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Friday Five: What You Absolutely, Positively, Can't Leave Home Without

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Singing Owl, one of the Revgals asks this for the Friday Five: what are the five things you simply must have when you are away from home? And why? Any history or goofy things, or stories? We travel pretty light for road trips, as much as possible. Most have been trips to Rochester to see my daughter, granddaughter, and friends. However, next week at this time, the moving van will be here loading up everything for the biggest and most life altering road trip we've had in our five years of marriage--the trip to the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. One of the best parts of this particular trip is that it will begin on our 5th wedding annivarsary. So much for background. Five things I simply must have when away from home: 1. Clothes--the why is pretty obvious. 2. Toiletries--deodorant, shampoo etc.--again an obvious why--who'd want to be around me? 3. A place to stay halfway through the trip. From our current home to Rochester we always broke the trip in Albany. I

What could be more Lutheran?

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Yesterday's gospel abo ut the wheat and the weeds and letting both grow up together until the end lent itself to several interesting applications of the Lutheran understanding of faith. First there is the similarity in appearance of wheat and tares or weeds. They are nearly indistinguishable. The good and the bad, those following Christ and those who aren't, saints and sinners can be difficult to distinguish from each other. Luther spoke of Christians as being simultaneously saints and sinners. Ahhh how very Lutheran this illustration is. We often like to pigeonh ole people as Christian or not, in or out of God's kingdom. There are various varieties of the true litmus test. Only God knows the depth of one's heart. Today's sinner may be tomorrow's saint. This parable demonstrates that it is God who will be the judge of one's faith and commitment or lack thereof. Each of us falls and gets back up in our Christian walk. There are times when I am grateful th

It's An Anniversary!

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For those of you who aren't aware, RevGalsBlogPals is a tremendous site. Not only are there resources, help with sermons, etc., but it fosters a community of faith and fellowship for those in ministry, seminary, or considering ministry. Today is their third anniversary and one of the gals, Singing Owl wrote this for the celebration: Three years ago today, RevGals was on it's way The preachin' gals and then their pals Made history that day! The blogs are fun to do, The preachers party too, And Friday Five and all that jive, Give us a place to play! We gripe and pray and blog, And sometimes go whole hog With cyber parties, real ones too, There's always something new! So Happy Birthday, Gals, And Happy Birthday, Pals, Three years today--HIp hip hurray, It is a party day! That about says it all. Thanks for putting my feelings into words, Singing Owl. Give them a visit. Picture from flickr.

Friday 5--What's in a name?

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Thanks to RevHRod at RevGals for this week's Friday Five. So how did you come up with your blogging name? And/or the name of your blog? I use my own name. The name of my blog comes from a line in the ELCA mission statement, "Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered, and sent for the sake of the world.” Are there any code names or secret identities in your blog? Any stories there? I'm afraid not. What are some blog titles that you just love? For their cleverness, drama, or sheer, crazy fun? Tribal Church , Reflectionary , Lutheran Chick's "L" Word Diary , Cheesehead in Paradise , Proclaiming Softly ...there are so many. What three blogs are you devoted to? Other than the RevGalBlogPals blog of course! Tribal Church , Law and Gospel , The Heart of a Pastor . Who introduced you to the world of blogging and why? I came across it out of sheer necessity. For an assignment in an undergraduate course, I wanted to have a webpage so I could k

Wrapped in Prayer and Love

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One of the greatest blessings I have experienced this past year has been a relating to a spiritual director . We met together this afternoon for the last time before the move to Gettysburg for seminary. It has been just one year that we've been meeting monthly. We have connected on such a deep level that it seems as though we've been together on this journey much longer. I feel our time together has been great preparation for seminary and future ministry. Before we began, Pastor Linda went to her office and brought out a package for me. In it was a beautiful pink prayer shawl made by one of the women in their prayer shawl ministry. What makes it so special is that prayer is knitted right into it as the knitter prays for the person who will receive the shawl as she knits. There was a card with it explaining the meaning of the shawl and with some prayers. This was a recurring scripture theme . What an unexpected blessing--a reminder of God's presence and love as well as t

Four Iraqi Christians

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There are differing opinions on the war in Iraq. Please read this short post on Jim Wallis' "God's Politics" blog. Let us keep God's church in Iraq in prayer as they generously, lavishly spread the seed of the Word as today's gospel declared. Lord in your mercy... Picture from flickr .

On the First Day of Summer Greek

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There was a letter on the LTSG website from the professor of Summer Greek, which will be my first seminary course. Think of the tune to "The Twelve Days of Christmas." "On the first day of Summer Greek the professor's giving us, a quiz on the Greek alphabet." But that's only the beginning. This is quoted from the letter: "The assignment to be completed prior to the first class session is: Read Lesson 1 in Croy and the Introduction in Lamerson. Memorize the Greek alphabet (small case letters only) Memorize Greek vowels, diphthongs, breathing marks, punctuation The quiz on Friday morning will be on the alphabet, vowels, diphthongs, breathing marks, and punctuation. Do not worry about the rules for Greek accents (pp. 3-4 in Croy). We will cover this material at a later point but not on the first day." OK, I'm officially nervous. Somehow in my mind I thought those first couple weeks on campus before