This blog began as documentation of my journey into formal ministry. Now that I have received a call it will continue to function as a place for me to address concerns, celebrations and anything else that might catch my fancy. Please remember to "Be A Blessing To Someone Today"! God Bless, Roy
Pastor's Ponderings Well, the calendar is about to turn over to August and the beginning of the birthday run (gauntlet) for the Karlen family. Gail and Creath both have birthdays in August, my mother's birthday is in August, one of my sisters has a birthday in August, and then on September 5th, we celebrate the genuine miracle of Madeline's birth. For me, August has long been a whirlwind, couple that with the end of summer and school starting again and it's just rush, rush, rush. Still though August is always a great month, this month we're a little slower paced here at Woodlawn, but that's okay as we have several projects that we need to attend to behind the scenes, preparing them to launch in the months ahead, August will hopefully allow us the time to prepare for these events/projects. Coming up on the 5th of August, we do have a 'Meatloaf Dinner' scheduled. This dinner will take place right after worship so plan to stick around and enjoy a great meal. Starting this Sunday we'll have a training program on “Grief Ministry” put together by Noreen Bauman. This program will be taught in Fellowship Hall and go from 4:00 to 5:30 pm. This is a two-part class with the second installment being on August 19th also at 4:00 pm. Thank you, Noreen, for putting this class together!! The concert that we just concluded Saturday was a great, GREAT time and I want to thank EVERYONE who helped out in both large and small ways! Jeff did a wonderful job chairing the project and we should all thank Jeff for all the hard work he did both in full view and behind the scenes. I will also thank Clyde as he really went the extra mile and was involved in nearly every aspect of the event. The committee will be meeting very soon to review and make future plans, if you have any insight or suggestions concerning the concert, please let Jeff Frank or myself know so we can take these ideas to the meeting. Thank you all for your support, it was a great ministry and we had people come all the way from South Dakota and Des Moines to attend. Jordanne and her Church's praise band were the opening act and did a great job, please send her a note thanking them for coming up and blessing us with their music. Jill Miller out of Sioux City did an absolutely fantastic job as our second act and let me tell you... she's GOOD! Very good! I bought one of her cd's and we may play some of her music in worship one of these upcoming Sundays. Our main act was Jacob Daniel out of Sioux Falls, Jacob is an up and coming young performer and he really is talented. He'll be opening for several big-name Christian performers in August and beyond so hopefully, he won't be out of our budget in the future. (I also bought one of Jacob's cd's and we may well play that in worship soon too)
Jill Miller performing at the "Son Celebration" July 21, 2018
One of the new ministries that we'll be working to implement in August is the new 'Safety and Security Team'. This is an entirely new avenue of ministry and if anyone is interested in serving on or knowing more about this team, please contact either Gary Dooley, Clyde Westcott, or myself. I've been in contact with 'Central Christian Church' in Marshalltown, IA. They have a member who is a 90-year-old World War II veteran named Gary Anderson who had no homeowners insurance and whose home was struck by the recent tornado. The roof was torn off of his home and it sounds like the city will condemn the remaining structure. He's been moved into the Veteran's home and right now the Church is working to figure out where and what to do to help him in this time of need. I've offered to help them help this gentleman out and we'll be taking collections for the next two weeks to send down to Central Christian Church. I also offered to bring a few people along to help if they had a need for clean up, they indicated that right now they are mostly in need of funds to accommodate Mr. Anderson. Please be in prayer concerning assisting this elderly gentleman. Thank you all! If anyone knows of anyone here in the local area who has a need for minor repairs or such... please let Jeff Frank or myself know, also if you know of anyone that is in need that could be benefited by the “Taste of Grace” program that the Woman's group has formed, please contact Kim Anderson. We'd really love to get both of these ministry's functioning more fully in order to meet whatever needs we are capable of fulfilling. We really need the assistance of the congregation in locating and steering us towards those who are in need of our blessing through these programs. Thank you!! Together, we can truly be... a blessing to someone today! (and every day) God's love, grace & joy to all, Pastor Roy
This week and next we have the High School students using our building to finish off the school year. As I reported earlier, the High School was damaged beyond use during the tornado that hit Lake City on Mothers Day. Hopefully, the building will be completely repaired before late summer and school starting up once again. It's going to be a very busy summer for the school administrators.
This week I attended the funeral for the mother of one of our church members. Marilyn Seeden, mother of Donna Westcott passed away suddenly last Friday. Her funeral was at the Pilgrim Lutheran Missouri Synod Church here in Lake City. Fortunately, they are not one of the locations that the High School is using for classes, so there was no interference in the planning of the ceremony.
I've always been a big believer in attending funerals, and even though I never met Marilyn I attended the service to support her daughter and son in law Clyde. There are in my opinion several reasons to attend a funeral. First is to show your respect and commitment to the individual that has passed away, second and I believe more importantly, is to show support and love to those that have survived the individual. The primary thing we need to remember at a funeral is that we're celebrating our loved ones new life in God's Heavenly Kingdom. Our loss is painful, but it should be more than offset by our joy that our friend or family member has been reunited and reconciled to our Creator. I have of course blogged about death and grief before in this blog. Here are a couple links to posts about death and grieving. Past Post About Death and Grief Lowell Surat's Funeral and Thoughts on Death
A thought on grief: “Within each of us there is a cemetery of sorrow. It is a legitimate place where the losses throughout our lives accumulate and one we must visit repeatedly to do our grief work. Grief is often untidy. We can’t wrap our losses in fine stationery and tie it up with a bow. Instead, they come layered in memories, regrets, and unresolved conflicts. So to revisit our cemetery is healthy because grief is often ongoing and done in seasons. Visits are necessary for our well-being, as long as we don’t’ take up residency among the tombs……..We serve a gracious and compassionate Savior, who understands our heartbreak. And while we must grieve he doesn’t want us to live in the cemetery. Christ longs to help us expand our zip code that we might reenter life more able to offer grace.” ~From Twirl...A Fresh Spin At Life
I have also discussed one of my favorite books on this blog before, the book is entitled "All Our Losses / All Our Griefs" and it is by Kenneth Mitchell and Herbert Anderson. I have multiple copies of this book in my personal library and I tend to loan them out frequently. Currently, I do have two copies which have been returned. If anyone nearby would like to read this book just let me know and I'll be happy to loan you a copy. If you'd like to purchase a copy (I'd suggest you do as it's a great book) here is a link: Book "All Our Losses / All Our Griefs" I found this book to be very revelatory, especially in how we are all sculpted by past grief. It not only helped me to understand others in my life, but it made me finally understand many of the things I've gone through and done myself.
Here is a great and moving video that has been going around online for a while now. It comes out of China but it has subtitles and it is very impactful. The scenario that the young woman utilizes in the story would in my opinion be one that all couples contemplating divorce should perform as a part of counseling. I hate the idea that any couple goes into divorce proceedings without exhausting all avenues of counseling. My opinions on divorce and marriage are pretty stringent and are outlined in the links 'Reflection on marriage and divorce' and 'Solemn Vows and Oaths' above, so I won't retype them here.
There's really no end to the articles online concerning how to have a good marriage; I think that these all have valid points and are worth reading and considering. They're also good for us old married folks to read and be reminded about a thing or two.
This one is very good also but, be forewarned there is some rough language in this article. Of course, I'm not at all certain that a little rough language isn't needed in a frank discussion of compatibility and long term survivability in a marriage. Love is not enough
One thing that I think is absolutely required in a marriage is something that I don't believe any of the above articles sufficiently relay. The one thing we absolutely cannot get around is the need for grace and forgiveness. During a marriage we're all going to come up short from time to time and without grace and forgiveness we won't last long. Depending on the severity of the failure, the couple may well find themselves in counseling to repair the damage. I'm of the mind that couples need to make a commitment to each other from the very beginning, that if a need arises later in a marriage for some counseling, that both parties agree to pursue that avenue. Of course, I'm not naive and I certainly realize that folks might well renege on this agreement when confronted with actually going to counseling; but having discussed and agreed prior just might make it more likely that the couple will actively pursue counseling.
Another area that I'm a big believer in is personality compatibility. We are often swept away with the idea that in love opposites attract and that one spouse can fill in for what the other might be lacking. The reality in my experience is that opposites just tend to drive each other a bit batty. I think a very helpful tool would be for both partners to take an actual (I mean the full blown, not an online mini version) Myers Briggs Test. I've actually formally taken this test twice and I have always come in as an INTP (I've also taken it once online with the same result). Armed with this information and also knowing the test results for the rest of my family I know why and how we make each other crazy. This information is invaluable in working out differences as they arise.
Here is a link to a site online where you can learn more about this particular test and even make arrangements to take the formal test. Myers Briggs Test
Of course, I absolutely believe that there has to be a great deal of romantic love involved in a marriage. There is no way a marriage will last if there is no 'spark' to light a fire so to say. But one has to be in love with the other individual spiritually, mentally, and emotionally as well as physically. If there is love on all of these levels the love will remain no matter how or how much we age. I envy those among us who found their true loves early in life and who have stayed together for so many years. Too few of us in my generation can lay claim to this gift.
Science has discovered that a woman retains cellular material from their sexual partners. These men's cells literally become a part of the woman for the remainder of her life. This is a startling realization... that one-night stand or poor decision remains with one for a lifetime. On the other hand, for those among us who waited for marriage to become sexually active, have a beautiful (even spiritual in a real sense) connection with their spouse. For these spouses are literally a part of one another, their purity one to the other is real and emotionally and spiritually touching. This purity is a beautiful and honestly sacred thing, again something that far too few in my generation can lay claim to. Too few individuals in my new profession have adequate knowledge of science to know this little tidbit, and those in the science world rarely have enough of a spiritual and religious base to understand or appreciate the spiritual side of this phenomenon. I find this hopelessly sad, as it has great meaning to a relationship for those that were committed enough and wise enough to have accomplished it through their youthful and continued morality. These individuals, God bless them, have accomplished this hallmark absent the knowledge that we have today thanks to modern science.
As an aside, women also bear in their bodies cells from each of the children which they have carried in the womb. This is also a very beautiful thing and for those that have lost children they can perhaps find some tiny bit of comfort knowing that a part of that child is with them for the remainder of their lives.
In closing, I look forward to the days ahead when I have the chance to work with couples asking to be married. Hopefully, with God's guidance I'll be able to provide them with the tools and proper expectations that they need in order to have a long and happy marriage. May you all find yourselves well and richly blessed. In His Love and Grace, Roy
