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!
Lifted
Posted: June 16, 2026Last summer on our family vacation, we were zipping along I-90 in Upstate New York on our way from Niagara Falls to Ottawa, Canada, when a brown road sign called out to us, “Women’s Rights National Historic Park Next Exit.” Those two words, “National Park,” have a strong pull upon our family and this was gift to our day — a National Park just off the next exit!
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Wild Church
Posted: June 9, 2026This is a photo of Lake Huron taken from the St. Paul Lutheran’s picnic grounds, Alpena. It’s about as Pure Michigan as it gets! Although summer does not begin until June 21, that has not stopped us from switching into summer mode. Gardens are planted, boats are now in the lake, pools are filled, and plans are being made to take some time to recreate outside. A sunny, 75-degree Michigan day is our reward for shoveling wet snow back in February!
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Persistence
Posted: June 2, 2026The friendship began with the kids bringing me dead cicadas. I’m not sure why they thought I would be interested and I hoped they weren’t killing the bugs for my benefit. My mind quickly went to work figuring out how I was going to re-direct my two new-found Honduran friends. Our synod team was at a national park in Honduras holding a first aid training for the local health workers in our companion synod. I had stepped outside because I was not on the agenda for some time, and I had work to do to get ready for synod assembly.
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Change Bucket
Posted: May 28, 2026At home, we have a “change bucket” that we have thrown change into for many years. In fact, when we started our change bucket, people were still using change quite commonly! We were also much younger and fresh out of school; so, it was not uncommon to dig into the change bucket to pay for a fast-food meal or an overdue library book. Sorting through our bucket felt a bit like time travel, as I discovered several Chuck E. Cheese tokens from when our daughter was young. There were a few German marks from a trip we took in 1999, just before the Euro was introduced. There were some Canadian coins and even a “coin” from a Mardi Gras parade. I’m wondering what others found in their change jars.
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The Picture Never Does it Justice…
Posted: May 19, 2026The picture never does it justice. When I am with you on Sunday mornings and I try to get a picture of the gathering, the foreground looms large and you all seem so small in the background. The picture does not capture that moment accurately. Additionally, we can talk about how the picture does not give testimony to power of the singing, the depth of God’s Word spoken to us, and the deliciousness of the meal that reminds us that right in the middle of this, Jesus is with us.
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