Thank God for Conference Planners!

I recently returned from Phoenix where a great gathering of Lutheran congregation leaders convened. Of course, it’s a sacrifice for any Chicagoan to have to leave the “windy city” in February to go to Arizona! I must admit that our strange “winterless” winter here made the usual draw to the south less compelling than it is most years. That said, Arizona was as beautiful as ever.

Participating in the “Best Practices for Ministry” Conference has me appreciating, once again, the skills and service of people who know how to put together conferences and meetings with excellence. I know from personal experience at Wheat Ridge Ministries what a challenge this can be. We are fortunate to have several individuals on our staff who are great at event planning. In fact, they are engaged at the moment planning for two major spring events – our annual Seeds of Hope Awards Dinner here in Chicago and our President’s Circle Retreat that will be held in San Diego in April (see our website for further details). In this month’s “reflections,” I’d like to focus on one example of the impact of good conference design as a way of praising God for all those who are called to this unique service.

Clearly, Christ Church – Lutheran in Phoenix knows how to host a conference. It’s also a congregation with an exciting vision for ministry that reflects their serious intent to share the love of Christ in word and deed. Their outreach is multi-faceted and includes a very large Christian day school. Their most recent venture is the establishment of the Christ Cares Clinic, designed to provide medical services to the many uninsured individuals and families who live in Phoenix. Wheat Ridge awarded a seed grant to Christ Lutheran to assist with the start-up of this important ministry.

One of the unique features of this national conference is that it was conceived, sponsored and hosted by the congregation itself. Pastor Jeff Schrank and the leadership team at Christ Lutheran decided to invest the revenue earned from their summer camp program by serving leaders from other congregations across the United States. If you could get there and find a place to stay, the conference, including all of the food, was free (really!). Keynoters and workshop leaders volunteered their services, too.

The purpose of the conference, quite simply, was to gather inspired Christian leaders for two days of sharing “best practices” in ministry and engaging in mutual support and encouragement. All sessions were led by practitioners … pastors, teachers, lay leaders.

Is there a need for yet another conference when there are already so many? Apparently so. I was told that the original vision was for a couple of hundred people to attend. If you’ve sponsored or helped lead a conference recently, you know the usual quandary is what to do if the turnout is lower than planned. Guess what? Almost 500 people showed up! As an example of their conference hosting abilities, the good folks at Christ Lutheran stepped up, seamlessly and graciously providing, for the needs of all of these additional attendees. Even with the unexpectedly large numbers, great food was provided in abundance throughout the conference – sort of a “five loaves and two fishes” experience. Facilities were made available, volunteers showed up and workshops were added. Impressive!

There was a point on the first afternoon of the conference when, within a span of a couple of hours, 400 school children were picked up by their parents, followed shortly thereafter by the arrival of 250 people coming to attend Christ Lutheran’s weekly addiction recovery program, which includes dinner. The 500 conference attendees enjoyed presentations in the family life center while these folks made it through the buffet lines in the lobby and went to another location to eat. Then it was our turn at the buffet. It was amazingly seamless from a participant perspective. Wow!

As impressive as all of these arrangements were, of course, they were not provided for their own sake. Rather, they helped set the tone and the spirit for the conference. God’s spirit was indeed present in and among these inspired leaders as we discussed ways to serve others and impact lives, as we worshipped together, and as we encouraged and supported one another. It was a celebration of hope, health and healing made possible in Christ.

So, thanks to Pastor Jeff and all the good people of Christ Church – Lutheran for their servant hearts and for investing time, talent and treasure so that those who came to Phoenix could leave with new ideas, new connections, and especially renewed energy for ministry.

And, thanks to all who plan and lead conferences that inspire, educate and encourage others – challenging work that requires the special gifts of planning, hospitality, creativity and extra measures of patience. You are a blessing to many!!

Some Children See Him

The Alfred Burt carol, “Some Children See Him,” written 50 years ago, is one of my favorite Christmas carols. Although it wasn’t a part of any Christmas worship services I attended this year, the James Taylor version got plenty of airtime on our car’s CD player, as it does each year.

Some children see Him
Lily white,
The baby Jesus
Born this night.
Some children see Him
Lily white,
With tresses soft
And fair.

There is something special about the way children see Jesus. This was evident at a Christmas worship service I attended that was led by the children at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Tempe, Arizona. Not distracted by parents trying to capture the service on video, the children took great care to reenact the gathering of shepherds, angels and wise men around the Christ child’s manger. The children also helped us understand the importance of all of God’s creatures in the Christmas story, even the camel that helped deliver gifts to the baby Jesus!

Some children see Him
Lily white,
The baby Jesus
Born this night.
Some children see Him
Lily white,
With tresses soft
And fair.

I also thought about how some children see Him the following week when I happened upon a TV interview with a young boy who has become quite famous for reporting on his experience in heaven and seeing Jesus when he had a near-death encounter as a four-year-old. His experience has been translated into the best-selling book, “Heaven is For Real.” Jesus, as seen by this boy, has long brown hair and blue eyes.

Some children see Him
Bronzed and brown,
The Lord of heav’n
To Earth come down.
Some children see Him
Bronzed and brown,
With dark
And heavy hair.

During the Christmas weekend, I read a report on homelessness in the United States and around the world. This provided yet another sense of how children see Him, or perhaps more accurately, why Jesus loves and understands them. Like Jesus, so many children today arrive into the world without a home of their own. Many spend a portion, or all, of their childhood homeless. According to the National Center for Family Homelessness, 1.6 million children were homeless in the United States in 2011, an increase of 38% since 2007. Data from UNICEF indicates that these children are a small percentage of the over 100 million street children worldwide.

Some children see Him
Almond-eyed,
This Savior whom
We kneel beside.
Some children see Him
Almond-eyed,
With skin
Of yellow hue.

Praise God for those who work tirelessly to decrease these numbers and to help children who are homeless see Jesus through the caring touch of people in Christian congregations and organizations. Three great examples of God’s people reaching out in this way are new ministries that recently received seed grant awards from Wheat Ridge Ministries in Oregon, Florida and in Ghana, West Africa.

Some children see Him
Dark as they,
Sweet Mary’s Son
To whom we pray.
Some children see Him
Dark as they,
And, ah
They love Him, too!

Thank you for supporting new ministries like these through Wheat Ridge Ministries and for helping children and adults see Jesus through the many ways you care for the health and healing of others. Enjoy the blessings as you let your light shine during this season of Epiphany and throughout the new year!

The children
In each diff'rent place
Will see
The baby Jesus' face
Like theirs,
But bright
With heav'nly grace,
And filled
With holy light.

O lay aside
Each earthly thing
And with thy heart
As offering,
Come worship now
The infant King.
‘Tis love
That’s born tonight!

“Some Children See Him” - Words by Wihla Hudson; Music by Alfred Burt

The Clinic

There is no denying that local churches face many challenges and many expectations during these uncertain times, including financial and demographic. The other day I read the summary of new research by Empty Tomb, a Christian service and research foundation. They report that in the mainline Christian congregations they studied, the average percentage of individual income donated to the church in 2009 was 2.38%, the lowest in 40 years. Unfortunately, also down was the percentage of the budget committed to benevolences outside the congregation – 3.4%, which is down from 6.6% in 1968 – as congregations invest an increasing percentage of the offerings they receive in their operating costs.

On the expectation side, local faith communities are being asked to increase their human service activities as local, state and federal governments cut budgets for important programs that serve those without economic means to pay for these services. I find it interesting that at the same time churches are being asked to increase their caring efforts, there are also voices in congress questioning their tax exempt status. But, this is a topic to write about at another time.

Of course, it is not a burden for our congregations to serve as centers of health and healing in their community. It’s wonderful to see people in congregations respond to the Gospel by reaching out to those in need. The Spirit-inspired leaders in congregations seem to have an ability to identify and unleash the assets of the congregation to touch lives in significant ways. Perhaps more than any other type of organization, congregations possess the ability to engage volunteers.

I had a first-hand experience at one such congregation recently when I served as a volunteer for “The Clinic,” an initiative of Trinity Lutheran Church in Roselle, Illinois. Trinity continues to be a strong partner with Wheat Ridge through its support and encouragement for the seeding of new ministries.

Like many suburban congregations, Trinity is located in a community where one might assume there are very few people in need of food, clothing or medical care. Of course, this is not the case. The northwest suburbs of Chicago, where Trinity is located, include a large number of people who are among the millions nationwide who are currently underemployed or unemployed and lacking access to affordable health care.

The Clinic is a one-day intensive effort to provide a wide range of caring services to people in need. It is based on a model developed by Touched Twice United that is designed to help congregations touch lives in Christ’s name. Perhaps you are familiar with this model. If not, check it out at http://www.touchedtwiceunited.org/

This was the fifth year Trinity has sponsored The Clinic and it has continued to grow in the number of people served and the scope of services offered. This year, 949 people, including 411 family units, were served. The range of services included medical, dental, vision and hearing screenings, chiropractic screenings, haircuts and even family portraits. 30,000 pieces of clothing and 640 quilts were distributed. Over five tons of food was given away, and everyone received a hot meal. Pretty amazing!

The organization and dedication to service was also amazing. Under the able leadership of Trinity staff member Amy Herring, over 550 volunteers served in some capacity before, during and following The Clinic. I was impressed to learn that among the volunteers were many members of other congregations as well as others from the community.

My job at this year’s Clinic was to serve as one of over 200 “advocates.” After a thorough training session, I was “on call” and during the course of the day I was assigned to two different families. My task was to help each family understand the services available and make sure that they were able to find and access the services they needed. The most important items on the list for the families I served were clothing and food. A mother whose medical issues prevented her from taking full-time employment led one of the families. The other was a family of five who had recently moved to the Chicago area. The father was having difficulty finding a stable job. They were most grateful for the help they received.

Whether your worshipping community is large or small, urban, rural or suburban, thanks for the ways you touch lives in the name of our healing Christ. Thanks for responding generously to opportunities to serve, for using your gifts of organization and motivation so effectively or, if you don’t possess these gifts, for allowing others to lead, and thanks for sharing the abundant resources with which you have been blessed.

May God bless you as you live out your Christian vocation as a leader, a volunteer, a care provider, or an encourager in your workplace, congregation and neighborhood. May you experience the healing touch of Christ even as you share it with others during the coming weeks of Advent and Christmas!

The Road to Hong Kong

With apologies to Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, this title seems like a fitting description as I write this on my journey back from Hong Kong and China. The “road” included direct flights between Chicago and Hong Kong – 15 hours to travel to the other side of the world – another miracle of God’s creation!

The long and winding roads of Hong Kong weave around bodies of water, up hills, through tunnels, and on crowded streets. If you haven’t been there, imagine New York on steroids, with awesome hills and mountains on all sides. What a place! One of the great financial centers in the world, Hong Kong has beautiful high-rise office buildings and apartments and masses of people everywhere. The energy level of the city is off the charts. A state of the art mass transit system is particularly impressive. I was able to check my bag and check-in for my return flight at a train station in the heart of the city before hopping on a train to the airport. I hope someone in authority at O’Hare airport is reading this!

The road that brought me to Hong Kong from Wheat Ridge Ministries’ office was our Center for Urban Education Ministries, a part of our program services dedicated to encouraging new models for Christian education in our cities. The Center’s work includes a lecture series named in honor of Dr. Mel Kieschnick, a leading Christian educator in the Lutheran church for over 60 years, and a man with a special heart for ministry in the city. Early in his career, Mel served as a missionary in Hong Kong. He remains highly respected among the Christian community of Hong Kong and they invited him to come to Hong Kong to serve as the speaker of the lecture series that bears his name. Wheat Ridge Ministries also has a strong history of seeding new ministries in Hong Kong and China, so we were also invited to promote and encourage support for Wheat Ridge and for the Center for Urban Education Ministries.

The road in Hong Kong led us to Hong Kong International School, one of the premier American schools in the world, and owned by the Lutheran Church. With over 2,400 students from countries around the world in grades K-12 on three campuses, this school is a model of excellence in education in the Lutheran Christian tradition. Dr. Kieschnick was the founding board chair for HKIS and his lecture to the faculty was a powerful reminder of what God has caused to happen over the years, as the school overcame tremendous obstacles to become the great institution it is today.

The road trip continued as Mel also delivered a lecture at Concordia Lutheran School in Kowloon, where he served as principal for many years. Concordia is another school of distinction, serving over 1,000 local students in a beautiful new facility. It is one of 34 Lutheran schools operated under the banner of the Hong Kong Synod of the Lutheran church. I met principals and teachers from several of these schools. As is the case in the U.S., these teachers are filled with a passion for sharing God’s love with children as they provide an excellent academic environment. And, as in the U.S., these urban schools are much more than academic institutions. They are ministries of human care that serve the needs of students, families, and the larger community.

I’ve known and respected Mel for many years, but I was still overwhelmed by the outpouring of love for him and his wife, Jane, by people in the Lutheran community in Hong Kong. A beautiful garden was dedicated in their name at Concordia Lutheran School while we were there. And a large number of school alumni, many of whom knew Mel as their teacher and principal, gathered for a great party one evening to honor them. Among the reasons these people praise God for Mel and Jane is that many of them came to know Jesus through their witness.

After this wonderful occasion, I took a left turn from Hong Kong to visit mainland China to see firsthand work being seeded by Wheat Ridge. There are 31 cities in China with a population of over 1 million. There are also thousands of rural villages like the Miao (Hmong) village of Long Tan. This village of 120 people is tucked away in the hills three hours northwest of Kunming in the Yunan Province. I met the people of this village thanks to a wonderful organization, Concordia Welfare and Education Foundation. Through CWEF, Wheat Ridge is helping seed a program that equips people from churches in villages like Long Tan to serve as health educators. The hard working people of Long Tan are representative of millions of people who live off the land in China, earning a meager income and living without basic resources many of us take for granted such as clean water, modern sanitation, and access to medical care. It was inspiring to meet several of the people who have been trained as health educators. These are full-time farmers who work hard just to provide for themselves and their families. Yet, they care so much for the people of these small villages that they take time to become trained as volunteer health educators in order to promote good practices that reduce illness and premature death. They are, indeed, sharing health and hope in Christ’s name! I’m thankful for the great food and hospitality provided by the people of Long Tan, who were so generous to this strange looking very tall (by their standards) white guy who is the poster child for Mandarin language deficiency!

Contrary to what many Christians in the U.S. assume about the ability of people to practice their faith openly in China, the church is growing rapidly. While denominations do not exist as such in China, the Chinese government supports the establishment of non-denominational Christian seminaries, and pastors establish churches that are organized into regions. Mr. Long, who traveled with us to Long Tan, supervises pastors and lay evangelists in one of these regions. On the way back from Long Tan, we stopped to visit an evangelism training class. We were treated to several hymns sung beautifully by those in the class and accompanied by a man playing, of all things, an accordion! We came to learn that evangelists are taught how to play this very portable instrument so that they can accompany singing during worship services. What a creative and practical idea!

The road back to Hong Kong led us to one more unique and exciting experience: 250 Lutheran educators from a variety of Asian countries were gathered for a conference sponsored by the Asia Lutheran Education Association (ALEA). Did you know that there are over 150 Lutheran schools in Asia? I was thrilled to see that the focus of this conference was “service learning.” This is an intentional process, also used by many schools in the U.S., designed to help students become aware of the needs of underserved people and become involved in acts of service. I learned that virtually all of the Lutheran schools in Asia include service learning as a significant part of their curriculum … a wonderful way that these schools are helping students share God’s love with others.

So now it’s time to hit the road toward home. I return to the states reminded once again that the more I learn, the less I know. I’m in awe of the beauty of God’s creation in Asia, God’s love for His people there, and the impact of Christian congregations and schools, including the significant presence of Lutheran Christians. I’m made aware again that God’s Spirit has no boundaries. And, I’m so thankful for the opportunities that God continues to provide Wheat Ridge Ministries to encourage and assist leaders in places like Hong Kong, Kunming, Long Tan, and even Chicago, Illinois, as they respond to God’s call to develop new ministries that share health and hope in the name of our healing Christ.

School Days, School Days

As children and teachers have been returning to classrooms this fall, education sure has been in the news. Last night, I watched an ongoing segment on NBC Nightly News called “Education Nation,” during which they highlight the state of education in the United States and what can be done to improve it. Here in Chicago, there are daily headlines about a dispute between the mayor’s office and the Chicago Public School teacher’s union over the length of the school day. Perhaps you’ve seen the award-winning documentary Waiting for Superman that describes the challenges facing public schools in Washington, D.C. I saw a similar documentary on public television the other day about the Detroit public schools. While all schools seem to have significant challenges these days, those facing our urban schools seem the most daunting.

Not as widely publicized, but certainly no less important for those of us who believe in the importance of quality Christian education, is the plight of Lutheran and other faith-based schools in urban areas. For a variety of reasons, these schools, which complement as well as provide an alternative to our public schools, are disappearing from our cities. In some cities, such as Detroit and Los Angeles, Lutheran schools are on the verge of extinction.

The challenges facing Lutheran education in our cities is not limited to day schools. Christian education is a hallmark of Lutheran congregational life. Congregations provide a variety of Christian education opportunities including Sunday schools, vacation Bible schools, pre-schools, after-school and adult education programs. When urban congregations decline or lose touch with the people in their neighborhood, opportunities to touch the lives of children and families in the name of Christ are lost.

Ironically, even as many of our urban Christian education programs struggle to exist, quality Christian education continues to be highly valued by families seeking educational excellence in a safe, caring and value-rich environment. Stories abound of the great sacrifices parents are willing to make in order to place their children in such environments.

In this midst of all of this, it has been heartening to see examples of urban Lutheran congregations and agencies making a huge impact by creating innovative Christian education programs that address the needs of students and families. Consistently, the leaders of these new ministries understand that their programs are much more than educational programs. They are ministries that involve caring relationships and address the needs of body, mind and spirit in children and families. Wheat Ridge Ministries is privileged to have helped seed a variety of these new ministries over the years. Descriptions of those we are currently seeding are available on our website.

I remain very excited about our efforts to encourage and support innovative models of Christian education in our cities. Several years ago, Wheat Ridge established a Center for Urban Education Ministries. The Center is helping us provide focus to this aspect of our support for new health and human care ventures. Under the leadership of Executive Director Marlene Lund, the Center helps encourage new urban education ministries by discovering and sharing new models, connecting and convening leaders in congregations and schools who have a vision for Christian service in the city, and providing resources to assist these inspired leaders.

It is also good news that our Center is not alone. There are a variety of efforts through the Lutheran church-wide offices and other agencies and organizations to support and encourage quality Lutheran education in our cities. In Chicago, the Chicagoland Lutheran Education Foundation provides great support for Lutheran schools in the city. The Lutheran Foundations in St. Louis and Ft. Wayne also invest heavily in urban Lutheran education. Innovative new models for urban Christian schools are emerging through Lutheran leaders like Kole Knueppel (www.schoolsthatcan.org/) and Andrew Newman (http://www.hopeschools.org/ and http://www.educationalenterprises.org/).

If you’re seeing innovative and effective Christian education efforts in the city being accomplished by congregations or church agencies near you, I’d love to hear from you! In the meantime, please keep all of our Christian educators, including those who witness their faith as they serve in public school settings, in your prayers, so that through their efforts, children and families may experience the touch of the healing Christ!

Time Keeps on Slipping, Slipping, Slipping …

These late summer days in Chicago certainly make me conscious of the passing of time. Each morning, the sun is coming up a little later and setting a little earlier in the evening.

When I start thinking about the passage of time, for some reason my brain retreats to several 1970’s and 1980’s pop songs, including Steve Miller’s “Fly Like An Eagle” and its lyrics “time keeps on slipping into the future” and Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle.” I’m breaking into song as I write … it’s a good thing you can’t hear me!

Time was on our minds earlier this month as our executive staff gathered for our annual “off-site” retreat. We tend to be a pretty time-oriented group, so meeting dates, deadlines, and work plans were among the items on our agenda. Ironically, while we refer to this gathering as a “retreat,” it tends to be a struggle to manage our work time and our leisure time so that we can enjoy each other’s company and the beautiful setting in which we meet. Sad, but true.

Our preoccupation with time was a theme of one of our morning devotions and we spent time considering some of the most well-known words from Ecclesiastes 3 (yes, also well known as the lyrics to another song from the memory banks … Pete Seeger’s “Turn, Turn, Turn,” popularized by the band “The Byrds”).

Our discussion of Ecclesiastes 3 took us in several interesting directions as we considered the meaning of “a time for” in our personal lives and in the mission of Wheat Ridge. Since our retreat took place right after the congressional debt ceiling crisis and subsequent market reactions, it was reassuring to read this text as a reminder that there is a time for everything and a season for every activity as God provides a regular rhythm for life even in the midst of what often seem like random, chaotic times.

Ecclesiastes 3 also reminded us that life is about the good times and the bad, the happy and the sad. The times and seasons of our lives are filled with both. One season prepares and equips us for the other. I suspect you’ve either concluded from your own experience, or heard from others, that tough times are really some of the most valuable times of life.

One of our staff members suggested that we isolate the seasons mentioned in Ecclesiastes into categories by what we’d typically perceive as good times and bad times. As often as I’ve considered this text, I had never done this before. Looking at the separate lists was quite interesting. Here’s our list of the “good times” … A time to be born, to plant, to heal, to build, to laugh, to dance, to gather, to embrace, to search, to keep, to mend, to speak, to love, and a time for peace.

Likewise, our list of “bad times” … A time to die, to uproot, to kill, to tear down, to weep, to mourn, to scatter, to refrain from embracing, to give up, to throw away, to tear, to be silent, to hate, and a time for war.

The first thing we discovered looking at these lists is to be cautious with our assumptions. We concluded that not everything is automatically good or bad all the time. Is it always good to speak and bad to be silent? Is mourning good or bad? Is there ever a time when uprooting, or going to war is ultimately a good thing?

Considering the mission of Wheat Ridge to share health and hope through the new ministries we encourage and support, these lists also proved very interesting. Our “bad times” list looked very similar to the list of health and human care issues that lead inspired leaders to come to Wheat Ridge for assistance as they serve people who may be weeping, giving up, enduring sickness and death, hatred or loneliness.

Likewise, we agreed that our “good times” list was a wonderful vision for what we pray are the outcomes of seeding new ministries of health and hope. What a beautiful thing to experience the seasons of life that God intends for us … seasons where we embrace, laugh, dance, live in peace with others, gather and mend as we experience wellness of body, mind and spirit!

Thank God for the seasons and the gift of life!

The Eagle Has Landed!

Recently, I had one of those days that a children’s book might call a “rotten, terrible, stinky, really bad day.” In retrospect, and in comparison to the plight of so many people who are coping with difficult life circumstances, it really wasn’t that bad. But, it was a day that found me engaging in a little self-pity and wishing I was lying on a beach somewhere far, far away. I don’t have this kind of day often, but when I do, it’s usually accompanied by a sleepless night, which I had that evening.

As good timing would have it, I was scheduled the following morning to engage in one of my most effective summertime stress-relieving activities – playing an early-morning round of golf with friends. While just the thought of this usually energizes me, that morning it really did not … I was tired, frustrated and arrived at the course wondering if sleeping a bit later would have been a better option.

But, I persevered. My playing partner’s good mood helped some, but even though I hit some pretty good shots on the first few holes (an uncommon occurrence), I still wasn’t experiencing the joy that a round of golf usually brings.

On the fairway of the fifth hole, I was helping my partner search for lost his ball in the rough. In the midst of our search, I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye followed by a “swooshing” sound as what looked like an eagle took off. Apparently, I had disturbed her search for food or rest that morning. I jumped back … this unexpected surprise got my adrenaline flowing!

The bird wasn’t done with us yet, though. Later on the fifth hole, as we were walking up to the green, it appeared again, landing on the fringe of the green, just sitting there watching us, like some spectator at a golf tournament! When we both two-putted (another uncommon occurrence), I sort of hoped it would squawk, acknowledging our good play. Maybe she expected us to “eagle” the hole, but it was still nice of her to watch our bogies. This beautiful bird just sat there, watching us until we walked off toward the next hole, then it flew away.

I need to add that we have since been debating whether this was, indeed, an eagle, or whether it was some other large, handsome bird (you’re correctly sensing by now that I’m not a regular bird watcher). I’ve since done some internet searching and have discovered that eagles do indeed appear occasionally in northeastern Illinois. My story is that it was an eagle, and I’m sticking to it!

That eagle changed my day. She was the kind of surprise I needed, a gift that took me out of my doldrums and reminded me again of the beauty of God’s creation. The rest of the round was, indeed, more enjoyable. I wish I could report that the eagle inspired me to shoot a record low round, but I can’t. I can report, however, that this unexpected incident changed my mood for the better for the rest of the day.

God’s grace works in mysterious ways. Upon returning to my office, I noticed two pictures that have been sitting on my window sill that I hadn’t given attention to for a while. They are pictures of – what else? – eagles! They are two of several painted by young children for an event Wheat Ridge sponsored a few years ago through our Center for Urban Education Ministries called, “A Flock of Eagles.” The event honored outstanding urban Lutheran educators. I was so taken by them at the time that I kept them for my office. Since my eagle incident, they’ve taken on fresh meaning.

All of this has taken me back to the great words of hope and encouragement in Scripture, which, perhaps, is what God intended would happen through this odd incident. From Isaiah 40 …

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

I hope an eagle flies into your life today … watch for it!!