Search For: ‘knowle-zeller’ — 63 pages found

Focal verse “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” —Matthew 2:2 Reflection December, with its shorter days, offered me a number of opportunities to get outside at night with my children and look up at […]

Ina Goetzinger loves to knit. A maker of shawls for parishioners who are ill or hospitalized, she says a prayer for healing with every stitch. But her pastor, Edwin Weber, said Goetzinger didn’t see her knitting as a calling until their congregation, St. Mark Lutheran in Spokane, Wash., implemented its Communities of Calling Initiative programming. […]

A few years ago, we received an early Christmas gift—a musical snowman with a carrot nose and a trumpet snug in his hands. It’s a decorative piece that connects to our Christmas tree. With a flip of a switch, the trumpet rises to play a fanfare of music and our tree lights dance to the […]

Focal verse To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is the Messiah, the Lord (Luke 2:11). Reflection Tucked in a closet with all our Christmas decorations, there’s a small box with the words “Little People” written on it. It’s the first box my daughter reaches for when we’re […]

Focal verse Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. —Psalm 106:1 Reflection I heard the stomping of feet across the wooden floors, then my kids shouting, “Superheroes!” I stood at the sink, dish scrubber in hand, while they ran in circles with their […]

“What type of person do you want to be?” I was taken aback when asked this question during a college service-learning trip. Rather than focusing on what I should be doing as a career, the question shifted my perspective on vocation to how God was calling me to live a life rooted in the gospel. […]

Focal verse For you are my refuge,a strong tower against the enemy.Let me abide in your tent forever,find refuge under the shelter of your wings.–Psalm 61:3-4  Reflection “Watch St. Paul’s church?” my son asks as I grab the computer from the office. It’s Sunday morning, and across the street we hear bells ringing to signal […]

Focal verse “Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray” (Proverbs 22:6). Reflection Next to bookshelves in our living room lies a pile of items: a pink and white backpack, sunglasses, a unicorn lunchbox and a headband. “For kindergarten,” my 5-year-old daughter tells me. Since mid-June her kindergarten pile has […]

Focal verse “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Reflection Encouraging our kids to pray seems like one of our easier tasks as parents, yet often I feel as if I’m stumbling in my efforts to do so. […]