Month: July 2019

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I Find Myself Smiling as I Pray for You!

I have just returned home from the LCMS Convention in Tampa, Florida. I was privileged to address the assembly where I remarked that the convention was a “bit more intense” than the LWML Convention. We also carry out business at our LWML conventions and rejoice, as Lutheran Women in Mission, that we are blessed to focus on inspiring and educating women. Our conventions are filled with mission speakers, mission service, Bible study, and prayer. We rejoice in choosing mission grants that will reach those who need to hear about Jesus.

Arlene Naasz, Bishop Makala, and Char Kroemer at LCMS Convention.
Arlene Naasz, Bishop Makala, and Char Kroemer at LCMS Convention

LWML had an exhibit booth at the LCMS Convention. Vice President of Communication Char Kroemer and Meeting Manager Arlene Naasz spent the week sharing LWML with convention attendees. As people stopped to visit, many thanked LWML for various mission grants they had received and talked of how God worked, and continues to work, through those grants. Char, Arlene, and I accepted thanks on behalf of each of you because you are the women who, by God’s grace, make these grants possible!

One gentleman who stopped by identified himself as the Bishop from Tanzania. With tears in his eyes, Bishop Emmanuel Makala passionately thanked LWML for the $25,000 Tanzanian Sewing Center mission grant from last biennium. “This was a mountain top experience for me,” Arlene said, “and I was humbled and honored to represent LWML.”

Arlene preparing to greet convention attendees. What a welcoming smile!
Arlene preparing to greet convention attendees. What a welcoming smile!

I want each of you to know that the money you put in your Mite Box is much more than dimes and dollars. It’s hope, healing, love, and Jesus’ mercy, and it reaches around the world. We’ve been blessed with our faith and we are blessed as we share that with others. 

I want you to know I thank God for each of you. You are our Lord’s hands, feet, and heart as you share His love. I find myself smiling as I pray for you and I believe Jesus is smiling also!

Today, and always, we are surrounded by God’s grace,

Debbie

AboutDebbie, Lutheran Reflection, Lutheran Women in Mission

All Stages of Life

My twin grandsons, Brenden and Logan (12 years old), have come to visit and I’m watching them head out to the tree fort they built with Grandpa Scott last summer. The sun is shining and the air smells of pine and sage. It’s so easy to see the blessings of God on days like this.

The first of July, after a family reunion (my side) in North Dakota, we traveled to Bemidji, Minnesota, to visit Scott’s parents. Scott’s father, Lloyd, is in the last stages of his life. He is frail. It’s difficult to watch as a once spirited man finds no joy in this life. He is ready to be with Jesus in heaven. I look for the blessings of God in situations like this.

The first of July, after a family reunion (my side) in North Dakota, we traveled to Bemidji, Minnesota, to visit Scott’s parents. Scott’s father, Lloyd, is in the last stages of his life. He is frail. It’s difficult to watch as a once spirited man finds no joy in this life. He is ready to be with Jesus in heaven. I look for the blessings of God in situations like this.

And so, today I ponder the stages of our lives. My grandchildren, children, Scott and I, and our parents are all experiencing this life at different stages. Through it all our God reigns! Through every stage He is with us. “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand” (Isaiah 42:6a). What peace this blessing of God brings to me.

Last week, I transitioned with Past LWML President Patti Ross in St. Louis. Hers will be big shoes to fill but I was blessed as she generously shared insight and encouragement. I spent time with the LWML Office staff and with LCMS leaders exploring opportunities to glorify our Lord and serve Him by serving His people. Next week I will travel to Tampa, Florida, for the LCMS Convention and God will shower blessings on those who put Him at the center of their lives. This is a new stage in my life and, each morning, my prayer is to let God use me to His glory, recognizing His blessings and sharing Christ at every opportunity.

What stage of life do you find yourself in today? How is God blessing you through the events in your life? God blesses His people in all circumstances!

Today, and always, we are surrounded by God’s grace,

Debbie

bloghome, Lutheran Women in Mission, LWML Convention

The Afterglow of Convention

I’ve never written a blog before but I’ve also never been short of words, so I’ll just write and pray this missive will help you get to know me as we serve the Lord together in the LWML. 

My husband Scott and I arrived home Monday night with no travel issues. That was certainly not the case for many of you. I am enjoying, what I am calling, the afterglow of Convention. I am filled with the Holy Spirit, through His Word and Sacrament, and with the energy and love that comes from spending a week with women and men who love our Savior and seek His direction in their lives. But I also spent much time praying for those who had canceled and delayed flights, both coming to and returning home from Mobile, Alabama. 

In my home congregation, we are blessed with an LWML member, Jan Schmidt, who loves to write devotions and shares them with us each morning. The following is a part of her email sent upon arrival back home. I love her perspective and want to share it with you: 

For months over three thousand Lutheran women planned for and looked forward to gathering together in Mobile, Alabama for the LWML Convention “In Praise to the LORD!” But, once the sending service was over, our thoughts turned toward home — our families, our own beds, the familiar comfort of routine in our own homes. The first hint that we may not get home as planned came when we met a fellow traveler who said that flights going through Dallas were questionable due to bad weather. There had been women who got to the convention late because of bad weather and now it seemed hundreds would not return home as planned. 

Fortunately, we found out our flights were canceled before going to the airport and we were able to get a hotel room in Mobile and spend Sunday night in a bed! Some of the women, we heard later, ended up spending the night in the airport. For us, as I am sure was true for most of the women, the delay only intensified our longing for home. 

Until the Lord calls us home through death, we are stranded here on this sin-filled earth longing for home. We long for the promised new heaven and new earth where there will be no sin, no tears, no sickness. … and no delays as there will be no time! We long for the comforts of that home. But, praise be to God, while we wait, God has come to us! Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). While we are stuck in this “bad weather,” the Holy Spirit comes to us in Word and Sacrament and lives with and in us. It doesn’t make life perfect, but it makes life immeasurably better. 

Thank You, Father, for sending Jesus! Thank You, Jesus, for sending the Spirit. Thank You, Spirit, for making Your home with us until Your work on earth is done! 

And so, I hope you are experiencing the afterglow of this LWML Convention and find that travel delays only give us the opportunity to share Jesus’ love with those along the way. 

Today, and always, we are surrounded by God’s grace,

Debbie

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