Bridge Walk Bump
Posted: September 8, 2026“If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.” — Jesus in Matthew 18:15
Oh church, did we hear that on Sunday? Jesus knows exactly what we need to hear. This idea applies to any of the groups that we are in: church, family, soccer teams, house mates, friend groups, any place where two or three are gathered. If we have something that needs to be worked out with another person, because of what that person did or said, the healthiest, fairest thing to do is to go directly to that person. (**Disclaimer: there are instances of abuse or imbalances of power when we may need to go to a trusted person for help.)
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Back to School
Posted: September 1, 2026“Back to school” — that phrase elicits a whole range of emotions in a large percentage of our population. Being a person who always LOVED school (photo is third-grade Julie, ready to head off to Mackinaw City Elementary), the phrase and this time of year bring feelings of excitement. Even though it has been quite a while since I have been a student and a few years now since our daughter has been a student, this time of the year seems to hold so much possibility. (I will say that the church program year which starts again after the summer lull may also have something to do with this.) What will we learn this year? What adventures will come upon us? Who will we gain as new companions along the way?
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Abundance
Posted: August 25, 2026Earlier this summer we heard the parable of the sower and Jesus telling us that the seed that falls on good soil, multiplies 100, 60, 30 times from what was sown. As a gardener, I like to stop and think about the abundance of the act of planting a seed. An apple tree grows from a single seed and produces 10,000 to 30,000 apples over its lifetime. Each of those apples will contain an average of 5 seeds. That single tree has the potential of producing 50,000 more trees!
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Sunflowers
Posted: August 18, 2026O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you.
As the day rises to meet the sun.
These are the opening words to morning prayer in one of the devotional resources I use. It’s a great prayer for the beginning of the day, asking God to awaken us to God’s presence as we step into the first sun-lit moments of our waking hours.
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Youth Gathering, July of 2015
Posted: August 11, 2026Best youth gathering. Ever. In July of 2015, the ELCA Youth Gathering was held in Detroit. Pastor Bryan and I were able to travel to Detroit with approximately 12 youth and 3 other adults from the churches we were serving at the time. It was special to welcome thousands of ELCA youth to Michigan and to walk back and forth from our hotel to Ford Field for the evening gatherings past familiar landmarks.
One of the things that was most meaningful was that the people of Detroit noticed us. Those who lived and worked in the area wondered why suddenly there were all these kids walking around in neon-colored t-shirts. In a news story, one person was quoted as saying that “it looked like a bag of skittles had exploded downtown.”
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We’re Equipped For This
Posted: July 21, 2026There’s a swallow’s nest built onto a rafter under our car port, just a few feet from our car. The swallows use the nest year after year, and I really enjoy watching the whole process. The swallows showing up again in the spring, and then eventually…the beaks of the little baby birds poking up above the rim of the nest. Most years, there’s three, sometimes four. The parents fuss and fly in and out as I move the car — not happy with me being so close to their vulnerable kids.
As the days pass, and the parents come and go with worms to plop into upturned beaks, the baby birds get bigger and bigger and it’s obvious that soon they are no longer going to fit in there together. Of necessity, the birds need to learn to fly.
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3,000 Bottles of Gatorade
Posted: July 14, 2026“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me… and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” (Matthew 10:40, 42)
During announcements this past Sunday at St. John’s, Baroda, my mind was pulled back to this Gospel reading from two weeks ago. The congregation that morning was told that recently they had partnered with a local migrant ministry group to give out 3,000 bottles of Gatorade at local camps of seasonal agriculture workers. 3,000 bottles of Gatorade — in these days when we are hitting in the 90s that is a welcome gift to those who are laboring in the sun. Many parts of our synod are prime fruit growing regions and other parts great for growing standard crops. Often the care for and harvesting of those crops depends on seasonal workers who are willing to do this work.
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Unusual Farming Methods
Posted: July 7, 2026This coming Sunday, we will hear Jesus tell us the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23). The Sower in the parable uses farming methods that seem strange to us — just letting the seeds fly! Seventy-five percent of his seed stock is being thrown away on bad soil.
There are more than a few people in his time, who called Jesus a fool. There were many respectable people who saw Jesus wasting his time, wasting God’s Word on people who were “bad soil,” not worth God’s time of day: prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors and so on. It was believed that such people had already condemned themselves. They had already separated themselves from God’s love; why in the world would Jesus bother himself with them?
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For the Fruit of All Creation
Posted: June 30, 2026“For the fruit of all creation, thanks be to God.
For these gifts to every nation, thanks be to God.
For the plowing, sowing, reaping, silent growth while we are sleeping,
future needs in earth’s safe-keeping, thanks be to God.”
(ELW 679 “For the Fruit of All Creation”)
These are Michigan strawberries, grown along “The Ridge” in Kent County. The Ridge is a special geographical feature that makes this high area, with just the right soil and proximity to Lake Michigan, some of the best fruit-growing land in the country.
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Lady Liberty and God’s Welcome
Posted: June 23, 2026To see Lady Liberty in person is inspiring. Looking up from the ferry that was taking us to Liberty Island, I was in awe of not only how beautiful the Statue of Liberty is but also how strong and hopeful and welcoming Lady Liberty appeared. We took our time to admire the statue from a variety of angles and then went underneath to view the small museum. It was there that I found the plaque bearing the words that had been running through my mind as we sailed toward the island:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost, to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!