• Friendship

    Good Friends For The Day

    By Debra-Lynn Swearingen   Words between sobs are difficult to understand. Substitute teaching for elementary children gives me practice. On a regular basis, a little girl comes to me crying over the way her friend is treating her. In order to mediate I point to an overall desire for kindness and inclusion. And like most teachers dealing with childhood drama, I attempt to force reconciliation so the class can move forward. Sometimes it’s successful, sometimes not. Either way, I remain convinced that growing up female is fraught with friendship woe. You don’t have to look far beyond the school playground to find that women hold an idealized view of friendship. In fact, we…

  • Doctrine

    Talking Sheep: The Role of Laity in the Church

    By Vanessa Rasanen I’ve never been known for my tact. I rarely say the right thing, and even when I do I usually say it in the completely wrong way. Perhaps it would be better to remedy this problem by keeping my trap shut and learning to be quiet, but instead I’m learning when to speak up and how. This is an important skill to develop, too, as it can benefit our jobs, our families, our communities, and even our church. Yes, even our church, and even as laity. We laity are a great asset to our church, though we may not always recognize that. This is perhaps more true…

  • Mother child reflection
    Katie Luther Posts,  Motherhood

    Defining Beauty

    By Allison Hull As I washed my hands for the fifteenth time this morning I glanced up into the mirror and sighed. I looked tired, older than I should, and my skin has pores the size of the state I live in. To say I’m not happy with my appearance is an understatement. But I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll always have saggy skin, under eye circles, and a paunch. After 4 boys that’s to be expected, right? I’ve always been sensitive to my appearance, always bought in to social media’s idea of what I should look like. I’m discouraged by the complete bombardment of how I should change…

  • Veterans Salute
    Vocation

    On This Veteran’s Day

    By Ellie Corrow The Christian can walk a very dangerous pilgrim road, riddled with doubt, fear, complacency, and temptation that can easily lead a defenseless sheep astray. Our Lord did not desire that His sheep would be without defenders of their souls, so He gave to His church pastors who would feed His sheep His very body and blood, comfort and admonish them with His Word, direct them on the correct path, and defend them from Evil One with the keys to the Kingdom. Indeed, though the road seems perilous, Christ Himself intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father. He cares about our protection, and the security…

  • Fellowship,  Friendship

    Have You Noticed the Change?

    By Keri Wolfmueller A prayer request for the Scheer family. “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”   2 Corinthians 1:11 Dear Readers, We feel it has become time to share with you an important event happening in the life of this blog’s creator and Editor, Holly Scheer.  Perhaps you have noticed a change around here.  Maybe there hasn’t been the consistency you’ve come to expect. Maybe you’ve noticed there are fewer posts.  Does it seem a bit disorganized?  There is a reason. Holly has another vocation aside from the Editor…

  • Katie Luther Posts,  Motherhood

    A Mother’s Confession

    By Vanessa Rasanen This morning I failed. Despite every effort to tackle those few hours of solo-parenting with grace and love and patience, I was running around like a banshee. The kids — though dressed, fed, and happy — weren’t listening. They were outright ignoring me, disobeying, and breaking the fourth left and right. And I was flipping out. The playroom was a pit. The roast needed to get in the slow cooker. The dogs needed to be kenneled. One kid needed water. One needed help opening the sippy cup. Another needed a diaper change. And my coffee — my poor, sad, neglected coffee — was cold. I was running…

  • Katie Luther Posts

    On Queens and Vocation

    By Amanda Markel Today, September 9th, 2015, Queen Elizabeth II surpasses Queen Victoria’s record as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Why should we, as Americans who have no queen, or as Lutherans, who do not answer to the head of the Church of England, pay attention to this, or care about it at all? Does it even matter to us?   I think it matters a great deal. Why? Because the Queen, more than any other modern person I can think of, not only understands the concept of Christian vocation, but lives it out fully, every day of her life.   To see where this understanding of vocation comes…

  • Doctrine,  encouragement

    Chicks Dig Theology

    By Debra-Lynn Swearingen I am no scholar. I often joke that I am hard-of-learning. The older I get, the more discipline it takes to read and study. Being nostalgic and sappy, I always suspect that I am one step away from Mysticism. But God forbid I shall ever again view faith through sentiments, feelings, and personal revelations. I must ask, “What does this mean?” Fortunately Lutheran theologians throughout time have answered that. Therefore I study our faith and practice. I read, remember, forget, and read again. As much as I once professed “Deeds, not creeds”, my go-to descriptions of faith were “I just follow Jesus”, or “I just believe the Bible”. Creeds indeed, and they meant…

  • Katie Luther Posts

    Graduation and Life Long Vocation

    By Elisabeth Urtel   The unsolicited question to college graduates, to which there is no single correct response: “What do you see yourself doing in the future?  Where do you plan on going with that?” On frequent occasions – encounters with old friends, family reunions, meeting new members at church – I find myself struggling to answer that question gracefully, and with Christian love.   I hold a B.A. in music and am working toward receiving a master’s degree in church music plus a master’s in theology – at the same time.  Growing up in some unconventional church situations, including my family worshipping in our living room with cassette tapes, I…

  • Katie Luther Posts

    My Lutheran Story

    By Amanda Markel Sometimes, I think I’m the most boring Lutheran ever, if only because I’m so very Lutheran, and have been since my baptism, when I was just a few weeks old. I was baptized, confirmed, and married at the same church…the very church at which my mother is still a member to this day, and the church at which my father served on many boards before his death. I started out at my Lutheran dayschool in the four-year-old class. I still have fond memories of that year (or maybe it was kindergarten…both years involved the same basement classroom, and the same loving, exuberant teacher). I then went on…