from Bob Windels, Youth Director
Like a lot of homeowners, I’ve got a list of projects waiting for my attention. Kitchen wallpaper is starting to peel, laundry room faucet drips, garage door needs staining, cupboard doors hang crooked, window crank won’t turn, the cable-TV wiring needs attention, the couch leg is broken, etc. Some jobs wait for a chunk of my available time to read the manual or dig up the right tool, some jobs wait for a chunk of available money, and some jobs wait for me to be annoyed enough to change my muttering into action. (Picture George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” repeatedly having the top of the staircase post come loose in his hand, and complaining about “this stupid, drafty old barn” but never stopping to fix it.)
Sometimes this list weighs on me, and I feel like I’m carrying an unfair burden of dealing with other people’s mistakes or faulty workmanship or cheap materials. I confess that, like George Bailey, I have too often focused on what is disappointingly broken and imperfect in my “castle,” rather than all the things to be celebrated and cherished. I Scrooge-ishly measure how I think things ought to work and how long they should last—and I forget to live out my faith by thanking God that I have a home to mutter about, and a family to share it with… that I have good neighbors, people whom I want to know better… that we can afford to keep the place heated in the winter… that’s Nancy’s sense of style makes the place cozy and welcoming.
When I am visiting somebody’s house or apartment, it catches my eye if there is a plaque on the front door or entryway proclaiming, “God bless this home and all who enter here.” I appreciate this symbol of hospitality, this witness to knowing the Creator and the giver of all things. It’s a quiet reinforcement of the Judeo-Christian value to welcome God into the center of our lives, not just in the church building. While most of America is pretty comfortable hanging strings of lights and a wreath on the house for the month of December, and a few set up Nativity scenes in the front yard, it seems a different and compelling thing to name God as a permanent fixture in the place we live, to be seen and thought of every time you return home.
Of course, I’m guilty of overlooking similar symbols Nancy has placed in my own house, so it may be time for me to bring back Pastor John’s “prayer dots” that we were affixing to our bathroom mirrors and coffee-makers. My home-improvement list might take on a new category: how to thoughtfully create some visible changes and some new, Christ-centered family rituals to help remind me to be counting my blessings and praising God’s generosity. So that home is not just the place where I can scratch myself and walk around in my pajamas when I’m not having to fix broken stuff, but an environment that reflects God’s grace and faithfulness.
I’ll leave you with another image from “Wonderful Life,” depicting an old tradition which I hope makes a big comeback. George and Mary Bailey bring housewarming gifts to the Martini family’s new home, offering prayers symbolized by: “Bread… that this house may never know hunger… salt… that life may always have flavor… and wine… that joy and prosperity may reign forever.” May your homes be so blessed!
from Pastor Sarah Moat
Advent is my favorite time of the year! I love the dichotomy that exists between the cool, fresh air with the blanket of gentle darkness and the vivid lights reminding us that something extraordinary is upon us. At home we take out a box of decorations that help us to mark time throughout the month of December; there are candles, wreaths, storybooks and special calendars. There are decorations at church, too, along with special music and words of promise and expectation that come through our gospel lessons. I am reminded that each of these advent days are special – full of promise, hope and expectancy. This season of waiting, anticipating and preparing feels like a sacred invitation to still my mind and quiet my heart.
The invitation for quiet and contemplation comes in the midst of the frantic and dynamic cries of our culture that tell us how many days we have left to shop, bake, create, spend, mail or indulge in the season’s abundant festivities. This persistent voice seems to point out all that we are missing and can cause our waiting to become anxious and worrisome.
When I think about this anxiety that our culture seems to create as we go through these days of advent, I am reminded of the world that Jesus Christ entered as an infant. It too was full of uncertainty, violence, greed, war and misappropriation of power and resources. Yet, Jesus came, right into the midst of it all – full of power and love for all people. And he continues to come boldly right into the midst of our imperfect lives. He brings light into our dark places, peace beyond our understanding and the promise that the gift of Jesus Christ, born in a cattle stall, is for us.
While we wait together through this advent season you and I are in the midst of our own seasons of anticipation and hope. You are waiting on the call committee as they discern a permanent associate pastor candidate and I am waiting to see where God is calling me to live out my call to ministry. My prayer for both of us is that we make room to see God’s light calling us forth and rest in His peace as we journey through the many advent seasons of our lives.
Happy Advent! It is a privilege to be waiting with you!
from Tiphanie Dirnberger, Children's Ministry Director
The season of Advent has always been a time of waiting in anticipation. Children wait (and not always so patiently) in anticipation of opening Christmas gifts found under a brightly decorated tree. Some people wait during Advent in anticipation of visiting with seldom-seen friends or relatives or of tasting Grandma’s lefse straight from the griddle. Each person has their own perception of the "ideal" holiday experience. It is natural to idealize these forthcoming events and hope and wish for what we desire.
You may, as I have, waited in anticipation of the perfect “Hallmark Christmas.” In my case, I may have, hypothetically, found myself trying to quiet four active kids sitting around the holiday table, cleaning spilled juice and picking up pieces of a broken dish while realizing that all hope for that peaceful, relaxing meal has withered as fast as the krumkake will disappear after dinner. Your experience may have been slightly different, but I think we can all see the difference between what we hope for, and what actually is.
In that same vein, I wonder what Mary was anticipating while she was pregnant and waiting for Jesus’ birth. Do you think she was anticipating a glamorous birth with fanfare and beautiful surroundings, only to have reality hit and find herself giving birth in a stable? I wonder what she thought during the preceding nine months knowing that she had been chosen as the mother of a King and Savior. It must have been difficult not to create an idealized view of what His coming would be like. I still find myself romanticizing around the holidays, as Mary may have, and planning how perfect everything should be. I should know better, but to a certain extent it is human nature.
And because it is human nature, it seems right to distinguish idealizing what would make us happy from the actuality of Christianity and the appreciation of our Lord. Instead of waiting and anticipating the peripheral “stuff” or affirmations we desire for our own purposes during this holiday season, perhaps we should spend advent waiting and anticipating what Christmas has truly brought us: Christ’s Light, Christ’s Peace and the Birth of Our Savior. To learn more about these wonders please join us on Wednesday evenings during advent in the Fireside Gallery for advent services from 6:30 to 7:00 pm.
Taking the time during the advent season to focus on what really is important may calm your mind and soul allowing you to answer the question, "What are you waiting for?"
from Bob Windels, Youth Director
Growing up, the six Windels boys got to hear lots of parental advice on stewardship :
“Who left the front door standing open? Are you trying to heat the whole neighborhood?!”
“No, we sure don’t have the money to buy you a new one, so you better figure out where you left it…”
“You had all weekend, and you’re just starting your homework NOW?!”
What my folks surely meant was this: “Dear children, we want you to know the importance of being good caretakers of what time, resources and opportunities are given us, so that all will go well with you.”
So, I wish I could tell you that I absorbed every “waste not, want not” lesson taught by my wise and loving parents, and never had to learn anything the hard way—but in my adult daily life, I have in fact been guilty of wasting, and later wanting. It turns out money does not grow on trees (at least not for youth directors); car engines actually do seize up if you forget to do regular maintenance; not investing enough time for sleep is bad for your health; and I am sorry I quit piano lessons in 9th grade, Mom. And I can’t even count the number of deadlines I’ve needed extended for writing projects (including those for church newsletter articles) after frittering away prime writing hours.
Of the many ways my life has been blessed, I have not always properly valued those blessings with self-discipline and with generosity to others — the natural consequences of poor stewardship can be regret, strained finances and relationships, and even some hiding from God because of guilt.
God is good and generous however, in spite of how often we may be unfaithful in our response. Grace, delivered by Jesus’ death, means when we fall short in caring for the planet and each other, He doesn’t love us any less—although I can picture God shaking his head and thinking, “Why do they make things so hard for themselves?”
As we focus this year on Faith in Daily Life, each day is a chance to share our gifts in response to God; by doing our small part to care for the environment, by teaching a skill to somebody else, by supporting a cause or a ministry with our finances, time and labor, and by recognizing and affirming the gifts of others (like at the upcoming Talent Show—hint, hint!) For every blessing we have, we are called to give glory to God by appreciating and sharing it.
It’s too early to write a meaningful article on all the things that my wife’s cancer is teaching me, but I’m definitely getting a better appreciation that life is precious and time together with the people we love should not be taken for granted. Nancy has always hoped to go to Hawaii for our 25th anniversary… but we’re making plans to do the trip 3 years early. Cancer has a way of getting your attention.
So, friends: what gifts has God given you, and how are you sharing them and cherishing them? I pray today that you will not look back with regret, but with gratitude that God led you to invest them well.
from Pastor John D. F. Nelson
One of the biggest frustrations in providing assistance to other countries comes when we hear of unscrupulous behavior, corruption and misappropriation of funds. We come across stories again and again where money donated to an international AIDS organization was redirected to a dictator’s private account. Or money given to a nonprofit organization gets embezzled by an employee with a gambling habit. In each of these cases we become indignant at the audacity of some people and wonder how they can live with themselves.
At times I wonder if God feels the same way about us. If God created everything, including us, and all that we have really belongs to God, then how is our accumulation and stockpiling of God’s gifts not a misappropriation of God’s blessings? If it is God who gives us our talents that we use to procure employment and reward, then should not a portion belong to God?
At some point in our life I think we need to take a God Audit. With the income of blessings and expenditures of necessities, is there an appropriate outpouring of thanksgiving? How do we view the balance in our bank accounts, large or small? Are these the sum total of our accomplishments, or are they really a result of good fortune and opportunity?
In reality all we have are God’s Gifts, poured out through Our Giving. Perhaps our blessings are really an opportunity presented by God to use his gifts to bless others.
It can be a rather intimidating thing to realize that God’s gifts for the world only get correctly appropriated when we give. But if that is true then one might think that the giving would never end or could never fill the world’s insatiable needs.
When teaching on the subject of giving I was once asked, “Does God want us to be poor?” At times we might hear scripture talking about giving away all we have and following Jesus, and feel it is a much too radical and idealized notion. The concept is not that God wants us to be poor, but that God wants us to be rich in his blessings, blessings that never were intended to stop with us. God blesses us to be a blessing to others. This was God’s promise to Abraham back in the book of Genesis, chapter 12:2 “I will bless you...so that you will be a blessing.”
This fall I invite you to take a God Audit. How has God blessed you with God’s Gifts, and how might God be calling you to be a blessing to others and to this congregation through Your Giving?
