I am a last-minute wrapper, I admit. If I used glue, it would still be damp when the person was opening the gift. Christmas Eve has usually included a late candlelight service, followed by cocoa and cookies at home, and then a final wrapping session…
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The Saturday before the first Sunday in Advent, a short, square, white box is removed from its shelf in the basement and brought upstairs. The contents of this box are one of the most precious gifts I have ever been given. It is the family’s nativity…
When I first started baking bread, I challenged myself to make something that was not just store-bought, uniform, and pre-sliced. I wanted something different, the type of bread that was hard to describe – but when you had it, you knew it was somethi…
A while ago, a pastor friend of mine and I got into a discussion about the topic of expectations; how to respond to them when they are fulfilled and particularly when they are not. When you think about it, every aspect of life hinges on what we expec…
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Back in March, I had surgery to remove cancer from my thyroid, a gland that happens to sit very close to the nerves of your vocal cords. As I was waking up from the anesthesia, I tried to ask for a sip of water but no sound came out. I tried a few mo…
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Singing in St. Paul Chorale is a gift that keeps on giving. Chorale is rehearsals with friends, Dr. Nathan Windt’s jokes, Chris Nelson’s entries and exits (because he’s playing for multiple choirs) and good solid direction on anthems carefully select…
I’m one of those people that enjoys the variety of the four distinct seasons we experience here in the Midwest. Each season has its own way of communicating God’s beauty and gives us something different to experience. I love the first snowfall when e…
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The summer of 2001 was filled with excitement and adventure. My wife Deb and our three children had outgrown our first home and were having a new home built near Emeis golf course. A few delays meant our new home would not be finished until December….
At my ripe old age of 85, and looking back at my life, I can only rejoice at how fortunate I have been. Words can’t possibly express my gratitude – first to my God and savior in heaven for life itself, but then also to those hundreds of people past a…
I have enjoyed 72 wonderful Christmases in Nebraska, Texas, Arizona, Hawaii, Missouri — and especially in Iowa. Two threads run through all of them regardless of geography: family togetherness (which is a mixture of presents, great food, fun) and cel…
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“What’s the difference between a wish and a hope?” JP asked us this question, but he didn’t answer it. We didn’t answer it either that night. We shared some ideas, but the conversation remained unfinished. Youth group went on, but the question stuck…
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For more than a year after my mom died, I strained my neck every Saturday to see her school bus, No. 20, in the lot across from the Bettendorf post office. A couple of months ago, I took a different route out of the post office parking lot and sudden…