Words from Galatians

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 

Sweden

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2

Whoever loves his own life will lose it. John 11:25

I, at first, thinking of myself rather than my father, said “No” to his request. He kept mentioning the request that he would like to visit Sweden. His forefathers had come from there and he wished to see where they lived. He did not have information about them but did have a name or two.

Finally, I realized he was in his late 80s, and I was the only opportunity he had to help him travel across the ocean to see Sweden. Many opportunities had taken me to Europe so it would be easiest for me, his oldest daughter, to help him travel. We had lost my mother to brittle diabetes (she had been one of the first diabetics in Nebraska to have an insulin pump); so, I agreed and started planning the trip.

Our connection to Sweden came from Sixten Loftgren. My father, LaVern H. Johnson, had met Sixten when he was in Phelps County Nebraska at the Court House looking for his deceased brother’s farm. The worker who was helping Sixten saw my father in the room and said this man knows Phelps County very well and can show you where your land is located. LaVern and Sixten became very good friends and continued to communicate. When we told Sixten we were coming to Sweden he invited us to his home first and made us reindeer stew which was delicious.

Bryce Hastings and I were dating long distance because he was still running his Hastings and Chivetta architectural firm in St. Louis. When he heard I was taking my father to Sweden, he decided to take a vacation and join us. This was a blessing to me. Another addition came when I thought I wanted to take my oldest granddaughter, Allison, with us. Her parents were agreeable, so we became a foursome. It was easy for me to share a bedroom with Allison, but more of a struggle for the two men. Bryce was wonderful as he cared for my father.

Sixten took us to the archives of Swedish people and helped us find our relatives in Sweden. It was unbelievable that when he called them, speaking in Swedish, they wanted us to come visit right away. We drove in rain for a few hours and then the sun began to shine. As we pulled close to the relatives’ home, we saw a dozen people and cars in the road blocking it so we wouldn’t miss the relatives. It was awesome.

We have since had several of the families visit Nebraska and stay with us. My brothers and sister have had the opportunity to meet these Swedish family members and helped us show them LaVern and Pauline’s farm home.

For thou art my rock and my fortress: therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. Psalm 31:3. I am so happy I quit thinking of myself and did what my father asked of me.

Sandra Hilsabeck

Words from John 10

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. John 10:27-28 

Our Wonderful World

 

How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small.  Psalm 104:24-25

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” Psalm 8:3-4

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” Romans 1:20

The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. Psalm 104:12

I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. Psalm 50:11

"Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Matthew 13:32

"Something about the very essence of birds seems impossible. They are ethereal creatures of the earth and air, unimaginably refined and complex, yet so common as to be the first animal we usually see when looking through a window or hear when stepping through a door" (from Creature: Paintings, Drawings, and Reflections by Shaun Tan). Birds are both ordinary and miraculous. How wonderful that God has chosen this incredible creature to be in so many places for us to enjoy, and to sing for us to know they're there! I agree with Shaun and have found myself in awe of the simple fact of birds when I’m out “in the field” photographing them. A creature that can fly! Truly amazing. And the fact that many of them migrate thousands of miles each spring and fall...incredible.

My intention here is to draw attention to what we take for granted, the seemingly everyday that is miraculous, God’s hand at work. I think wonder goes hand in hand with gratitude in making us realize God’s love for us and the awe-inspiring features of the world in which we live. In that vein, I would encourage you to take a walk in your neighborhood, a nearby trail, or just explore your backyard.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the miracles of our natural world. Help us to keep an open eye to the wondrous world you have created. Thank you for your bounteous beauty! Amen.

Donna Gustafson

(photos by Donna, from top: cedar waxwing, yellow-rumped warbler, common loon, indigo bunting, belted kingfisher, blue-gray gnatcatcher, female cardinal, meadowlark. Click on each photo to view larger.)

Words from Hebrews

Grace blooms like spring, therefore let's approach the throne of grace with confidence. Hebrews 4:16 

Words from the book of John

 

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:19-31

What's Your Story? (Part 3): Sharing Bread or Eating Humble Pie?

They met constantly to hear the apostles teach, and to share the common life, to break bread and to pray. Acts 2:46 NEB

My husband’s funeral was on December 31, 1999, so on New Year’s Day I started the new Millennium as a brand-new widow. Those of you who have lost a spouse know that being alone after a long marriage means not only grieving but making both big and small changes in your lifestyle. 

One of those small changes for me was learning to eat alone. The evening meal was a real challenge for me. After two or three weeks, I realized that if I was going to continue to bake my homemade bread, that both Gary and I loved, I’d have to share half a loaf with someone. A 2-lb. loaf was too big a loaf for me. The first week I found I’d failed to put half the loaf in the freezer. Without preservatives mold began to form. The next week I put half in the freezer but found I preferred the fresh baked loaf. The third week, I called my friend, Beryl, who was also a widow, and I took her half a loaf of bread and promised to bring her name before the Lord for as many days as the slices of bread I gave her. The fourth week I shared bread and prayers with another friend, also a widow, named Peggy. 

After sharing bread with these two friends for a few weeks, they began to suggest the names of some of their friends who were also widows that might like to receive both the bread and the prayers. So, my list of “Bread Friends” just kept growing. Since all of my “Bread Friends” so far had been Christians, I was feeling pretty complacent about sharing my bread and my Christian prayers. I considered it to be my personal bread ministry. 

Then I took a whole loaf of bread to a woman in my water aerobics class who had become a friend, and who had lost her husband suddenly to a heart attack. She still had children to raise so when she came back to class, I took the whole loaf (promising prayers for her family, too). I added the mom’s name to my list of “Bread Friends.”

That was the day I got myself in trouble without even knowing it. Our water aerobics class was fairly large. There were more women than men in the class, but among the men were two men named, Bob. The gals in the class were, shall I say, fun loving and they decided that in order to tell the two of them apart we’d call them “young” Bob and “old” Bob. It was only humorous because “young” Bob was 89 and “old” Bob was 90. They accepted it good naturedly. 

It was “old” Bob who came to me and asked if I would be willing to bake a loaf of bread for him, too, even though he was not grieving. He was getting quite feeble and immediately used a walker after exiting the pool. So, he asked if I would bring the bread to his house because he didn’t think he could get it home safely after class. He lived close to Eastridge Church and was known to a friend of mine, so I felt safe in delivering the bread. I agreed to drop it off after church the next Sunday. Later, Bob told me he really enjoyed the bread and wondered if I could bring him another loaf sometime. I told him I would, but it might be a little while because it was December and I had a rather full calendar. 

By the time I went back to Bob’s, it was Christmas week, so I stuck a few Christmas cookies in the bag with the bread. That’s when he told me he was Jewish! So I offered to take the cookies back home because I thought he probably didn’t want Christian symbols in his house while celebrating his own holiday. He said, “Oh, no I’ll eat them. They won’t be in here long!” (I had learned in previous situations of cookie sharing that there’s just something about old men and homemade cookies, but that’s another story).

We really only know our classmates at the gym by their first names. I didn’t know Bob outside of class, and I had no way of knowing which faith Bob practiced. However, I was so embarrassed and humiliated because I had just assumed he was a Christian like me!

While I was in Bob’s home, he gave me a recipe on a piece of scrap paper saying it was his mother’s rye bread recipe and would I please try to bake it for him. I declined and explained that I had tried so many recipes for rye bread and none of them had produced a loaf I judged to edible. I told him I really didn’t want to have another failure so I probably wouldn’t bake it. He said, “Well, just keep the recipe in case you ever decide you might want to try it someday."  

That was when he told me that when he was a boy, his parents ran a “Little Corner Deli” in New York City where he grew up and his mother baked that rye bread for the deli, so he knew it was a good recipe. I did bring the recipe home but I’ve never tried to bake it, and I really have no idea where I put it! More's the pity.

I’m not sure of the exact time frame, but a few months after that encounter, Bob passed away. Our class decided to go to the funeral as a group. That’s where I learned some things about Bob. He had been a UNL professor with many honors to his name. His last name was Katz. That “Little Corner Deli” in New York that Bob mentioned so off handedly is now one of the most famous delis in America.  So, somewhere in my house, I do not even know where to look, is a very good Jewish rye bread recipe I foolishly declined to try. 

Several months ago, just out of curiosity, I "googled" Katz Deli and looked at their menu. The average price of a sandwich there is $30! When I look back, I think that Bob giving me that recipe was his way of saying, “Thank you” knowing that someday I’d figure out what a special gift it was that he had given me. 

I’ve never been more embarrassed or humbled while trying to share my faith than I was that day in December, but more than 20 years later, I continue to share bread and prayers with my “Bread Friends.” After 26 years of making “Bread Friends” I have never regretted sharing my bread with anyone irrespective of their faith. To me, sharing bread is a sacred act of Christian love, and in the book of Acts Chapter 2 in the Bible we learn that sharing bread isn’t just for Christians. In Paul’s day, sharing bread was responsible for converting many souls to our Christian faith. 

A couple of years ago, Pastor Thomas asked me to join the Care Group here at our church and I teamed up with Berna Stading to share bread with our fellow members in need of prayers for various reasons. Before John Wolfe of our congregation went home to be with Our Lord, Berna and I visited him and took bread (and prayers). At John’s funeral, when Berna and I greeted Mrs. Wolfe she said, “I remember you two, you’re “The Bread Ladies”" and that name has stuck!  

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we praise and thank You for guiding us as we go through our days on earth. Sharing the gospel can be a daunting experience for us and sometimes we make mistakes that humble and teach us to be more careful in what we do and say, but somehow during the process You make it turn out alright so we can keep on sharing our love of Your Son, Jesus the Christ. Amen

Judy Welch

 * What’s Your Story? 

This summer, we invited members of our Eastridge community to explore ABCs of Faith: Simple Stories for Complex Times. In this series, we will be exploring stories from the Bible that tell us about God and God’s people. But our faith is also carried through our own stories.

When someone asks, “What’s your story?” they’re asking about the moments that shaped you: the people, experiences, challenges, and turning points that made you who you are. Scripture is full of such stories—and so are we.  

Throughout the series, we’ll offer prompts connected to the themes we’re exploring. You’re invited to share a brief reflection on any prompt that resonates with you—especially a moment that changed your mind, your heart, or your life. Selected stories may be shared (with your permission) in our newsletter, devotionals, or even during worship.