Spring Tea

The LWML held their Spring Tea on Monday evening , April 27, 2009. The theme for the evening was “Celebrations.”

Eleven tables were festively decorated for the occasion.

After eating wonderful desserts made by the hostesses
we enjoyed Elaine Bickel as our guest speaker. Her special theme was opportunities (birthdays, baptisms,
confirmations etc.) for each of us to celebrate each and every day of our life.

Tuscola Star Award

On March 17th I received a letter from Celebrating Tuscola's Stars stating "we are honored to have the privilege to inform you that you are one of the nominees for a Tuscola's Stars Award." Yesterday morning I attended the awards breakfast and was happy to receive this award on behalf of our church for the work we have done in the county through Fixin' Up The Thumb. It was noted that we have worked on 67 different homes in Tuscola County over the thirteen years that we have held Fixin' Up The Thumb. The award states:

St. Paul Lutheran Church is awarded this certificate for their outstanding contribution and volunteerism to the Tuscola County Community in the Group Category. Given on April 16, 2009.

Good Job! Keep on shining!

14 years!

Tomorrow is the 14th anniversary of my installation here at St. Paul as DCE. I've been doing a little trip down memory lane and thought I would share some of the changes that have occurred in the last 14 years. When I came to Caro:

-I hadn't sent an e-mail yet.

-I hadn't done anything on the internet.

-Mimi had her first computer, but only used it for word processing.
(Now I manage four computers here in the office, plus the ones at home, and even a few others; it's major when the internet goes down; the church has it's own website; etc.)

-Fixin' Up The Thumb hadn't been born.
(Now we've served 67 different homes in Tuscola County, 398 youth and adults have attended, and we're pushing on to year 15 in a few months!)

-I hadn't been on an international mission trip.
(Now I've been to Haiti to pull teeth, have been to Mexico seven times to build seven houses and a church.)

-The Sunday School addition hadn't even been thought of.

-Contemporary service was only once a month and consisted of Mabel on piano and a singer.
(The contemporary band now has: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, and 3-4 singers a Sunday.)

-Pastor Hollender was the pastor.
(Now I've served with three pastors, including pastor Lambart during the year of vacancy.)

-I had never been deer or turkey hunting.
(Enough said!)

-Nathan was 2 years old!
(Ben and Emily have both been born here. Nathan is now driving, taller than me, and Cathy and I are probably closer to grandchildren than we are from the birth of our own children.)

Won't it be interesting to see what the future holds!