Fill… Spill… Thrill…

Lisa Kramme
Director of Faith Formation
Nebraska Synod, ELCA

This spring I trimmed back our rose bushes. They had been in decline and were quite scraggly. “What can it hurt?” I thought. Doing the same watering and fertilizing routine of the last few years had not done the trick, so pruning down to the bare minimum seemed to be what needed done next.

Then the rains came. And the sun shined. And, seemingly overnight, the rose bushes not only grew back from the pruning, but they are much more green and full than they have ever been since I started caring for them.

Life can be like these rose bushes. Sometimes we do the same things over and over, believing that we are caring for our responsibilities as we should. After awhile though, what used to work “before” does not work “now.” We ask questions about what could be wrong, but the answers we come up with do not help. We are stuck.

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Pastor Damon Laaker
Assistant to the Bishop
Nebraska Synod, ELCA

“I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, ‘Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.’” (Lamentations 3:17-18 )

Stephen Carter writing in a Lenten devotional says, “An economic downturn in the world financial markets entered my world when the value of my investment portfolio went way down in a short time period. My pocketbook also took a hit when gasoline prices suddenly soared, causing me to consider every mile I was driving. The world’s money troubles may be hitting you at home as well: Maybe you or someone you know is out of work, having difficulty getting a loan or struggling to sell a devalued house.”

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Pastor Martin Russell
Assistant to the Bishop
Nebraska Synod, ELCA

Tests… none of us like them no matter when and in what form they come.

I remember taking my ACT test on a Saturday morning. Poised with sharpened Number 2 pencils in hand, I remember my anxiety being elevated as we were told, “This is THE MOST IMPORTANT TEST OF YOUR LIFE!”

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