Blog – Page 326

Midweek Lent 2015 + Clay Jars Filled with Grace (Paul’s second letter to Corinth)

March 18, 2015 By moadmin

Week 4: “Hope for New Life”

Our time on earth, in these bodies, is short. Today, we are here together to experience the love and grace of God that abounds in this world. And when our time here is finished, we’re going home.

Vicar Meagan McLaughlin
Wednesday, 18 March 2015; texts: 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:7, John 14:1-7, 25-29

My fellow sojourners in Christ, grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Life is short! How many times have we heard it said, in different ways? Just before he is killed, William Shakespeare’s tragic hero Macbeth cries, “Out, out brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Some days, it feels like Shakespeare’s Macbeth has a point. The older we get, the faster life seems to go, and the harder it feels to keep up, until our candle will ultimately go out, our hour here expired. And some days, it does feel like we are walking shadows, doing a whole lot of strutting and fretting and not making much of a difference in this world.

In the Bible, The Book of Ecclesiastes begins its reflection on our lives with a similar feeling: “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.”

I could easily use an hour, if we had one, just sharing quotes from authors and poets across the ages, but I will stop there!

Macbeth and Ecclesiastes are right about one thing. We are just here for a short time, in the scheme of things. In God’s time, it must seem like the blink of an eye. Because, as Paul reminds us today, this world is not our home. Not really. Our true home is in God’s house, the great beyond, heaven. We are more like tourists here, come to explore and experience a land that is not our own.

Our time on earth was never meant to be a long-term, permanent arrangement for us, but that does not mean, as Macbeth suggests, that our lives signify nothing. Because this where Macbeth got it wrong. Our lives on this earth, brief as they are, do have purpose and meaning, and we mean far more to God than mere shadow.

So, why are we here? How are we called to live, in the brief time we are given on this planet? This life is not simply a test that must be passed or a hoop to be jumped through in order for us to get to heaven when we die. There is already a place prepared for us there. It is our home. Jesus promised that there are many rooms in God’s house, and we don’t have to earn or prove our way in.

Our time on this earth is not a punishment or a penance, although there is suffering here. God created this world, and everything in it, and called it good. And there is good and abundance and beauty on this earth, along with the pain and brokenness that is also a part of our human experience.

If we are to know how to live, what to do with our short time on earth, we must first remember where we came from, whose we are. The story of our coming to this place, the story of our creation in the Book of Genesis, reveals God’s purpose, and our role here. Genesis tells us that God provided this world for us as a place of abundance, and beauty. God created us to be in relationship with the rest of God’s creation, while we are here.

We are in this life here on earth to do the work God has for us to do, and to enjoy the fruits of this world. We are to remember that creation was given to all of us as a gift, and we are called during our short time here to care for it and share its abundance with everyone. And God, knowing it would not be good for us to be here alone, created us to be in relationship with each other, to share the love of God with those around us. In short, we are here to live!

And God has not left us here to fend for ourselves. God is with us, loving us and guiding us. Paul writes that we are being inwardly renewed, even as our physical bodies age and we grow closer to death and the end of our time here. The world may see growing older as a sign that we are outliving our usefulness, but we walk by faith and not by sight. Aging, facing illness, even nearing death, does not lessen our worth as children of God. It just brings us closer to home.

We don’t need to be anxious or afraid about what will happen when we die. In a world that offers hundreds of ways to slow the aging process, look younger, and extend your life, this is not a message we hear often. Death is the end of our life here, but more significantly, it is our return home to the one who created us, the one who loves us without condition. We have nothing to fear in dying. Jesus promises us peace, not based in security in this world, but a peace that comes from knowing that God has a place for us when our life here is over.

Our time on earth, in these bodies, is short. Today, we are here together to experience the love and grace of God that abounds in this world. And when our time here is finished, we’re going home. You’re going home. Home to the place God has created, with a new body that will never fail. A home where separations and barriers between us and God and between us and others are swept away. A home that is without the suffering and brokenness of this world. So don’t let your hearts be troubled. There are many rooms in God’s house, and God has a place waiting just for you.

Thanks be to God!

Midweek Lent 2015 + Clay Jars Filled with Grace (Paul’s second letter to Corinth)

March 18, 2015 By moadmin

Week 4: “Hope for New Life”

My fellow sojourners in Christ, grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I could easily use an hour, if we had one, just sharing quotes from authors and poets across the ages, but I will stop there!

Thanks be to God!

The Covenant of the Cross

March 15, 2015 By moadmin

God never promised that life would be easy, or go according to our plans, but God did promise that God would be faithful to the covenant, and that suffering and death will not be the final word. And this promise is revealed in the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross.

Vicar Meagan McLaughlin
The Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year B
Texts: Numbers 21: 4-9, Psalm 107, Ephesians 2: 1-10, John 3: 14-21

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

On Sunday, March 7, 1965, Bloody Sunday, several hundred people began to march from Selma to Montgomery to claim the right to vote and equality under the law for Black Americans. They were attacked that day with tear gas and billy-clubs, and several people died, but they did not give up, because they believed that, eventually, the discrimination and violence they faced would end. They trusted that God would ultimately see them through.

Last Sunday, fifty years later, members of Mount Olive joined people of all ethnicities and faiths all over the country to remember that day. We marched to celebrate how far we have come. We marched to remind ourselves that we still have a long ways to go. We hear in the news this week of police officers shot in Ferguson, and messages of hate from an Oklahoma fraternity, and we know we have a long ways to go. On Sunday, we sang and prayed to the God we believe will ultimately see us through, knowing we aren’t there, yet.

The Israelites journey from Egypt to the Promised Land had been really long, and, like the march to Montgomery, not exactly easy. They had been walking in the desert for literally years, and nearly starved before God provided Manna for them, and when some of them were taken captive by the Canaanites, they had to fight to defeat them. And they still weren’t there yet. Their walk continued, and after all that time, they were getting really sick of eating only Manna.

When things are going well for us—financial success, career success, health, family, friends—it is easy for us to see these things as signs of God’s faithfulness to us without even realizing it. And when challenges arise, we are almost wired to see it as a vacuum of God’s care, evidence that God is not providing for us, or that maybe we or someone around us aren’t doing the right things.

At the very least, poor health or loss of a job or the death of a loved one feels like an interruption to “what is supposed to be happening” in our lives. There is never a good time, is there? We are not supposed to be going to doctor’s appointment after doctor’s appointment, having tests, and waiting for results. We are not supposed to be living through a loved one’s last days, or planning a funeral, or grieving. We aren’t supposed to be without a job, working on resumes or interviews, and struggling financially, unless of course, that’s what WE had planned.

So often, we move along in our routines, things happening more or less as anticipated, until we find ourselves expecting that this is how life should be. Work gets done, bills paid, vacations taken, decisions made, perhaps with some bumps along the way, but more or less predictable. And when things happen to make life difficult, our first response is typically to complain, as the Israelites did. The food is not good or hot or fast enough. The internet keeps cutting out on us, right in the middle of that e-mail we’re sending. We have to wait too long in traffic, or the doctor’s office, or the grocery store.

The Israelites were sick of Manna, and they complained, and they soon found themselves facing something much bigger than bad food. Poisonous snakes came into the camp, and many of them died. Suddenly the food didn’t matter, and they realized how foolish they had been, thinking that God owed them anything. They realized their sin, and told Moses to ask God to have mercy on them. And in the minds of the Israelites, mercy meant removing the snakes that were biting them.

God didn’t remove the snakes, but God did show mercy. Interestingly enough, the proof of God’s mercy looked just like the thing the Israelites feared most—the snakes. By looking at the bronze serpent raised in their camp, the Israelites saw that their God was bigger than a few poisonous reptiles. God assured them that God was with them, even in the midst of the snakes. The snakes remained, but the people lived, in spite of that. A source of pain and fear and death for the Israelites was transformed into a symbol of God’s faithfulness and triumph over death.

Often, the big challenges in our lives—unemployment, illness, death—are not removed either. These things are not interruptions to the life we are supposed to live, although they can certainly feel that way. Nor are they, as the Israelites felt, punishment from God for sin, although at times, if we are honest, it can feel like that, too. The truth is, the challenges of life are all a part of human experience, and our life is meant to be lived in their midst. Sometimes these challenges are of our own making, or someone else’s, and they are truly the results of choices made, natural consequences of our sin. And sometimes, difficult things just happen. Life is not always easy, and it is certainly not what we might think of as fair. But either way, the struggles and pain we experience does not mean that God has abandoned us.

God never promised that life would be easy, or go according to our plans, but God did promise that God would be faithful to the covenant and always be with us, no matter what happens. God did promise that suffering and death will not be the final word. And the proof of that for us as Christians is revealed in another symbol of pain and humiliation and death—the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross. As we make our way through Lent, we remember not only the reality of Jesus’ death, but that because of the resurrection, the cross, like the bronze snake, is transformed into evidence that God has power over everything, even death.

Our encounter with the cross of Jesus does not take away the challenges of our lives, but it transforms them—it transforms us. When we are finished with our complaining, our questioning, our blaming, God is still right there with us, and the cross of Jesus is proof of that promise. The cross reminds us that the little things in life—long lines, or spotty internet service, or cold food—are not really that important. And the big things, the real pains and struggles of life, are not too much for God to handle.

We are created by God to live this life as it comes, knowing God is with us. God created us to bring good and beauty into this world, and we can trust God to make it possible for us to do that, even when things seem so dark that we don’t see how we can possibly make a difference. The Israelites, and centuries later, the marchers in Selma, lived out that trust in every step they took. We, too, are called to march on, carrying the light of faith in the darkness.

When we in our humanity fail, as we are bound to, the cross reminds us that God is still there, giving us the courage and the strength to face the ways we have caused or contributed to the struggles of this world. We look to the cross, acknowledge our sin, and ask God for forgiveness and help. And we are renewed for the journey.

And when we are in pain, the cross is a symbol of the promise that even death is not the final word. We have a God who answers prayer, if not in the ways we might expect. God has promised to be with us even in the darkness, to lead us through to the light when we can’t see the way.

God will not break the covenant, no matter how we stumble. From the Israelites in the desert, to the marchers in Selma in 1965, to each of us today, God loves, forgives, and strengthens us. Nothing is too much for God to handle. And every time we see the cross, we are reminded of the lengths God will go to keep that promise.

Thanks be to God!

The Covenant of the Cross

March 15, 2015 By moadmin

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thanks be to God!

The Olive Branch, 3/11/15

March 12, 2015 By moadmin

Godly Promises Kept

Our readings from the Old Testament this Lent have been a journey through a series of covenants the LORD God of Israel made with the people of Israel. To Noah, to Abraham and Sarah, and to the whole people of God at Sinai and in exile, God promises a relationship, and commits to do certain things, including hold these people in loving faithfulness forever.

This week is the outlier, the story not of a specific covenant but of God’s way of keeping these promises. The people have sinned in their wilderness journey, again. (Isn’t it helpful how much like us they are?) Angry at Moses, angry at God, they complain, not for the first time. “There is no food and no water.” Forgetting they’ve just said there is no food, they add, “And we detest this miserable food.”

Strangely, serpents then come amongst the people and bite them, and many die. The writer attributes them to God. If that’s so, then even more strangely, God immediately instructs Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole, so that if the people look at it they will live, recover from the venom. And so it is. The people survive, in spite of their sin.

It’s a weird story. Yet Jesus refers to it in Sunday’s Gospel, comparing himself to the serpent on a pole. He says he will be lifted up so all may see him and live.

Setting aside the questions around the snake attack, for Israel this moment in the wilderness was a clear sign God had not abandoned them. When they were in peril, admittedly of their own making, God provided a way to life. A thousand years later, God’s keeping of the promise of everlasting faithfulness and love to the people leads to the very Son of God being lifted up on the cross to provide a way of life.

The challenge in God’s covenants with us is our persistent inability, unwillingness, and failure to keep our part. What we hear on Sunday is, regardless of our failings, we belong to a God who always keeps promises, always, and provides a way to life. Even if it means dying to do it.

In Jesus’ name,
– Joseph

Sunday Readings

March 15, 2015: Fourth Sunday in Lent
Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Ephesians 2:1-10
John 3:14-21

March 22, 2015: Fifth Sunday in Lent
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:1-12
Hebrews 5:5-10
John 12:20-33

Sunday’s Adult Forum: March 1-22, 2015

Scholar-in-Residence, Dr. Craig Koester, on the book of Revelation.

Save the Date: Saturday, April 18, 10:00 am-Noon
End of Life Decisions: The Conversation Continues

The conversation began at the February 1 Sunday Forum (to view Pastor Crippen’s presentation online, visit http://youtu.be/npRfQf8TTJg) and the February 7 workshop at Mount Olive.

We will continue to look at how we as people of faith approach our deaths and the deaths of our loved ones by specifically addressing the Honoring Choices Health Care directive. How do we know what we want and what are the options? How, when, and with whom do we have the conversation?
These and other questions will be addressed. Help with completing the form will be available, as well as a notary to finalize any documents that are completed on that date.

Scheduling this workshop is dependent upon the demand for it. If you would like to participate, please let Marilyn Gebauer or the church office know in advance. You can contact Marilyn at 612-306 -8872 or gebauevm@bitstream.net, or the church office at (612) 827-5919.

Some suggestions made previously for future workshops include:
• Estate planning – with or without an agent
• Funeral planning – burial rites, “green funerals”,
the Columbarium
• Writing a will
• Assisted suicide – ethical and faith considerations
• Establishing a volunteer group at MO to serve as
healthcare proxies for fellow members who are
without close family, friends, etc.
• Near death experience
• You may have ideas for future topics of discussion.
If so let Marilyn or the church office know.

Book Discussion Group Update

For the March 14 meeting we will discuss The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho; for April 11, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain; and for May 9, The Boat of Longing, by O. E. Rølvaag.

Paschal Garden

Volunteers will be on hand for the next three Sundays (March 15, 22, and 29) before, between, and following the liturgies to receive your donations to purchase Easter flowers for this year’s Paschal Garden.

Midweek Lenten Worship
Wednesdays during Lent
Holy Eucharist, at noon
Evening Prayer at 7 pm

A Note of Thanks

Adam and Thomas wish to thank the Mount Olive family for the many kindnesses shown them at the recent death of Adam’s father, Al Krueger.

The many prayers offered before, during and after his illness, cards received, email and Facebook greetings posted, and tutor substitutes are all an immense witness to the love we feel from this congregation and her staff.

From the depths of our hearts, we say thank you for your love and support during these times. It’s always great to be part of such a caring community, but especially so when you experience the loss of a loved one. God bless you all!

– Adam Krueger & Thomas

March is Minnesota FoodShare Month!

Donate cash or groceries to the local food shelf during Minnesota FoodShare month in March!

A donation of money more than doubles the amount of food available to food shelves, because food shelves can purchase food at discounted prices. If you choose to give in this way, make your check payable to Mount Olive and write Food Shelf on the memo line. If you prefer to donate non-perishable groceries, they may be brought to the grocery cart in the coat room.

Chancel Cleaning Day

The Mount Olive Altar Guild invites interested persons to participate in the chancel cleaning to prepare for the Easter season. The cleaning will take place on Saturday, March 28, from 9 am – noon. If you would like to help, please contact Steve Pranschke at 612-803-0915 or by email to hspranschke@gmail.com.

Your helping hands are truly appreciated. I find it is enjoyable to work alongside one another in preparing our worship space at such a special time. Thanks!

– Steve Pranschke

Mount Olive Music & Fine Arts Presents Jearlyn Steele on Sunday, March 15, 4 pm

A native of Indiana, Jearlyn relocated to Minnesota and, after much encouragement, ventured out singing in churches, community centers, and nightclubs. This eventually led her to theater where she has performed at such venues as Penumbra Theater of St. Paul, the Old Log Theater in Excelsior, The Historical State Theater in downtown Minneapolis, The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, and the world-renowned Guthrie Theater. Over a decade ago, Jearlyn, along with her siblings, “The Steeles,” began a successful run of the pop/gospel musical Gospel At Colonus, which made its way to Carnegie Hall.

Come to see and hear Jearlyn – and bring your friends! A reception will follow the concert.

Action Alert

Sign up now to visit Guatemala and our Common Hope partners. One or two groups will be going. Pick your dates and get in on the action. Leave your name at the office, sign a yellow info sheet or contact Judy Hinck either by email to judyhinck@gmail.com or by calling 612-824-4918. Teams will be set by Easter.

Opening Reception for the Paul Granlund Exhibit to be Held This Sunday

This coming Sunday, March 15, there will be an opening reception for the Paul Granlund sculpture exhibit from 2:00-4:00 pm, prior to the Jearlyn Steele concert. A video will be presented at around 3:00 pm in which we see Paul Granlund at work in his studio and view parts of the foundry process for creating the finished metal sculptures.

Members of the Granlund family will be at the reception. Please invite your friends and family and especially artists you may know to join us.

Holy Week at Mount Olive

Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday
Sunday, March 29
Holy Eucharist, 8 & 10:45 am

Monday-Wednesday of Holy Week,
March 30-April 1
Daily Prayer at Noon, in the side chapel of the nave

Maundy Thursday, April 2
Holy Eucharist at Noon
Holy Eucharist, with the Washing of Feet, 7:00 p.m.

Good Friday, April 3
Stations of the Cross at Noon
Adoration of the Cross at 7 pm

Holy Saturday, April 4
Great Vigil of Easter, 8:30 pm, followed by a festive reception

The Resurrection of Our Lord
Sunday, April 5
Festival Eucharist at
8 & 10:45 am
Easter Brunch at 9:30 am

Vestry Listening Sessions Continue

Vestry Listening sessions continue this Sunday, March 15. This is an opportunity for the congregation to discuss the Vision Expression statements introduced earlier this month.

This week’s focus will be on Worship and Finance. Following both the first and second liturgies, Al Bipes (Worship) and Kat Campbell-Johnson (Business & Finance) will be available in the East and West Assembly rooms to hear your ideas on the work of their committees.

Grab your coffee and join the small group to talk. Each session will last 30-45 minutes, and you may move in and out as you wish.

Opportunities to BE involved:

Check out the information located in front of the main office or in the Olive Branch for more details. There is also a sheet listing coming events and opportunities throughout March. Post it on the fridge or door and pick at least one in which to participate!

• Needed: Food donation deliverer! As food is being donated for Minnesota FoodShare month, is anyone available and willing to take a load of food to CES at 1900 11th Ave. S.? A drop-off time can be arranged and helping hands to load. Please let Anna K. know.

• “Bottom,” a play about sex-trafficking – Saturday March 17, 7 pm Minnehaha Upper Academy

• Better Halves Couples’ Workshop – Saturday March 21, 9:00- 11:30am at Mount Olive

Who We Are, Where We Are Map

Have you “pinned” yourself yet? If not, please do so by letting us know where you live, using the map hanging in the East Assembly room. Instructions are posted by the map – please contribute your pin!

Peace With Justice Forum

All are invited to a Peace with Justice Forum on Sunday March 15, 2015, 12:30-2:00 pm at Central Lutheran Church, 3rd Ave and 12th St, Minneapolis, next to the Minneapolis Convention Center.

The topic is “Immigration is in the News: A Faith Response.” The presenter for this forum is Reverend John Guttermann. He will discuss President Obama’s proposals for executive action on immigration reform and the court decision that delayed the President’s executive action, and the current realities for area immigrants and their families and work being done in Minnesota. He will describe the program that visits detained immigrants here in the Twin Cities and give some direction on how our churches can helpfully respond.

Reverend Guttermann has been an advocate for immigrants and their families and sees the immigration reform and the immigrant rights movements as connected to the ongoing struggle for civil and human rights for all people.

Lunch is available ($7.00). Validated parking is available in the Central parking lot/ ramp on the south side of the church.

JRLC Day on the Hill: Dignity in Democracy
Submitted by Connie Marty

Dignity in Democracy! was the theme of the 2015 Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC) Day on the Hill on Tuesday, March 10. Six members of Mount Olive joined over 700 people of faith from across Minnesota to use their gift of citizenship and civic engagement to speak out on social justice issues. In the morning we listened to speakers, prayed together, were updated on key legislative issues and met by legislative districts to plan our meeting in the afternoon at the Capitol with our legislators.

We advocated on the following social justice issues:
1. Support affordable, accessible Child Care for all Minnesota families;
2. Raise MFIP grants by $100 per month (they have not been raised for 30 years);
3. Restore the Vote that would remove barriers that limit offenders’ from voting after they have
served their time in prison;
4. Safe Harbor Funding for Victims of Human Trafficking;
5. Reform of the Payday lending industry.
(If you would like to see more detail on any of these pieces of legislation currently being introduced at the Capital, check out JRLC.org or our Neighborhood Ministries bulletin board.)

Senator Jeff Hayden represents District 62, the neighborhood around Mount Olive. Some of us met with him and he had some insights to share with us as members of the faith community:
“These are human issues that affect real people and real lives. The faith community can lead the way. It’s a perception– a way we model and talk about how and what we value as we live with one another. We have to remember that we are a community and these are neighborhood issues. All the churches in the neighborhood should work together. Our faith is our commonality that breaks down barriers between races and erases our differences.” (paraphrased)

He told the story of how one constituent asked him to sponsor legislation that would affect the neighborhood. Senator Hayden told that person that if he would go to the three other churches in the area and ask them to join in coming to the capital and advocating for the legislation then he, as their Senator, would sponsor the bill. But he insisted that the people of his district bring the call to action to the capital and not just assume Senator Hayden could accomplish it by himself. The community can lead the way.

JRLC invited us continue to take action and engage on these issues until they become law:
to sign up to get timely action alerts, to communicate with our legislators throughout the session about issues we care about, to write letters to the editor of our neighborhood papers to educate the general public on these concerns, to form a social justice email tree in our faith community, and more.

Mount Olive members who attended were: Mary Rose Watson, Kathy Kruger, Judy Hinck, Carol Austermann, Connie Marty and Anna Kingman.

(Photos from Day on the Hill are included in this newsletter)

Sabbatical Information, part 2

Pr. Crippen will be on sabbatical from April 6 through July 15. He will be taking time to put together and reflect on the work he’s been doing on preaching, some of which was presented in January forums here. The scope is covering the theology and heart of preaching as well as the craft and art of preaching. Part of the work is to see if there’s something publishable, or usable to the church in some way. There will also be time for relaxation and rest, including a couple trips with family.

Next week: more about who is serving as interim during this time.

Church Library News

In response to a request for library materials on parenting, which might be helpful to the Youth Committee as they were engaged in a Listening session Sunday, I found the following books, which could be quite helpful to couples and/or families:
• Five Cries of Parents (new help for families on the issues that trouble them most), by Merton P. Strommen and A. Irene Strommen
• Families Where Grace is in Place (getting free from the burden of pressuring, controlling and manipulating your spouse and children), by Jeff Van Vonderen
• Mothers and Daughters Together (we can work it out), by Kay Strom and Lisa Strom
• Stepfamilies (living in Christian harmony), by Bobbie Reed
• How to Parent Your Tw/Teenager, by Dr. Mary Manz Simon
• Parenting Your Disabled Child, by Bernard Ikeler
• Nine Challenges for Parents, (leading your child into responsible adult-hood) by Lucy and William Hulme
• Firstborn, by William Hulme
• WHY JOY? (learning to love my special child) by Jane Jennings
• Family Planning on a Crowded Planet, by Wilton Yates
• Be Good to Each Other (an open letter on marriage), by Lowell and Carol Erdahl
• Marriage to a Difficult Man, by Elisabeth D. Dodds
• Helping Your Children Feel Good About Themselves (a guide to building self-esteem in the Christian family), by Kenneth A. Erickson
• When Children Ask About Sex (a guide for parents), by Joar Graham Selzer MD
• Superkid? (raising balanced children in a Super Kid world), by Dr. Elaine McEwan
• The Strong-Willed Child (birth through adolescence), by Dr. James Dobson
• What a Son Needs From His Dad, (how a man prepares his sons for life), by Michael A. O’Donnell, PhD
• Different Children-Different Needs (the art of adjustable parenting), by Charles F. Boyd, w/David Boehe and Robert A. Rohm, PhD
• When Your Child Hurts (hope for parents of children undergoing long-term medical care), by Charlotte Adelsperger
• Where Does a Mother Go to Resign?, by Barbara Johnson

These books are on display in the library in two places — on the wall directly across from the check-out desk and also in a smaller group near the left-hand window. There is also a display of good Lent and Easter reading near the window on the right. Stop in soon to browse among these areas or any particular need or interest you may have at this or any time.

As we close this article, I will provide a smile for your day with two questions posed from Corny Humor: More Wit and Witticisms, published by the National Federation of the Blind, as follows: “Why did the book join the police?” (So he could work undercover!) and “What is the smartest insect in the world?” – (a bookworm!)

– Leanna Kloempken