Distractions

Hello all! I am a couple weeks behind again, but I have been thinking about all of you during my time off as my family enjoyed a much-needed week of camping. I completely unplugged for the majority of the time, especially concerning my professional life. I am proud to say that I did not check email or my company messaging system even once – rare for even the oldest of millennials. :)

I had some time to reflect on notes I have taken during the past Sunday services, and I wanted to talk about the lesson from July 17th. In this lesson, Mary and Martha have Jesus visiting their home, and Martha is annoyed with Mary for laying around listening instead of helping her make the home ready. Much to her astonishment, she was chided for allowing herself to be distracted rather than opening her heart to the better parts of life. I think often of all the distractions we have (home, children, faith, work, school, technology, social media…) and how they all take away from ourselves, the other priorities, and each other. It was nice to be able to listen and participate and catch up with those dearest to me.

On the last night, we sat around the fire talking late into the night and laughing until we could barely breathe. It took us many nights for us all to relax enough to sink into the pleasure of each other’s company to the point it outweighed the need to rest. I certainly did not feel content to enjoy the better parts of life until the last day of our trip, but it was worth every moment of letting go of the distractions to get there.

In regard to the lesson, with all this noise and busyness, how do we know when God is speaking to us rather than someone we should not trust or who is trying to take advantage? This is when we lean on the foundations of our faith, gained through many hours in the church, reading the Bible, talking with our loved ones, feeling the Holy Spirit in that singular way... As in any facet of life, it is important to listen actively with a discerning ear and weigh the words you hear against the Words that settle so deeply in your heart – the Words that God has shared with us to guide us through this world of distraction and deception.  

May you all have at least a moment to free yourself from distraction in the coming weeks and open your heart to hear God speaking.

-          Hannah

In God We Trust

I hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day weekend celebrating with family, remembering the good times, and enjoying all the unique and beautiful things about our country and our people. With the beautiful weather and variety of gatherings in honor of this holiday, I felt so grateful for my life, my family, and our ability to gather to celebrate what was gained by standing up for what we believed in: God, freedom, and our country of people who came to make their own way in life.

Unfortunately, with all the greatness and goodness inevitably comes times of evil and sorrow, but we who are devoted to our Creator have the fortune to have someone to turn to with our prayers, pleas and questions. Our country has lost its way over the decades of politics, fear and divisiveness, but God is always listening and watching over us, even when things seem bleak. Give your prayers, despair for those lost, and anger at those who seek to destroy to God to hold. These feelings are too big for us to hold by ourselves.

In times like these, I think of the following brief poem, The Footprints Prayer (link here for reference) https://www.scrapbook.com/poems/doc/38987.html

The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child. I love you, and I would never, never leave you during your times of trial and suffering. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

God can carry us, the weight of our fears, and the despair in our hearts. God lifts us into his arms when we can no longer sustain the burden, just as he is there in the moments of our utmost joy. From God comes all good things, comfort, support, and wisdom. Turn to him for guidance and peace in times when we cannot find it for ourselves.  

Please, God, give us strength for what lies ahead.

-          Hannah

A Culture of Hospitality

During our first meeting as a Transition Team, we spoke about what it is about Rockdale that keeps us here and devoted to this church. Many of the people in attendance highlighted the welcoming and caring atmosphere of our little church, and I shared how this church has been another home to me as I have grown. I have served many gatherings, church suppers, and funeral luncheons in this church alongside my congregational family, and one thing stands out in my memory – our collective hospitality.

In my interactions with national and global teams in my line of work, I am often amazed when other teams express surprise when they experience our hospitality which is so second nature to those of us from the Midwest. We take care of each other with what we have – it is our nature and culture here. There are significant compounding cultural and geographical influences that create this phenomena which I hoped may be of interest to you.

Cultures that live in extremes tend to create large family groups that support each other in a community out of necessity in order to survive. The main demographic of our area includes Germanic and Scandinavian influences, and the seasonal reminder of our cold-hardy heritage perpetuates the community support during hard winters. Koselig is the Norwegian word that is used to describe this warmth and intimacy with friends and mutual coziness in uncomfortable times, such as inclement weather.

Interestingly, Midwestern hospitality also ties in closely Christian values, which makes me think that the perpetuation of this culture throughout technological advances has much to do with faith and the Final Commandment: love one another. As Christians and Midwesterners, there is a collective longing to help one another with what we have to give. Rockdale has given us a space to do that, and I love the culture of welcoming that we have become known for. As the fear from the pandemic begins to subside, perhaps we can lean into that feeling once again and repair the damage that time away from each other has done.

Prayers for comfort among us, you and yours as we rebuild our congregation.

-          Hannah

Summer is Here!

I hope that everyone had a blessed Memorial Day weekend and start to their summer! It is a time of celebration as well as reflection on those who gave everything in honor of God and our beautiful country. It has been awhile since I have written, mostly because of all the summer festivities, so my list of blog notes to make is long, and my time is short.

I have joined the transition team performing an offshoot of my normal secretarial role, and I am finding the experience exciting and invigorating – just what I was looking for in my search for meaning in the crazy journey I am living. Unfortunately, I know this team will be a relatively short engagement, but I feel like we are working to build something that honors our past and embraces our future together. To start, we are going to spend one Sunday (June 26th) celebrating our history in this congregation, and I cannot wait to hear all the great stories!

As the transition team has begun discussion on what is meaningful to us, the conversation continuously rolls around to welcoming and connection among this small and proud community. It is my sincerest hope that we can repair and restore what the pandemic and other developments have taken from us these past couple years. The church and the people in it mean the world to me, and with all our collective talents and a little time from each of us, we can do anything. Please include our team and our church in your prayers.

Love and blessings to you all,

Hannah

May 15th – Confirmation Service

Congratulations to this year’s confirmand, Natalie Gunnelson! We are so happy that you are joining our family at Rockdale Lutheran! As we were going through the Affirmation of Baptism service, I was reminded of the process of picking my own confirmation Bible verse. It certainly was a difficult choice for me (and I imagine many others), and I loved the verse that Natalie chose, Matthew 6:34, which comes from the Sermon on the Mount: Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. I was pleasantly reminded of a long-standing mantra in our family, “Don’t borrow trouble,” meaning, worrying won’t change a thing other than your peace of mind, which hearkens back to my blog on serenity from last month after Palm Sunday. I am still learning to let go and trade worry for peace, but we all have our difficulties when it comes to worry or fear.  

The sermon this week talked about our people as the Children of God, which is a concept I and many others have clung to in our faith. Though our bodies stop growing and eventually start to show the end of their usefulness, our growth in faith continues until the very last moment of our earthly lives. As God’s children, we need to be patient with ourselves as we struggle through the trials of life, just as our earthly children learn that some adventures are painful but wounds heal in time. Our Parent in our faith is watching, gently guiding, letting us grow, and showing us that we are capable with every new challenge we take on. God does not set us into life then hold our hand with a heavy watch on our progress, nor does he protect us from the lessons that can only be taught by living in this crazy, beautiful world. He wants us to know that we have the strength to endure the painful adventures of life and can grow in faith as a result of the experience. Furthermore, he teaches us to love and support our family, the people of God, as a parent teaches us to love our family unconditionally, support our brothers and sisters when they need guidance, and forgive each other when we disagree. In this way, God gives us everything we need to continue our growth with our family through faith.

Welcome to the family, Natalie!

-          Hannah

It’s Finally May – Welcome Spring!

Good day to all of you, and I hope you are still basking in the glory of the Resurrection and the spring weather that is threatening to finally arrive and stay a minute. And Happy Mother’s Day to anyone who puts someone else’s needs before their own, especially a child, whether they are yours, your spouse’s, your foster child(ren), adopted as well as those who were lost or never arrived. It’s the toughest and most rewarding job in the world. I know this is time is hard for many people, but it is also a time of remembrance and celebration. I hope there is peace in all you feel this time of year.

I did not attend church these past two Sundays, and I worked with my Mom on Mother’s Day, but I wanted to share that I spent the days in service to family, farm, and friends, which was a wonderful way to spend time reflecting on the relationships and opportunities that I am blessed with. Spring is a time of year that many people spend their time in service: homemakers are doing spring cleaning, farmers are tilling and planting their fields, lawn and garden people are grabbing their gardening clothes and getting their hands blissfully dirty… It is the best part of spring, in my opinion – there is so much life in the air and all around us. It is hard to miss God in the details this time of year; he shows himself everywhere.

There is peace in nature, and it gives us a taste of that peace beyond all understanding that can only come from Him. Boundless love and peace, as vast as the fields and skies. Get out there.

April 24th - Sunday after Easter

Faith and Doubt

Doubting Thomas was the subject of last Sunday’s sermon, and I always forget how much that story resonates with me in the flurry of Easter preparations. Thomas needed proof that Jesus was alive, which does not ring true with the whole concept of faith, and this questioning is something I struggle with. Why should the overarching moral direction and guidance in my life need proof that it is correct and that the reasons for it exist?

My background and interests since I was young were in science, math, and things that can be proved, seen, held… there was always the “right” answer or knowing (and accepting) the answer does not exist. Maladaptive or not, I clung to the need for truth, and I remained largely skeptical of what was told to me until I had enough data to support it. Although, I remain precariously gullible when it comes to my dad… stories for another time, but know that it always makes me smile.

Something I remind myself when I am questioning my faith is that God made us all in his image and that we all have a purpose. I was made to be curious because God wanted me to be, and/or maybe because God is also curious. Why else would be give humans choice? I think He wanted to observe what we would do with it. Some of us with that divine curiosity work to create order from the world around us, some of us explore the beautiful chaos of the forces of nature, some of us work to create a numerical language that describes everything we come in contact with, and all of us were made to be curious. God grew and designed our species from the rest of creation with this incredible neural function so we could do all these amazing things.

My prayer for you (and me) as we enter this weekend is to boldly question, unafraid of being judged, just like Thomas with Jesus. Jesus accepted his questions and showed him what he needed. I think we have little signs that we need as well, you just have to keep your heart and mind open.

-          Hannah

April 17th - Easter Sunday!

He is Risen!

The day we get to shout (or at least raise our voices) in church, once a year, and, conveniently, on a morning when many of us were riding the residual energy of a rare morning sugar rush instead of breakfast. For those of you who weren’t in church on Sunday, my kids were a bit unruly because they were so excited to see their aunts, uncles, and cousins all in the same place as Grammy and Gramps (not absolving myself from the candy we all ate before church). I smiled inwardly as I fixed my children with “the mom look” that has been so expertly handed down to me from my mom. Even though I used that talent to remind my children that we are in church, I could hardly begrudge them the feeling that is with us all every Easter morning. There is hope, joy, celebration, songs of praise, and the feeling of being with family. My prayer for all of you is that you feel as hopeful and as blessed to be part of the family of Rockdale Lutheran, of course as well as the family of God.

As a working (and student) mom, I find that I miss the opportunity to talk about God and the Bible (as well as a host of other things) as much as I would like to. Fortunately, children are delightfully inquisitive, and when I do get the chance to talk about these things, they are so engaged in learning. On Sunday morning as we were getting ready, the boys were playing caterpillars wrapped up in blankets, inching around the house with their Easter treats. I was reminded of a pair of butterfly earrings I had, and I asked the boys, “why do you think we wear butterflies and look for eggs on Easter?” I told them a much-shortened version of The Story and explained the visual analogies as well as covering the reminders of spring and growing things, as briefly as I could. As usual, their eyes glazed over a bit and they continued to play, but like with any growing things, you can’t have stems and leaves without planting the seeds and allowing roots to grow.

Keep the hope of Easter and Spring in your hearts as we endure the last desperate, clutching grip of Winter. Summer is coming and Jesus is Risen, indeed!

April 10th – Palm Sunday Message: Serenity

On Serenity

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

I have been drawn to the language of the Serenity Prayer for as long as I can remember. Those words hung in various forms in the bathrooms or kitchens of my childhood, and my paraphrase for it has become a mantra for me over the sleepless nights in the more difficult times of my life – “give it to God, and go to sleep.” My spirit is often restless and my mind unsettled – the phrase has been an important grounding factor in my life as I seek peace and rest at the end of a busy or emotionally draining day.

As I grow as a person and a parent, I find that despite all the chaos and strife and worry, I would not change a thing about how my life has been running its course because here is where I was meant to be, and without those experiences, I would not be what I am. However, I would not consider myself having enough wisdom to know the difference between what I can and cannot change.

This past Sunday, like most Sundays when my children join me for the service, I was pulled away from the message to run to the bathroom. Despite how much I love my children, the semi-predictable interruptions have been mildly frustrating to me because I enjoy the time, even if I am not actively listening (sorry, Pastor!). I spend the sermon considering elements of the message and allowing my mind to take whatever course it does, God willing it leads me to something transformative on my own. Anyway, I was unsettled on Sunday already, hurrying my younger son to the bathroom, and I looked up at the Serenity Prayer on the wall in the ladies’ room which I had not noticed for some time. God chose that moment to draw my attention to center and remind me what was important, as well as tie in the reflection thoughts I had noted in the parts of the sermon that I did hear.

Something I pondered during the sermon and often since, what would it be like to know your untimely end is coming and knowing that it will be a terrible, tormented death? Did Jesus hear the cries of Hosanna (from Hebrew, Pray, save us) and shudder inwardly knowing what saving them would cost, knowing that they would turn on him? Jesus, when he pondered and prayed in the garden, knew he was going to serve a purpose, the culmination of the purpose of his life, but would that change how He would greet the gruesome events leading up to His death? Did Jesus ask His Father for change? Peace? Courage? I think at some point, He asked for all (and more), but He knew what had to be done.

Why did God choose crucifixion for this beautiful and glorious act of servitude to ransom our souls for eternity? The answer I keep coming to is that something of this magnitude, the entire salvation of our people for the rest of eternity, must have great cost in the form of pain, torment, despair and death. Though Jesus cried out for his Father while he was on the cross, God was there with him, feeling and experiencing every agonizing moment. As a parent, have you ever watched your child hurt? You feel their pain in a visceral, strangling way that cannot be escaped or lessened. God must have been silent in that moment when Jesus called out for him, unable to act or move, waiting for His son to be released from His agony.

In His Passion, Jesus had the wisdom to know that he could not change his destiny, but I am certain He asked for courage to do what He needed to fulfill His purpose and resist the temptations from the crowd and the devil. Did Jesus also ask for serenity as he accepted the events leading up to his death on the cross? Knowing he was going to be tempted, betrayed, abandoned, and denied by his closest friends and then demanded to be killed by those that shouted his praises only days before, was He afraid? He was mortal and fragile like all of us, so it would be easy to imagine His fear.

May we all feel so close to God that we can ask for courage and serenity in the face of our most difficult trails and have that be enough to endure them as Jesus did.

Many Blessings during Holy Week,

Hannah