Month: March 2019

bloghome, Lutheran Reflection, Lutheran Women in Mission, Missions for God

March Madness!

I’m writing this in Pittsburg after having spent several days here attending the NCAA Wrestling Tournament. Our dear Oklahoma State Cowboys finished third this year. Congratulations to all you Penn State and Ohio State fans and athletes for your first and second place finishes.

At the restaurant tonight there were at least 5 basketball games going on at the NCAA Basketball Tournament and the National Invitational Tournament. Teams winning or losing by one or two points. 

All these athletes and coaches have trained long and hard to be where they are today. They’ve followed a game plan, made sacrifices, spent physical and emotional energy for months or even years to reach their goal to win. 

March madness in LWML takes the form of working really hard during the month of March, odd-numbered years, because that’s when our biennium mission goal is finishing up! As of this Friday, the 29th our “game” will be over. That is the last day to put money in the bank towards our goal. 

We’ve taken the words of our “coach”, Jesus Christ to heart and worked to do what He commanded us in Matthew 28:19. We have all followed our game plan, sending 25% of all Mite Box offerings in for the mission grants chosen by district delegates at the 2017 Albuquerque convention. We have worked hard, doing fund raising activities, educating people about the mission grants, and praying for our grant recipients. Now we are in the final crazy week to see if we will meet our goal.

In the most important game we have already been given the victory. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, has won that for us by His death and resurrection. Everlasting life with Him is ours. We have received, through Jesus, the most valued prize of all – the CROWN of eternal life!

Talking to one of the young wrestlers at lunch one day he was telling us about something Coach John Smith from OSU tells them. After all your training and all the opportunities you are given as an elite college athlete, it’s most important to “give back” to others on your team, your college, and society. 

After all the blessings and God’s grace we’ve been given, all the work we have done to meet our mission goal, all that we’ve learned from God’s Word, it’s time for us to “give back”. With God’s blessings our “LWML March Madness” will end with our mission goal met and our grant recipients fully funded this week! So happy to be on our LWML team! 

Patti

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You Will be Busy Next Week!

Great news for March so far! Here is an unofficial totals for the Mission Goal giving as of March 14, 2019. Unofficial in that it doesn’t report some of our electronic giving and hasn’t been reconciled by our accountants and Treasurer yet but it’s in the ballpark!

Mite Box

District Mites         $51,751.58   

Thrivent                      $6480.00        

Restricted                   $2785.00

Mite Gifts                 $24538.00

Mite Challenge         $9066.00      

Total:                         $94,620.58       

Total needed officially as of February 28th was $156,821.

This puts us within $62,000! We have until March 29 to receive any contributions towards this 2017-2019 Mission Goal. Remember electronic giving must come in by March 27.

As a reminder of who we are helping, I will be in St. Louis in a week’s time to present checks for several of the mission grants you have funded. You will be with me through your offerings! You will be helping train deaconess students in Liberia. You will be remodeling and updating student quarters at the Sierra Leone Lutheran Seminary. You will be helping put in place a program for high school students to learn how to converse about life issues with their peers. You will be providing funding for an African graduate student to attend Concordia Seminary, St. Louis to return to teach in his home country.

You have a busy week ahead next week! Stay strong and praise the Lord for your work for His Kingdom!

Patti

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Random Thoughts

I was sick with RSV several days last week and haven’t been up to much so this blog is a little bit random.

  • Our Mission Goal for 2017-2019 is still short. We need to have electronic donations by March 25 and mailed donations by March 29 so that all can be in the bank by March 31. We are SO close!! Please check your Mite Boxes and take the $5 per member challenge!
  • Early discounted registration for the 2019 Mobile convention ends on the 13th (this Wednesday). Save $20 by registering before then!
  • The new LWML history book by Carolyn Blum will be available at convention. This book covers from 2005-2017. It has gone to print!
  • Several new Bible Study/Devotionals will be available at convention. Bring some funds from your congregational group to buy and save shipping by putting them in your suitcase!
  • There are some great Lenten devotions out there, many by our various mission grant recipient organizations. Be sure you are using several! See how they all blend together but present some different ways of looking at certain scriptures. LWML was asked to write one for the Lutheran World Relief series if you care to find it.
  • Plan an Easter dinner and ask some people who might be alone this year. It follows to say, “Hey, why not go to church with me before we have dinner!”
  • If you know women in your group who can’t attend convention in Mobile, make sure they know it will be live streamed on our website. Also, ask them to donate to your Pledge Walk! We are doing it early morning again this year with a BAND to lead it! Should be a lot of fun! The pledge walk donations make up 9% of our Mission Goal during a biennium so your walk is worth a lot!

That’s it for this week. I’m hoping to feel stronger this week and get back into gear!

Love, Patti

Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations (1Chronicles 16:23-24a).

AboutPatti, bloghome, Lutheran Reflection, Lutheran Women in Mission

Goals

I ran across a document titled “BOD” in a stack of papers as I was cleaning (rearranging) my desk and my office bedroom this week. It was some things I wanted to bring up at a BOD and it’s not dated. I think it was from January of 2018.

Here’s what I had under the heading, “My personal goals for the coming year”.

  • Continue to engage women in discussion of how to improve participation in LWML activities.
  • Encourage LWML women to use our excellent Bible studies and devotional resources.
  • Work towards the goals and objectives chosen in October of 2016.
  • Continue quality outreach to our seminaries.
  • Encourage our talented LWML women to do their best in making quality opportunities available to women in the Lutheran Church for mission service and awareness.
  • Continue to improve the image of LWML among church and outside ministries and auxiliaries.
  • Review our mission statement with an eye to updating it.
  • Do outreach to international LWML women’s groups in partner churches worldwide.
  • Increase LWML visibility at LCMS meetings and events.

It was an interesting document to run across. Where did 2018 go? Wow, it’s down to four months until I’m finished as president. I really wish I could have had time to make that outreach to other international women’s groups in our partner churches happen. I only got as far as LWML-Canada and the Lutheran Church of the Philippines Women’s League. Hopefully, someone will take that to heart and make my goal their own reality.

I hope you set some goals for 2019 as far as LWML goes. Maybe you will do a better job of journaling as you go along and look at the progress you are making without losing them in a pile of papers!

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4: 10-11).

Patti

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