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My Old Friend, Anxiety
By Heidi Goehmann I have had a long history with anxiety. So much so that I tell people it’s like a backpack. I take it on and off, but it’s always at least sitting in the corner of the room, staring me down. I have tried for years to shake off the weight. Years ago a friend told me that “Do not be afraid…” is the most often given command in the Bible. So, I took it to heart and when anxiety would well up, I’d push it down, way down, telling myself over and over, “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid.” Sometimes I’d even take on a…
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Transitions
By Paula Miller Life is full of transitions. We move from one season to another, sometimes gently, and sometimes forcefully ushered along with conditions over which we have no control. Transitions can be hard physically, emotionally and spiritually, in particular if you’ve been pushed into it by those forceful conditions. Listed as some of the most stressful events in life are moving, marrying, the death of a person close to you, and the birth of a child. We all will experience some or all of these things in our lives. Transitions have similar stages. First, there’s the preparation stage. Planning as we can for what is to changing makes it…
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Stressed out? Try these tactics
By Mary Abrahamson Sometimes life is stressful. OK, let me rephrase that. Most of the time life is stressful. But sometimes the stress is the kind you can feel in your throat, your gut, behind your eyes. It can seem like every part of you is trying to erupt from the bound up ligature into which you’ve knotted yourself. Or into which your children or husband have knotted you. Perhaps your neighbor, coworker, finances, extended family, society or politics has brought on this tight compress. Or maybe your particular knots come from trying to get done everything that needs to be done. These are some of the regular every-day stressors.…
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It Matters!
By Paula Miller As the candidates are ramping up their campaigns to become President of the United States, we can readily see where the major battles are going to be. Essentially, it’s the same battle as always. It’s a battle for the preservation of freedom in various formats. It’s important to keep on top of these issues as they affect us all. These battles reminded me of the first letter of Peter. The converted Christians being addressed in 1 Peter were once part of the pagan culture and were being severely persecuted for their beliefs. Peter makes the correlation, in chapter 3, to Noah and his family and how they…
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A Parents’ Guide to Beginning Catechesis
A Parents’ Guide to beginning Catechesis or put more simply, How do I teach my small child about God? Part I An introduction By Mary Abrahamson Parents, and father’s especially, have a great responsibility before God with regard to the christian upbringing of their children. It’s quite daunting. Many of us grew up without a strong example of Christian leadership in the home. Many grow up without the example of a father who takes a leadership role in the vital area. And more troublesome yet, in this day and age, some of us have not grown up with a father in the home at all. This series of articles is…
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St Mary
Almighty God, You chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of Your only Son. Grant that we, who are redeemed by His blood, may share with her in the glory of Your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Collect for St. Mary, Mother of our Lord, LSB Photo Credit to Sharon Mollerus. Some rights reserved.
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WordSites: Reforming Confessional Lutheran Websites One Site At A Time
By Marie McNary My husband and I own our own business in the field of marketing & technology. We are also Christ proclaiming confessional Lutherans. Because of these two factors, we are often approached by members of Churches and other Lutheran related non-profit organizations who are interested in building a website for their organization. They want a clean, professional website to use as a tool to reach those in the harvest fields and proclaim Christ crucified. But these groups often lack the financial resources needed to complete such a project. For awhile now we have been wanting to do something to help organizations like this. Thus, WordSites was born. WordSites…
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Dos and Don’ts of Navigating College as a Lutheran
By Bethany Kilcrease So, perhaps you’re a high school senior just packing bags and preparing to head off to college. Or, perhaps you’re a parent about to send off your child. Or, maybe you’re neither and just have some time to kill and happened to stumbled across this awesome website. In any case, I am about to offer you the first item on my off-the-top-of-my-head list of how to survive those tumultuous college years while remaining in the faith. I should note that all the following dos and don’ts are mine alone and don’t necessarily reflect the views of every contributor on this site. I should also note that I…
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Our Hope is Built on Nothing Less
By Holly Scheer I love to sing hymns. I sing them in the car (sorry people stuck driving with me), I sing them as I put my kids to bed, I hum them absentmindedly throughout my day. One I find myself coming back to quite frequently is, “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” by Edward Mote. The text of the hymn, if you’re not familiar, is as follows: My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand. 2. When…
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Judge Not: What Does This Mean?
By Sarah Arnold Before the heresy posts continue, a slight, but related, segue, is necessary, because any of us who do point out heresies have heard the following… probably a lot. “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” “No one can judge me but God.” “Who are you to judge me?” Liberal Christians of all denominational stripes like to throw those words at us. Even non-Christians like to start lobbing the “judge not” bomb as often as they can. These same people often tell us to “coexist” and preach a gospel of false tolerance. This goes farther than not just causing division (something else we are often accused…
