Search For: ‘knowle-zeller’ — 45 pages found

With half-eaten bowls of oatmeal on the table, my children jump off their chairs and run to the living room. “Music on?” my son asks, smiling. With arms lifted in the air, both children yell, “Music! Dancing!” I nod my head and soon hear the click of the stereo system and the familiar beat of […]

It goes by many names: Rally Sunday, Kickoff Sunday, Celebration Sunday, Beginning of Sunday School Sunday and a host of others. Whatever you call it, come September there’s a day in congregations when members anticipate renewed enthusiasm for ministries, increased attendance and a new beginning. It marks the end of summer vacations and the start […]

I’d spent most of my time with Southern Baptists and Pentecostals by the time I was ready to visit Appalachia and central Pennsylvania, bound for the fabled green hills that became ground zero for the 2016 presidential election. Particularly in Pennsylvania—a battleground, traditionally blue state—politics had gotten dicey. Articles had been written ad nauseam about […]

My home is filled with journals. You’ll find them tucked into a drawer in my writing desk, lined on office shelves and stored in plastic boxes. Their pages recount my adventures living overseas and walking the Camino de Santiago. They offer glimpses into my days and contain memories I want to preserve. Journaling—writing and preserving […]

“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  I grew up loving fireworks. I loved the bright red, green and purple illuminating the night sky; the anticipation I felt as I waited for darkness to descend; that first robust […]

As a mom of two little ones, I’ve discovered that every season of parenting brings a different need for the best place to sit in worship. In the early days, with my first child, I needed room for the car seat and sleeping baby, then access to the rocking chairs in back for nursing. Then […]

In the Lutheran church we talk a lot about callings. Martin Luther preached that everyone is called into the priesthood of believers, bearing witness to Jesus in all we say and do. Luther himself felt called both in preaching and as a parent. For us, too, the work we do in our homes, offices, churches, […]

Earlier this year, Living Lutheran invited readers and writers to submit personal stories of gifts that illuminated the true meaning of Christmas for them. From a kind note to beloved people to a dozen potatoes, the responses surprised, delighted and moved us. Select submissions are included here; read additional stories in part two of this […]

And the cows said, “Moo!” The sheep said, “Baa!” The chickens said, “Cluck!” My daughter, Charlotte, could have chimed in with the cows shouting, “Moo!” But that’s where her animal sounds end. As she stood on the pew watching the Christmas Eve pageant with the children telling the story of Jesus’ birth, I thought: “She […]