Lutheran Reflection | Lutheran Women in Mission

My husband, a cardiologist, will tell you never to eat anything that can be served to you through a window. That being said, I do give in time to time on McDonald’s French fries. When I do, I look down and see the dropped change on the concrete beneath the window. If my car wasn’t so close to the window, I would reach down and pick it up!

When we were on vacation last week I was looking for sea shells on the beach and found a quarter! Bill knows when I see a coin I will pick it up and say, “for the Mite Box”. I also picked up a penny in the airport parking lot. 26 cents for the Mite Box! Wow, you say, not much of a haul. However …

Check out the first of our LWML grants and read the story of it. “Providing Food and the Gospel to Starving Children” a program administered by Mercy Meals of Siouxland, a ministry of Faith Lutheran Church, Sioux City Iowa. Their volunteers package fortified rice/soy meals that are shipped to many international and national destinations to feed hungry people—at a cost of 13 cents a meal!

So, my 26 cents will buy 2 meals for someone! Makes it worth the effort to pick up the coins, doesn’t it! Especially, when you think that not only does it deliver 2 meals, but it delivers the Bread of Life, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, feeding hungry souls as well as bodies.

If you can figure out how I can vacuum up that loose change under the McDonald’s window, let me know!

Enjoy reading John 6:22-59 and see what Jesus has to say.

Patti

“Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pays tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker” (from the U.S. Department of Labor website).

In 1894 the first Monday in September became a federal holiday.

One of my favorite books is “God at Work” by Gene Edward Veith Jr. It deals with your Christian vocation in all of your life. In one chapter he deals with your calling as a worker—your vocation. (I believe it is said that Martin Luther may have thought vocation to be the fourth pillar of the Reformation). For the upcoming Labor Day I’d like to quote from Veith’s book.

“As we have said, God calls people to different kinds of labor as part of His governance of the world. God Himself is operative in human labor, through His providential power. Though human beings tend to be oblivious to the spiritual significance of the ordinary things they do, and though their work is tainted by sin, the Christian, walking by faith and resting in Christ, can live and work as a channel for the gifts of God. God does not treat our works or our vocation as meriting His favor; rather, our relationship with Him is solely based on His free grace and forgiveness through the work of Christ. Good works, which are primarily done within vocation, are the fruits of faith. Good works are done not for God but for the neighbor. The whole purpose of every vocation is to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ (Matthew 22:39).

While looking at your work this coming Labor Day, think of how it is your vocation and how you serve your neighbor through what you do. Pick up a copy of Veith’s book or read Martin Luther’s on the vocations of the Christian. It will encourage you!

Patti

Traveling again for LWML found me in St. Louis this past weekend for the LCMS 2018 Prison Ministry Conference. If you look at the list of 2017-2019 Mission Grants you will see that Mite Box offerings financed this conference. Thanks to our faithful family of Lutheran Women in Mission these pastors and lay people involved in prison and jail ministry came together to share experiences, hear numerous speakers, and share resources.

To tell you that this was a worthwhile grant says way too little. These servants of the Lord actually risk their lives, face lawsuits, long hours, and long drives as they deliver the Word of Jesus that He forgives and loves. To listen to their experiences you realize these people are special, called to an incredibly tough ministry and deserve our daily prayer support to protect them from earthly and spiritual attacks. I was incredibly humbled to meet many of them and see their dedication to the marginalized and despised children of God who are in our penal system. They depend on the strength and action of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit.

If you have a local or district prison ministry I urge you have them come and share about how they do their ministry and then find out what you can do to help them.

We all read Matthew 25 and think, yes, Lord, I can feed people, I can give water to people, I can clothe people but whoa, I can’t go visit prisoners. However, through your Mite Box offerings, service projects, and prayer, you can hold up those wonderful men and women who do! As the hymn says, “We can be like faithful Aaron, holding up the prophet’s hands.”

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did is to me.” (Matthew 25:37-40)

Patti

Oh boy, did this summer go fast! Our Oklahoma schools open again in a week! It’s been a summer of traveling!

Traveling last weekend took us to the Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) SENT event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Members of the Lutheran Layman’s League, LHM staff, donors, and guests kicked off a five year special program to spread the Gospel. They have taken the scripture from John 20:21 to heart and made it their theme verse, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you”, spoken by Jesus to His disciples.

President and CEO of Lutheran Hour Ministries, Kurt Buchholz, led a gathering that interacted with LHM Ministry leaders who traveled from Liberia, Jamaica, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, and Paraguay. LHM staff presented information about media offerings that sound really exciting. For instance, go to www.lhm.org and check out THRED, LHM Learn, Sentido Latino, Digging Deeper, Action in Ministry, and of course, The Lutheran Hour. And before you ask, no, they did not announce the new Lutheran Hour Speaker yet.

Ran into fellow LWML travelers there. LWML Presidents #14, 15, 16, and 18 were there. Also Karen Soeken, past LWML Planner, Past Convention Manager and Chesapeake DP, Jan Reuter, Past LWML Texas President, Dorothy Hunger and current LWML Oregon DP, Carmen Nagel were enjoying the event. If you have worked on the LHM Rose Parade float, you will recognize the names Dick and Lynn Gast and Lou Marting who were there. Rev. Ingo Dutzmann and Rev. John Nunes led us in devotions and worship. It was an inspiring, uplifting and educational event.

The two mission grants that you have funded from the last two conventions for LHM are pretty amazing outreach efforts in the Middle East. Reporting on the outreach to Syrian refugees in Lebanon –four women shared what it meant to them to now be Christians. Common denominator? A God who loves and forgives them. Really, really beautiful! They and many others will be reached by the broadcasts from the Christian TV station in Cairo that our second grant supports! You are helping make the Word of God travel through the Middle East!

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” Mark 16:15.

Our travels are not over!

Patti

Summer in my family means a lot of time spent at Lake Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma, about 50 minutes from our house. My husband, Bill, is an astronomy buff and one of our favorite things to do is to go out in the boat after dark, park it in the middle of the lake and look at the sky. This weekend was really fantastic.

The ecliptic is an imaginary line on the sky that marks the annual path of the sun. It is the projection of
Earth’s orbit onto the celestial sphere. It defines the plane along which the moon, planets and asteroids wander. In other words, all eight planets essentially lie in the same flat plane and follow the same familiar ecliptic path.

This weekend along this imaginary line in the sky from the east horizon to the west you were able to see Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Venus all at the same time along with the moon. What am amazing sight to see! Mars actually does look red! In the book of Job, God questions Job, “can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? Can you establish their rule on earth?” (Job 38:31-33)

Scientists say there are thought to be 50 billion galaxies! How tiny does that make you feel? Yet, looking at those stars in our galaxy we know and rejoice in a God who knows us down to the number of hairs on our head! One who loves us enough to die on the cross so that we can spend eternity with Him! It’s almost unimaginable, isn’t it!

Check out the footnotes to the Job passage about the constellations mentioned. Also, read Genesis 1:16-17. Spend some time gazing at the night sky and contemplate the greatness of God and His love for you.

Love, Patti

If you want to, download the App called “Sky Guide” to your phone to enhance your viewing!

Celebrating with the Honeycutt’s and Redeemer Lutheran Church!

It’s always an honor to celebrate special moments with LWML sisters and their families. This afternoon, our LWML Archivist-Historian, Caroline Honeycutt’s husband, Ryan, was installed as pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church, Claremore, Oklahoma. It’s a mere 45 minutes from our house! My husband and I attended along with LWML Oklahoma District President, Dianna Just, LWML Product Developer, Bev England and many more of our Oklahoma LWML family.

Ryan and Caroline moved from Ohio with their two children, Caleb and Adelyn. We are so excited to have them in our “neighborhood”.

I always get choked up when attending an installation. As the installing pastor goes through the questions for the pastor being installed that verify that he believes what the Lutheran Church believes it causes me to reflect on the scriptural truth that our church body teaches and what we believe through the Holy Spirit to be true.

Rev. Barrie Henke, LCMS Oklahoma District President, urged Ryan and all of us to see people through the eyes of Jesus. A good reminder as we go about our business this week.

Congratulations to Ryan and Caroline. May God’s grace go with you into your new venture in Claremore!

Patti

This week’s blog is written by Tina Bentley, a member of the LWML IT committee who faithfully receives my blog postings.

Patti

summer

As we enter summer it conjures images of sun, beaches, lazy days, and children on break from school. I am a teacher in the homestretch of my school year, I am looking forward to my summer. I look around my school and I see tired teachers, staff, and students who are ready for a break from the routine of school. Most of the students and staff are eager to leave school and embrace their summer freedom.

However, a few students seem moodier than usual and not quite themselves. What is going on? I thought all kids lived for their break from school? Are they tired like the other students? Yes. What’s the issue? Many students have a hard time transitioning from school to summer. That might seem strange, isn’t summer the best time of the year for students? Not for all of them. Summer can be a time of uncertainty for many students in our communities. School is a place of safety and routine and gives many students a sense of security. This is where they know they will be cared for and fed each and every day. Summer is a season of uncertainty. Will they have food to eat? Will they have someone to care for them throughout the day? Where will they spend their days?

What does that mean for us as ladies of the LWML? How can we impact these children in our communities? How can we share Jesus with these vulnerable children? Here are some ideas:

Talk with your local schools and other community organizations to see what programs they have in the summer where you can offer your services.
Volunteer for your congregation’s VBS, perhaps offer to take neighborhood children who wouldn’t be able to attend otherwise.
Volunteer to help with the libraries summer program
Donate to your local food bank, they need the donations in the summer as well. They might even have a summer program for students.
Contribute to or start a fund to send local children to summer camp for a week
Host an open gym or other activity with your society., perhaps partnering with your youth group

Use this summer as a way to share the love and comfort of knowing Jesus to children who desperately need it.

The ultimate freedom comes from knowing the love of Jesus. We don’t need to go out of the country or even out of the county to share the love of Jesus with children. Share Jesus with the children in your community, they need it so much as we all do. We have freedom in Christ, which is much better than the freedom from school.

Tina Bentley
Guest Blogger

This Easter I set the table for dinner with my grandmother’s china. It’s not particularly stylish or an expensive set but it is rich in associations. My grandmother like many of yours lived through the Depression and moved from place to place with my grandfather and father as they sought out jobs to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.

When we got it, it was still kept in a wooden, slatted, crate with sawdust for packing. It was in really good shape. I like to use it in the spring because it has so much pink and pastel colors in it. I’m pretty sure most of you have something like this that you cherish.

Just think of the depression and the shortages of WWII. There may not have been a lot to put on these plates but I know they were used for Sunday dinners and celebratory occasions. There was a little extra effort put out whether the feast was big or meager. I look at photos of my grandparents and father during those years and note how remarkably thin they were. Did you know that one of the main reasons for rejection to serve in the Armed Forces in WWII was poor dentition? Bad teeth? Most likely from poor nutrition during the Depression.

I think of some of these things when I use these dishes. About how my grandparents endured much more than I have had to. How they didn’t blame God or give up going to church. Also, how they practiced hospitality, enjoyed beautiful things, and had family meals every day.

I hope you, too, have something that evokes memories of inspirational people who have gone before you. Let’s thank God that He gives us examples of living and loving both here, now, and in His book, the Bible.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

-Patti

Patti’s Easter table

Birds at bird feeder

You can waste a lot of time watching birds, can’t you! Especially during this recent cold snap! I have multiple birdfeeders and suet cakes hanging from trees in the yard positioned so I can see them from the kitchen area. They were certainly busy the past few days as the temperatures here in Tulsa dipped to 6 degrees overnight. (I know that’s not much to my LWML sisters in Iowa!)

It was interesting to see that a lot of the time they didn’t want to share with the other birds. Some of them seemed to spend more time chasing other birds away than they spent eating the seed. Sometimes it was more than two of them going at it.

Given the abundance of birdseed, there was no way that one bird could consume the entire birdfeeder full of seed. You wanted to yell at them that there was enough for all so just cool down, eat, and enjoy.

Do you ever wonder if God sees humans doing the same thing? Fighting to claim “their stuff”? Not realizing that God has provided enough for everyone? Spending so much time trying to “get more stuff” that they don’t enjoy or appreciate the stuff they have already been given?

One of the things I love about my LWML sisters is that they recognize that the Lord has given us all enough and it is our privilege to make sure that the blessings are shared and distributed to all. We aren’t perfect at it but we try. We are always asking, “how can we help?” which translates into “how can we share the blessings we have been blessed with by God?”

Of course, the best spiritual gift, that of our salvation in Jesus Christ, is what we want to share the most. That’s why our life is seen as Lutheran Women in Mission. By sharing our time, talents and treasure the Holy Spirit works through us for those who don’t know the Savior. We know that there is plenty of God’s grace to go around for all! Let’s not be like the birds but be people who welcome and share this gift with everyone.

The birds have all gotten their fill and are roosting in the big magnolia tree out back. Being filled up with seed has brought them a sense of contentment and peace. God desires all of us to live in His good grace and to be filled up with contentment and peace as well. May we be found faithful in sharing this abundant grace of our Savior to all.

Love, Patti

[Jesus said] “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:26)

I’m writing this on Epiphany Sunday evening here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At home we have added the Wise Men to our manger scene. In church our Gospel message was the account of the visit of the wise men from the Gospel of Matthew.

The Lutheran Study Bible has some wonderful notes on this passage so I would refer you to them rather than do my own comments. However, I got to thinking of their return to the East where they came from after experiencing and seeing what they saw. What did they tell people?

My husband and I, my son, John, and my cousin and his wife went back to Pasadena after Christmas to work on the Lutheran Layman’s League (LLL), Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) Rose Parade float. It was so fun and I hope you saw it on TV if not in person. I met quite a few LWML women working as Petal Pushers on various floats for the parade from all over the U.S. Way to go LWML!! But I digress.

While there, I had a chance to visit with Eric Gates, LHM’s regional director for Africa and the Middle East, about the work that our grant #7, Christian Hope through Mass Media in Egypt, is funding. He was recently returned from Cairo where a November 6^th taping involved more than 40 people including cameramen, actors, writers, and back-stage production crew. This is being done through a partnership with LHM and SAT-7, the first and largest Middle East and North African Christian satellite network, co-producing a television series from the SAT-7 studio in Cairo, Egypt, that will begin airing in January 2018. This broadcast will potentially reach tens of millions of viewers in more than 20 countries spanning from as far west as Morocco to as far east as Iraq and the Persian Gulf.

I often wonder what the wise men told people as they journeyed back east to their home countries. It’s so exciting to see that the Word about our Savior continues to travel back to the East. As we fund this mission grant we pray that the Holy Spirit will open hearts along the way.

Learn more about this TV programming in the January-February 2018 issue of The Lutheran Layman or at lhm.org/MENA or lwml.org/mission-grants.

Happy New Year!

Patti

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Ephesians 3:6).

Learn more about LWML here

For the Mite Box

Labor Day

“Captive Souls … Mercy for All”

August travels

Summer Night Sky

Celebrating with the Honeycutt’s and Redeemer Lutheran Church!

Summer is Here! Now what?

Grandma’s China

For the Birds

Spreading the Good News — Then and Now

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