Ramp to Salem's education wing
Standing in front of garage looking at church parking lot
Entrance to church parking lot...snowed in
Looking out the door of the parsonage
These pictures don’t do this storm justice, but believe me…this is a dozie of a storm. And now that Christmas services are done I can sit back and enjoy this.
-edh-
My wife and I don’t have any children (yet…but who knows…God willing someday) so we don’t have art work from children gracing our refrigerator. But recently a couple of my Sunday school kids have been giving me some artwork. Below are two pictures I received last night at Wednesday Night Live( Sunday school). As I receive these pictures they get taped to my office door…
(from Olivia)
(from Ella)
…And I tell you something (and you parents out there probably can relate to this) it is such a wonderful feeling to receive something from a child that you know they put their heart and soul into. These two little girls were so excited to give me these pictures that it melted my heart. I have others on my door from other children that mean just as much to me.
I don’t have much of a theological reflection of this other than to say that as a pastor I am so excited to have developed relationships with these kids (and others). I hope I can use these relationships to be a positive influence in their lives…supporting what their families are doing.
I thank God everyday for this congregation and for the children. They have a powerful way of warming my heart.
Praise be to God!
-edh-
(Photo by David Joles, Star Tribune)
Now that’s an ice house…
…check out the full story on the Star Tribune website.
Why is this simple little toy so hard to put down (except, of course, for this picture)?
I am trying to resist the urge to find a way to work this into a sermon sometime. But wouldn’t it be fun to have a contest to see who can come up with the most creative way to incorporate a slinky into a sermon.
Hmmm….”Stop it Eric”…
…anyway…when I was in seminary, the on-going joke among my group of friends during my senior year was how to compare Jesus to an armadillo at Christmas time(don’t ask me how that started).
So…if you want to submit an idea (about the armadillo or slinky) I would love to read it 🙂
-edh-
SIDE NOTE: I know these last couple posts have been a little more light-hearted with little depth, but don’t worthy…I will post some depth soon.
Greetings and salutations…and welcome to another addition of “Monday morning check in” (I have no clue what that was…I guess I am just in a goofy mood this morning).
Anyway…
…if anyone is curious, the Twin Cities marathon web site has some pictures posted of me crossing the finish line. In a couple of them you can definitely see my pain 🙂 To view these snap shots simply go to the website at: http://www.mtcmarathon.com. Once there click on “finisher photos” under the marathon section then enter my bib number: 4387. There are a couple picture there that are not me. I am the one wearing the dark long sleeve t-shirt with the red hat (or the one in more pain than the others). Enjoy 🙂
Paying taxes (Matthew 22:15-22)
How appropriate that we get a text that talks about paying taxes. In a time of economic hardship the last thing people want to hear about is paying taxes. Here in Jackson, taxes are a huge issue. There is a battle currently waging about the proposed construction or renovation of the county Resource Center. Some want to see a brand new building and others want the current one (the old high school) renovated. Either way, taxes would go up quite a bit in Jackson. And this is after the new school referendum passed last year that some people believe the district is misusing. What a time we live in.
Here in Matthew 22:15-22 the Pharisees are looking for some dirt to nail Jesus with so they try to trap him with the issue of taxes. If he says that people should pay them then his followers would get upset. If Jesus says they shouldn’t pay taxes, then the Pharisees could bring that info to Caesar and accuse him of treason. But Jesus is smarter than this as he responds, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s“. So the question is what is Caesar’s and what is God’s? Discuss…
…to be continued…
-edh-
We are off to a great start on a beautiful and cool Monday morning. Now I am praying for some rain because my lawn continues to turn the dreaded brownish color (and our crops could definitely use a drink as well). But according to the “weather experts” (I always use that title loosely) we should get some rain this week. Maybe I should be a weather dude; then I could say “there is a 50% chance for rain this week” and have a 50% chance of being right. Not bad odds.
Ramp project
I know it has been a while since I have given an update on our ramp project. So here’s an update…it’s done:
We still have some landscaping to do on the north and south sides. On Sunday, September 14 we will be having a short dedication service right before worship. The idea right now is to ask people to gather outside before worship. I will then have a short litany and then “J” will cut the ribbon (her and her husband, “G” gave the money for this project but “G” died shortly after they gave us the money, but did express his wish for a new ramp . “G” would be so happy to see this done…I wish he could be here). I am not sure how the litany will go right now. Does any have any suggestions of what you have used or seen used for something like this?
What’s next?
Next year Salem Lutheran Church will be celebrating it’s 125th anniversary of ministry. So with that in mind we will be continuing to fix up some things around the church. Our next big projects will be to repaint the sancuary and the Fellowship Hall. We have a professional coming in to paint the sanctuary because of the high ceiling but we as a church will handle the Fellowship Hall painting. After those projects we have some other minor ones to do to get ready for next year.
But right now my frustration is that we are having a hard time getting people to volunteer to serve on a planning committee for this anniversary celebration. I know people are busy, but this is a big deal for the church. I wrote a newsletter article for September so that combined with my persistent president asking people hopefully will produce a committee.
[If you’re a Salem member reading this, please, please volunteer and share your gifts].
Training update
6 weeks and counting until the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. Training is going well, but my wife is still a little nervous. There are days when I wonder what the heck I am doing and then there are days when I feel super confident. But either way, I know this is going to be a difficult race, but I am still looking forward to tackling this goal and accomplishing it. God has been with me through all the ups and downs and I am confident God will give me the strength to finish the race.
Coming up…
(1) I am working on part 3 of my Ministry model vs. Business model series; a series talking about a new structure for my church council.
(2) Last week I failed to post a Coffee Shop Ponderings post, but I will be back with one this Thursday.
(3) This weekend I am heading to the LifeLight Christian Music Festival in Sioux Falls, SD with a bunch of friends. It is a free festival with many big name Christian artists like: Micheal W. Smith, Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp and many more. I will post more about this weekend and might even have some pictures.
With that I pray you have a very happy and blessed day. Take joy in the Lord for He is good.
Take care!
-edh-
Here are a couple photos that begin to give you a picture of the Sonshine experience.
This is a small glimpse of “tent city”. This is was taken on Wednesday when people were still “moving in”. In a matter of hours from when this picture was taken you won’t see much grass anymore.
…and this is the back of my head at the main stage. This definitely does not give you an idea of what the main stage experience was like, but if you image about 20 to 30 thousand people sitting in lawn chairs, then that will be a start.
-edh-
Check this out. It is one of the neatest things I have seen in a while:
A woman in Jackson makes these angels from old LBWs (Lutheran Book of Worship). The pages are intricately folded to form the body of the angel. On the left page that is showing is the Nicene Creed and on the right page is “God Bless our Native Land”. I am not sure if she did this on purpose or not. Either way, I think these are absolutely wonderful. A parishioner here got two of them and gave one to me and one to our secretary at Salem. Wow!
Have you ever seen anything like this before?
-edh-
I hope people are not getting sick of seeing photos of our ramp project. For me…it is exciting to see the progress. With each thing that gets done, it means we are one step closer to using the ramp and moving worship back upstairs. This morning the guys were up and working by 6:30am and done pouring the top half of the deck by around 8am. Here are a couple more photos of what was done this morning (July 9):
The lower half of the deck has plastic with sand on top. This keeps the cement from drying out to fast and helps with the curing process.
So far everything is going great. The guys told me today that besides beating the heat, pouring early in the morning gives the cements time to harden before the “hooligans” are out of bed and therefore they can not leave their legacy in the cement. You can tell these guys have done this before.
Now our biggest challenge might be keeping Salem members at bay. The ramp may look like it is good enough to walk on, but we can’t be using it until early August. Hopefully people will understand.
-edh-
They started pouring the ramp deck today…WHOO HOO!!! They are going pour the deck in two sections. The lower half was poured this morning and the upper half will be poured tomorrow. I was told they have to wait about 20 days before attaching the railings. At this rate we could be using the ramp by (possibly) Aug 10. Here are some pictures from the activities this morning:
Talk about getting down and dirty.
Getting closer…
Putting on the finishing touches as of 8:45am this morning (July 8).
Now our task is to make sure no one comes by to leave a permanent legacy in the cement for all to see. This should be fun.
-edh-
The Heart of a Pastor 