a lisp.)

On a plaque:


"God doesn't give us what we can handle.

God helps us handle what we are given."

A New Perspective

I've mentioned before that I like new beginnings. New Year's resolutions, Mondays, all kinds of fresh starts. Anything that makes me feel energized and ready to start anew. So it stands to reason that I have always liked the saying, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." Something to think about, right?

A few weeks ago, we went to Jessica's church (Eastridge Community church in Covington) and Pastor Scott was asking us to examine how we were living our lives. He was talking about how, if we knew our days were numbered, we might change our perspective and/or our priorities. He used that saying, but changed the last 5 words. He said, "Today is the first day of your last days on earth". Wow. Talk about having something to think about!

Here's Your Sign...

We passed a church today that had this sign out front, and I liked it enough to share:


"A church is a gift from God.

Assembly required."

A Special Lady

The world lost a special lady this past week. My cousin, Dorothy Wise, died peacefully in her sleep. I'm so glad God chose to take her home that way because she was a really neat person. At age 33, she married her husband, Doc (Dr. Ralph Waldo Emerson Wise -- no lie). He was pretty cool, too, and together they then had 6 children in the next 9 years! She was a loving and enthusiastic mother, wife, homemaker, room mother, water skier (on Lake Springfield...where they lived) golfer and tennis player...and later grandmother and great grandmother. After her children were grown, she studied piano at the Community College. She maintained an active life to the end despite a stroke in 1994 that left her in a wheelchair.

All of this is remarkable, indeed, but the thing that I liked most about her was her spirit. You would think that a person who had been confined to a wheelchair for 14 years would, at best, be "resigned" to her situation...and, at worst, feel sorry for herself. But that wasn't Dorothy. Here are a couple of excerpts from her 2005 Christmas letter: "Many heavy snows left me housebound. This allowed me to enjoy the winter views from the living room"...."My doctor told me about a place he visits called Wesley Acres Adult Day Center. He told me that it would be a good place for me to socialize...At first I was apprehensive but my apprehension gave way to enjoyment as I began to flex a little right handed muscle during all manner of athletic events. As the "new kid on the block" I dominated in bowling, baseball and basketball. The baseball game is a bean bag toss game. The location of your toss determines the play. At my first at bat, I hit a home run." And when she had to go into a nursing home this past year, she told us (again in her Christmas letter) like this: "My move to Wesley marks the biggest event of my year. I enjoyed the four years I lived with Lisa, Alan and Max, but the time was right for me to move on. And what better place than Wesley where I had been spending my days, making friends and keeping my mind and body busy? I have attended all manner of musical events including the Des Moines Symphony, jazz concerts, Dixieland picnics, and piano sing a longs. My friends and I have shopped 'till we dropped and fished and picnicked at the Raccoon River Park. I dine on French food and french fries. If variety is the spice of life then life at Wesley is a savory stew of activity." When is the last time you heard an assisted care home described that way?

So it was that on Thursday she went to mass with her daughter, Lisa. Then on Friday she went on a bus trip with her friends at Wesley. Then Saturday night...in her sleep...the angels came and took her home. I think she would agree with Jimmy Stewart in saying, "It's a wonderful life". Thank you, Dorothy, for the fine example of a life well lived.

That's Souper

This weekend is time for one of my favorite charity events of the year. Most of you realize it's Super Bowl Sunday...but do you also know it's "Souper Bowl Sunday"? I love and appreciate a really good idea, and this is a fine example. Actually, the official title is "Souper Bowl of Caring".

Back in 1990, a Seminary Intern serving in a parish in Columbia, South Carolina, said this simple prayer, "Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us to be mindful of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat." That led the youth group of his church and 21 other churches in Columbia to raise $5,700 for local food banks in the way of cash and cans donated. It works like this: the youth group sets a big soup kettle in the narthex of the church on Super Bowl Sunday and you can drop $1 in. There is also a container for donated cans of soup. What is collected goes to local food banks. How easy is that? God answered that intern's prayer and this simple idea has spread in a wonderful way. In 2007, Super Bowl of Caring raised over 8 million dollars.

This doesn't have to be done by a youth group...or necessarily even a church. Melisa did it at the quilt shop one year and had a generous amount to turn in. If your church or other community group isn't doing this, please give some thought to organizing it. It's probably too late for this year, but keep it in mind for next year. What a simple way to share our blessings!

Sunday Sermon

In our recent church newsletter, our Pastor shared a story he had heard at a Synod Assembly last spring. The keynote speaker told about the ancient Gauls who were an exceedingly wild and violent people. Christian missionaries were sent to them to preach and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. In time, converts began to respond to their message. Many of the Gauls allowed the missionaries to baptize them in the local rivers. The missionaries noticed something peculiar, though, when the Gauls were immersed for baptism. The men being baptized would raise one of their hands into the air while the rest of their bodies were submerged under water. The missionaries could never understand why they did this until some time later when the Gauls came into conflict with a neighboring tribe. The Gauls took up their spears, clubs and swords in (guess which hand?) the hand that hadn't been submersed in baptism. And with those "unbaptized" hands they brutally fought their enemies.

Pastor then asked the obvious question: What part of your life hasn't been baptized by Christ? What part of your life are you holding up and away from your commitment to Christ? The hand that rises above the water may hold many things. Perhaps it is our checkbook...or a fist clenching a pain, prejudice or a hatred that we just won't let go.

I felt this was a good point for reflection and examination. And as the keynote speaker shared this, and then our Pastor John shared it, I wanted to share it, too.

Mid-Week Inspiration

I was reading my sweet book, Home to Holly Springs, and the main character quoted poet George Macdonald as saying:

"You have a disagreeable duty to do at twelve o'clock. Do not blacken nine and ten and eleven, and all between, with the color of twelve."

I thought that was worth remembering...and sharing.


I would love to post pictures of snow tomorrow --- but I think we're just going to get some rain with a little sleet mixed in. But we'll take any precipitation that we can get.

Here's Your Sign...

While driving in the country yesterday, we passed a small church with this sign that I liked:

J esus
O thers
Y ourself