School Days

On August 26th, we started school. So far, it has gone well and we have all been enjoying it. Mom and I both wish that we could put all the school excitement in a bottle and open it in January, when things feel much more dull. This year, I am in 9th grade, and am excited to begin my first year in high school! John is in 5th grade, Lindsay is in 3rd, and Bethany is in Kindergarten. She is excited to do more "big kid" subjects with her siblings. The pictures I have posted above are of Lindsay's school rules, which she made up herself, and some of our school books.

Guests in the Parsonage

We had our first overnight guests at the parsonage last weekend, our dear friends the Allens, whom we met when we lived in Lawrence. We toured the seminary, played Apples to Apples, watched the film "Luther", and just had fun being together. Darrell Allen enjoys photography, and took our pictures Sunday after church. These are the ones taken by our camera while he shot his photos on film.

Kansas City visit

We had our first visit to Kansas City last weekend, to attend our nephew's lovely wedding. We were thankful to fit in visits with family and friends, go swimming, and to be able to stay at our assistant pastor's home. The kids were relieved that we arrived at a reasonable hour (unlike when on the first trip here), and that we made it home through a very heavy downpour. Today we are getting ready for our first overnight guests at the parsonage, a couple that we have been friends with since our days in Lawrence. They will stay with us through Monday, then we will start school on Wednesday. We are looking forward to getting back into the school routine, and are glad to have completed most of the "to-do's" associated with moving (although I am sure there are still some more lurking "to-do's" that we have overlooked....)

Church Picnic

Today, after church, my family and I went to Zion Lutheran's church picnic. First, we ate a very tasty lunch of hotdogs, hamburgers, salads, desserts, etc. After we ate, we went to the parking lot, where a moonwalk, cotton candy stand, and a dunking tank were set up. Although we were standing around in 90 degree weather, we all had a great time! At the dunking tank, kids had a blast doing the dunking and being dunked. John and I were dunked several times, and we even got Dad to do it once! Here are some pictures of the event.

Christ Did Everything... You Did Nothing!

“It is one thing to choose Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior, to give him one’s heart and commit oneself to him, and that he now accepts one into his little flock; it is a very different thing to believe on him as a Redeemer of sinners, of whom one is chief. One does not choose a Redeemer for oneself, you understand, nor give one’s heart to him. The heart is a rusty old can on a junk heap. A fine birthday gift, indeed! But a wonderful Lord passes by, and has mercy on the wretched tin can, sticks his walking cane through it, and rescues it from the junk pile and takes it home with him. That is how [salvation] is.”

- Bo Giertz - "The Hammer of God"

Why serve my neighbor?

One of the many things I appreciate about Lutheranism is that it is straight-forward. Why do I serve my neighbor? Does God need my service? No. I serve my neighbor because my neighbor needs my service. Since Christ’s much needed forgiveness covers me in all that I do, I am free to meet the needs of others, no longer bound by fear of “not serving God enough.” Whatever role I fulfill in my daily life, whether wife, mother, friend, or neighbor, I am living out the vocation God has given me. Listening to Dr. Gene Veith speak about vocation got me thinking about these things. Here’s the link:

http://www.issuesetc.org/podcast/275071709H2p.mp3