LWML Oklahoma District Convention is this weekend! My district! We are celebrating God’s faithfulness in the lives of Oklahoma Lutheran Women in Mission for 90 years! Our LWML district president, Dianna Just, will preside over this anniversary convention. We have around 20 descendants of the original organizers attending! It’s even taking place in the area of the first organizing churches, the Lawton Zone.  

The Lutheran Women’s League of Oklahoma, organized in March of 1928. Women from six cities—Apache, Chickasha, Norman, Shawnee, Lawton and Oklahoma City—gathered at Zion Lutheran Church in Oklahoma City to start a district organization to further mission work, particularly in Oklahoma. In 1929 they held their first convention. First mission projects included money to purchase bed linens for St. John’s College, Winfield, Kansas and a canning project for the Lutheran Home Finding Society, an orphanage at Winfield, Kansas.

Those attending have a wonderful group of speakers and Bible study leaders to get to know. Many of you will recognize the names of past LWML Presidents Virginia Von Seggern and Linda Reiser. Bible study will be lead by Cindy Steinbeck, who also led our study at our 80th Anniversary convention. Brent Smith from Mission Central will also bring news from the mission field.

Also taking place this coming weekend is the LWML New England District convention in Enfield, Connecticut. President Barbara Lis will be leading her district women with the theme of “God’s Jewels”.

I hope you will go to your LWML district convention if at all possible. God gives us these opportunities to be equipped and encouraged— to worship, work, listen and learn along with your sisters in Christ!

Please remember these district conventions in your prayers this week.

Patti

It’s been difficult returning from Guatemala to find the right things to write. I’ll include more information and photos next week. Because this is Holy Week, most of us will attend church more and contemplate Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us.

Putting together the two – returning from Guatemala and Holy Week – I think it’s fitting when we attend church to use our time in focused prayer. Our mission efforts need prayer. Our missionaries request it. They are up against things most of us don’t realize or have to deal with. Prayer is a powerful tool and weapon for them in their struggle against evil and their efforts to spread the Gospel message. They depend on it as we all should.

Jesus depended on prayer. He asked his friends to “watch” with Him but they fell asleep. He was in great distress and asked them to come with Him and they fell asleep. Now is not the time for us to be sleepy! We should pray, and pray continually.  We can pray for the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to open many hearts to the saving message of Jesus Christ. We can also pray for the safety our missionaries and their psychological needs. We can also pray that we will continue to support our churches all over the world.

I share this painting with you. The picture accompanying this blog is titled, “Christ in Gethsemane” from an altarpiece, St. Hans Church, Odense, Denmark by artist Carl Bloch. It’s one of my favorites.

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation (Luke 22:39-46).

There is much praying to be done. Take advantage of Holy Week and be focused in prayer.

Patti

This week I leave for a trip to Guatemala. Some of my LWML Oklahoma friends and I are heading out on a MOST Ministries Eyeglass Clinic trip. LWML Oklahoma President, Dianna Just is going. She’s been on many mission trips. She is an educator and has a real love for people which shows up in her many trips she has gone on all over the world. Lori, Sharon, Ruth and I have been on mission trips together before. Ruth was a missionary nurse in Nigeria. Kathy is a new traveler and we look forward to having her along.

One of the many reasons I love to go on these trips is the break from “stuff”. You see, most of God’s people that you serve on these trips don’t have much “stuff”. There’s that much less to get in the way of having God lead them into depending on Him for everything and seeing God in control of it all as He provides everything they need.   

Do you think that the United States is the only country in the world where people have so much stuff they have to pay for storage units to keep it in?  I do. I’ve never heard of other countries having storage units for rent. Does our stuff sometimes get in the way of our devotion to God? I think so.

Another thing I’ve experienced on these trips is the reliance on prayer and the answers God gives. Years ago, when Servant’s Heart was active near the Guatemala City dump, we would walk through the compound and pray in each room with our hosts. Prayer was foremost in their efforts to keep the ministry going, for protecting their workers and for providing food for their lunches served at the dump.

And finally, relationships. Last trip I went on I took one photo of my grandchildren along to the clinics. This sparked many conversations (my broken Spanish and lots of hand gestures), smiles, and hugs as we related to our common human emotions. No relating to common stuff, but to common feelings and emotions. Those times I carry in my heart and smile.

One of our 2017-2019 mission grants is for MOST Ministry family scholarships. I urge you to support that grant and also to consider taking your family on a mission trip and applying for one of those scholarships. You’ll see firsthand that prayer, dependence on God, and relationships trump “stuff” every time!

Talk to you when I get back!

Patti

Banners have played a big part in the decorations of our churches. Many centuries back they often took the form of fantastic tapestries woven in great detail. They were often done to illustrate stories of the Bible.

They have flown during military engagements back in the old days to designate an assembly point for soldiers to assemble and move forward together (or retreat sometimes).

We use banners a lot in LWML. One of my favorite moments at national LWML conventions is the district banner procession where 40 different interpretations of the convention theme are carried in by the LWML District Presidents and their Young Woman Representatives. It is always so beautiful and uplifting.

Much like the tapestries of old, our banners serve to convey a message, a story and for those of us who are visual learners, they often help us digest a thought or teaching by what they say and what they look like.

They also serve as a rallying point for us. The wonderful prophetic chapter 11 of Isaiah mentions banners twice. Verse 10 (NIV) says, In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. Again, in verse 12 it goes on, He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.

I share this banner that my friend, Barb, made with the new LWML logo. It is really beautiful. She has a talent for banner making that she uses and dedicates to the Lord. She serves His people by using her God-given gifts of artistry. She is a blessing.

I know many of you also “raise banners” for the Lord. You rally His people around a thought. You do it for the glory of the Lord. Many of you will be making banners for Easter and for your upcoming LWML district conventions. I know you will be doing it for the glory of God!

As you do, think of that day when the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples, the nations. By the work of the Holy Spirit, our work in LWML will help bring those peoples and nations the saving Gospel message that will be the ultimate rallying point for all of us.

Patti

God has created some amazing people and put them in my life. These people are present in everyday life such as today—Sunday. Sometimes you just take comfort in the everyday relationships. They don’t need a lot of work, they’re just enjoyable. As you read this, think of the people God put in your life today, Sunday, February 25, 2018.

My husband of 44 years makes me a cup of tea while I get ready for church before he heads to the hospital. He’s on call this weekend for his cardiology group. Then I get to church and I get to sit with one of my best friends because her husband is serving as elder today and we join my son and his family in our usual pew. (No comment, please!) My grandson has a new haircut and it looks really sharp.

Our wonderful pastor has an inspirational message. He is a gift to our congregation for sure! We pray for many of our congregation members. One of our charter members has received her heavenly crown of life. She was a big encourager and friend. I will miss her. She was 100 years old.

After church, we have bell choir rehearsal. Our piece for Easter is really hard. We have a great director who is a band director at an area high school. He has a lot of patience with us older folks as we try to make our music sound like praise and not something else. He’s a marvelous musician, singer, and director. We love him.

Two bell choir members and I go out to lunch afterward and Bill takes a break from the hospital to join us. My friends are also nurses and it doesn’t take long before we are in tears laughing as we share hospital horror stories. As Bill says, “you can’t gross out a nurse”. If laughing helps the digestion we are in good shape.

Getting home, my six-year-old granddaughter calls to see if she can come over and color. So we spend some time designing new My Little Ponies and then it’s on to Toca Boca on the iPad. Later my 11-year-old granddaughter and her friend drop in for popcorn and pop. Tomorrow she gets braces put on.

Later in the evening, I’m invited down to their house to pull one of her teeth. It didn’t happen much to the disappointment of my 14-year-old grandson. Had a nice conversation with my son who is a great father.

So I’m writing this around 9:30 Sunday night. I’m disappointed my husband is still in at the hospital but I’ve had a wonderful day of rest and reconnection and I’m sorry he has had to work all day.

God really gives us such great blessings whether they are unusually surprising or unusually every day. Relationships are so important. I hope if you look back on Sunday, February 25, 2018, you’ll identify and be grateful for the people you encountered today and celebrate the relationships you enjoy. I am!

Patti

I was born and raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma. My father, Norbert R. Mahnken, was a history professor at Oklahoma State University. He arrived in 1945 and stayed there the rest of his life. In 1953 he and my grandfather, Fred W. Mahnken, who was a builder, built our home at 920 W. Cantwell St.

We lived there 16 years, all of my childhood. I remember 920 as a big house and big yard. Of course, as I look at it now, it was very small. My father kept a white fence with red rose bushes along it. It was lovely. He was able to walk to and from the campus every day. We could ride our bikes anywhere on campus, and because the campus barns were nearby we sometimes had horses or sheep coming through the yard when some ag student left the gates unlatched.

We had wonderful neighbors, some of whom belonged to our church, Zion Lutheran. We built forts, clubhouses, had a wonderful sand pile. The neighborhood basketball court was our driveway.

Best of all, we had our family. My younger brother, Robert, who many of you met in Albuquerque, my mother and my dad. We went to church, my mother did LWML, my father was an elder and substitute organist. We did family vacations and golfing together. We were a happy and blessed family unit in our little house at 920. That’s where we came home to — where we were together.

On a trip to an OSU basketball game last week my husband and I drove by 920. I had heard it was due to be bulldozed to make room for the campus expansion. Sure enough, all there was at 920 was an empty lot.

Made me sad. I’m glad I have good memories of it as a home and not just a house. As Christians we know even if our earthly house and home fades away, our heavenly house will be, above all, a home where we will be together as a family!

“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John, 14:2-3).

Patti