Update on Baby Ephraim

Just wanted to let all here know that Ephraim was hospitalized yesterday with moderate dehydration and more weight loss but we are very pleased with the improvement we are seeing today. After fluids and some potassium, he is not only looking so much better but he is also finally starting to make more "normal" diapers. I'll spare you the details, but just say I've never been more excited about poop in my life!

Thanks be to God for His gifts of doctors, medicine and the love of friends and family. Please continue to pray for Ephraim as we move toward the possibility of taking him back home and figuring out how to keep him on the mend.

Welcome Baby Ephraim

 Announcing my newest blessing, Ephraim Job, born Saturday, October 20th! He's a little peanut, just 18 inches, and weighed 7lb 2oz.

Big brother and sisters are gaga about him, Clara too, though she looks like she couldn't care less. (She thought I was having two babies and keeps looking for "the other one".)

Ephraim will be baptized this Sunday. Praise be to God!

Church Meetings

Emily O. writes:

I don't know about you, but I tend to dread church meetings, typically Voters' Meetings. They loom on the calendar like infrared targets ripe for a sudden and terrible strike. As the day approaches, the tension rises and the pressure increases until I feel like an overfilled balloon. And I don't even personally attend any meetings at church!

While my description of meetings is dramatic, the truth is that church members and pastors are sinners, and whenever sinners get together, they tend to, well, sin. Depending on the church and the dynamics thereof, people exhibit and/or experience volatility when congregating together (I would even venture a guess that there's more fireworks in church meetings than in many other places, and not the kind that make people "oooh" and "aaah" with pleasure). And this is a sad reality of life together as God's people. We get mad, we get frustrated, we say mean and hurtful things. We get quiet and brooding and sullen. We harbor malice. We reject the mercy that God has given us in Christ and so reject our neighbors.

Sometimes anger is righteous. But too often, bitterness reigns. The balance is so difficult to keep, whether you're a layperson who's given decades of service to the church or whether you're a pastor's wife.

But thanks be to Him who saved us--and still saves us--from ourselves. He forgives our biting words, our sarcastic asides, our wrong assumptions and conclusions, our hateful thoughts. And--miracle of miracles--He comes again to meet us in each Divine Service, to serve us perfectly, to grant us forgiveness and to give us peace. I still won't be attending Voters' Meetings anytime soon, but I'm thankful that there's always a Christ-meeting just around the corner. 

Blessed Holy Cross Day

In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.

When the woes of life o’ertake me,
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me,
Lo! it glows with peace and joy.

When the sun of bliss is beaming
Light and love upon my way,
From the cross the radiance streaming
Adds more luster to the day.

Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,
By the cross are sanctified;
Peace is there that knows no measure,
Joys that through all time abide.

In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.

In the Cross of Christ I Glory

Listen to tune HERE 

“Merciful God, Your Son, Jesus Christ, was lifted high upon the cross that He might bear the sins of the world and draw all people to Himself. Grant that we who glory in His death for our redemption may faithfully heed His call to bear the cross and follow Him. Amen.”

From Treasury of Daily Prayer for Holy Cross Day

Image Jan Sadeler

Bible Study Invitation

 

BethAnn writes:

Dear Pastors' Wives, 

I would like to extend an invitation for a monthly ladies bible study on biblical mothers. 

There are two different times:

1st evening bible study will be on Sept. 10th at 7:30 p.m. & 1st mid-morning bible study on Sept. 11th at 10:00 a.m. 

The first time we meet will be at Golgotha Lutheran in the Fellowship Hall in Wausa.  

To order a book for the Bible study you can email me at bethannsalinas at rocketmail dot com. The cost of the book is approximately $13. You are still welcome to join us without purchasing a book. You also do not have to make a commitment, but I think you will want to after the first lesson. 

So please join us as we learn, reflect, and study God’s Word together. This will be open to the community as well so invite your friends. I have not lined up caregivers yet so if you know of someone who would like to help please let me know. 

After the first study we will discuss meeting at other places, like Grand Junction in Creighton, The Bloomfield Bakery, & The Wausa Café, etc. 

Other Dates are as followed:  

2012:

Oct. 8^th or 9^th possibly two studies 

Nov. 12^th or 13^th 

Tentative Dec. 10^th or 11^th (we might skip the one study in December due to Advent)

2013:

Jan. 14^th or 15^th possibly two studies,

Feb. 11^th or 12^th  possibly two studies, March 11^th or 12^th,

April 8^th or 9^th, May 13^th or 14^th possibly two studies.

How's Your Mrs. Hyde?

Jenny writes:

I hope to get a discussion going as a follow up to my Mrs. Hyde post.

About a week ago, she reared her ugly head again and that really bothers me.  She is kept contained within my own head, and heart, but I need to give her a voice and this is the safest place to do so. 

The boys have been known to ask me, "Is daddy gone tonight AGAIN?"  And as one sets the table, it's not uncommon for him to ask me, "Will dad be home for supper tonight?"  I don't like hearing those questions.  I know they must be asked, but no matter how many Bible studies the people ask for, or how long they keep Pastor after the closing prayer, doesn't it eventually get to the point where I get to say, "NO MORE!" 

I am not looking for my problems to be solved. They are not terrible. Jon and I have many good discussions, so please, no worries there! I just want to see us share some experiences and ideas. Sound good?

What I'd like to hear about is how you ladies guard your families.  How do you guard your time together?  How do you guard your husbands' day off?  How do you impress upon your husbands the importance of time with family without sounding selfish, keeping in mind the importance of his calling?

Becoming what you eat! - From BethAnn

BethAnn writes:

I always used to get comments on how I looked. It was nice to be noticed for having a normal body weight. Also others also noticed that I didn’t overeat. I ate the correct portions. 

Well, that as all changed. I am now struggling with my weight. I am involved in a healthy eating program that sets goals to help me with my weight. I pray that I can reverse the damage I already caused my body. This issue has put more pressure on my back and hip. It seems to be a cycle….a never ending cycle. Maybe I need to transform my mind as well. 

And you would think that having numerous family medical issues as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure would motivate me, guess again. Lately, I have been praying for others and not myself because it feels selfish. I have been eating because the change of becoming a mother and staying at home has given a new unknown and stressful dimension of my vocation here on earth. 

Don’t get me wrong I have LOVED being a mother and staying at home and training my daughter in the way she shall go. I thought I could do it on my own. But I have failed miserably! I want to eat correctly again. I want to have the peace that passes my understanding rain in my heart. But I can’t do it without HIS guidance and forgiveness. But there is one last step which is even harder to meet or surpass - forgiving myself!

God's love and my smiles,

BethAnn  

Image Sunny Breakfast Vladimir Volegov