Claimed, gathered and sent

Today was my first full day in Accident and Friendsville, MD. I am here for 2 weeks (3 Sundays) for Jan. term for my cultural immersion experience. These 2 towns are in Garrett County, MD, the westernmost county in MD, which borders West Virginia. It too is part of Appalachia. When another seminarian and myself arrived yesterday, it was not a scene like that above that greeted us. I felt like I was back in Upstate NY with the snow. Just add more mountains to it and horseshoe turns around mountains. The pastor I am shadowing pastors 3 small churches--2 in Accident and 1 in Friendsville. People are very friendly and warm here. A classmate, Gary, preceeded us last week and had wonderful things to share. I second his opinions. Please pray as we are here in various parishes for God's leading and our open ears to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit for further clarification of call.

This is what I preached Sunday at my home church, Emanuel Lutheran Church, West Warwick, RI. It was wonderful to see everyone and it still felt like home. The text was John 1:10-18. We arrived here in RI this past Thursday after spending a week and a half in Rochester, NY with our daughter and granddaughter. Our granddaughter, Grace, was so excited about Christmas and the various celebrations she would be participating in. Her excitement was contagious. We had a wonderful, worshipful, and relaxing Christmas together Now much of the excitement of Christmas is over. For some people it was over as they picked up the wrapping paper from opened gifts and threw it out. For others, vacations are finished. Today is the second Sunday after Christmas, but the kids will be back to school tomorrow and others will be back to work. The bell ringers for the Salvation Army are gone and the special efforts to help the poor may not be lifted up as much as they were throughout Christmas.

We are now safely at our hotel in RI where we'll be for the next 6 days. The time in Rochester was such a blessing with Sarah and Grace. Sunday was a day of revisiting the past with its memories. We drove around to most of the places I had lived as a child and adult and where Sarah had lived as a child. I'm now working on the sermon I'll be preaching at our home church on Sunday. The verse that sticks with me the most from the gospel reading is the last one, " No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known. " If we're close to someone's heart, don't we make them known? When my daughter, Sarah and our granddaughter, Gracie visited us this year at seminary, we introduced them to everyone! We could not help ourselves! We wanted to make them known because they are close to our hearts. Speaking of which, Gracie lost her first tooth while we were visiting. She's in the picture on the left.

Please take a look at this link. I could not help but think about today's Bethlehem as we sang "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

CHRISTIAN PRAYERS lyrics The first time I heard this hymn was when the children's choir sang it many years ago at The Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word in Rochester, NY. In the last few years it has become especially meaningful especially as I have learned more about this type of musical chant in the last year. All of the wonderful blessings we enjoy as in the Christmas season are "Of the Father's love begotten," because of all that God has done for us by sending our savior, Jesus Christ into the world. I've been pondering several of them the last few days, especially now that we're on vacation and there is time to take a breath. Here are some of those wonderful things for which I'm so thankful: 1. Getting out of Gettysburg before the storm hit. 2. Arriving safely at my daughter's house. 3. Being able to have time with Grace, our granddaughter. 4. Christmas shopping with my daughter, Sarah. 5. Even better...Sarah was so excited about time to shop

My semester is done! I finished this morning at 3 AM. Once my Confessions paper was done, all my work was complete. I had 2 classes today and that was it. All exams and papers are done! Yeah! That being said, I can now do some blogging and catch up with other bloggers. Fri. morning we'll leave PA to spend Christmas with my daughter and granddaughter. We'll see friends as well. I've really been looking forward to this trip. That part of the country is home for me and I've been a bit homesick this semester, especially missing my kids. After our time in NY, we'll go to New England to spend time with friends and family there. I'm looking forward to that as well. I'll have a chance to preach at my home church Jan. 3. After the break, there'll be a couple of days before I go for my J-term cultural immersion experience in Appalachia. Four of us will be going to different places, shadowing pastors. We'll be there for 2 weeks/3 Sundays. After that time it wil

The semester is nearly done. I have two finals, then we're off to be with family for Christmas in Rochester, NY and New Years in RI. When we return in Jan., then I will be spending 2 1/2 weeks (3 Sundays) in Western MD/WV for my Jan. term. Today I supplied at Bender's Lutheran Church in Biglerville, PA, where I have spent the fall semester. The text was Luke 3:7-18 http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=127729731. Most of you know Amity, my husband, Ray’s Seeing Eye dog. She is half-black lab and half-golden retriever. Some of her physical and emotional traits are those of a lab, while others are those of a golden. Now we know she is a cross of only these two breeds, but she often acts as though she has a third breed in her, a pointer. The reason for this is, no matter what Amity is doing, when she’s outside she’s very curious. If she hears a car, sees another dog, or someone she knows, she freezes and stops and looks in the direction of whatever