a summer wish

"Oh that it were with me
As with the flower;
Blooming on its own tree
For butterfly and bee
Its summer morns:
That I might bloom mine hour 
A rose in spite of thorns.

Oh that my work were done
As birds' that soar
Rejoicing in the sun:
That when my time is run
And daylight too,
I so might rest once more
Cool with refreshing dew."

-  Christina Rosetti, A Summer Wish, 1880

joplin relief (cont.)

joplin relief

               

              Here are some options if you're looking for a way to help with the relief efforts in Joplin...

               The Missouri District Disaster Fund

               The Missouri District - LCMS

               660 Mason Ridge Center Dr. – Suite 100

               St. Louis, MO 63141

               Lutheran World Relief and Human Care

               1333 S. Kirkwood Rd.

               St. Louis, MO 63122

               Lutheran Disaster Response

39330 Treasury Center

Chicago, IL 60694-9300

We mourn the lives which were lost but also thank God for the countless lives that were spared. 

We pray God’s comfort and blessings upon all of the families that mourn the death of loved ones. 

And we ask God to bless those who are injured and upon all the recovery efforts.  

Please keep all the residents of Joplin in your prayers.

Through this disaster in Joplin we are once again reminded how temporary this world is. 

Thanks be to God that through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, all who believe in Him have eternal life.

night is fading ... the storm is past

I see the morning moving over the hills
I can see the shadows on the western side
And all those illusions that I had
They just vanish in Your light
Though the chill in the night still hangs in the air
I can feel the warmth of morning on my face
Though the storm had tossed me
'Til I thought I'd nearly lost my way

And now the night is fading and the storm is past
And everything that could be shaken was 
And all that remains is all I ever really had

What I'd have settled for
You've blown so far away
What You brought me to
I thought I could not reach
And I came so close to giving up
But You never did give up on me

I see the morning moving over the hills
I feel the rush of life here where the darkness broke
And I am in You and You're in me
Here where the winds of Heaven blow

And now the night is fading
And the storm is through
And everything You sent to shake me
From my dreams they come to wake me
In the love I find in You
And now the morning comes
And everything that really matters
Become the wings You send to gather me home

I'm going home

(Rich Mullins)

my last blog post (if the world does indeed end tomorrow)

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."   - Martin Luther

hk on high

It seems that most everyone today wants to have an abundant life. But what is it? How do you get it?
The abundant life is not something way out there somewhere for you to reach for, something for you to earn, achieve, or barter for. No, it is a pure gift, the sheer gift of a gracious God who comes to give it to you.
He has loved you with an everlasting love. He has sent His one and only Son from heaven to lay down his life for you, to die for you and raise you up again, and to give you a new and abundant life in Him. He offers you His free forgiveness and full salvation, not only for this life but also for the life to come. Your eternal life with God begins now, at your baptism or at the moment you first believe, and it continues on and on by the power of the Holy Spirit into life eternal.

Jesus comes to you, calling you by name, so you may believe and receive the good news gospel truth of God's great love for you, and the full, abundant, abounding, overflowing life He offers.

"I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full."    (John 10)

"These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name."   John 20

national day of prayer

National Day of Prayer Ceremony in Eldon  (photo by eldon advertiser)

mom

happy mother's day mom !

"miniature paradise"

“When a place has been assigned to a candidate of theology where he is to discharge the office of a Lutheran minister, that place ought to be to him the dearest, most beautiful, and most precious spot on earth. He should be unwilling to exchange it for a kingdom. Whether it is in a metropolis or in a small town, on a bleak prairie or in a clearing in the forest, in a flourishing settlement or in a desert, to him it should be a miniature paradise.”   -  CFW Walther

ndp

National Day of Prayer Ceremony - Thursday, May 5, 12 Noon - In front of the Public Safety Building in Eldon.
Please join us as we lift up our hearts and voices to the Lord in prayer.