Each year, St. Paul children and youth gather items for people who are having a difficult time. This year, the gathering will be for socks, both adult and child sizes, to be distributed to shelters around the Quad Cities. Items will be collected in t…
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Everyone has their favorite Christmas traditions. Some people love baking cookies. Others enjoy decorating. Or sending & receiving cards from friends both near & far. For you, it might be singing festive music or finding just the right gift f…
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A big part of my faith is serving others. About a month ago, I attended the 8th-grade confirmation retreat here at church. To give you a bit of background on what we did, the retreat featured seven different pathways that encouraged us to ask the “es…
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St. Paul Lutheran Church will offer its Blue Christmas worship on Friday, Dec. 21, at 6 p.m. This service of hope is designed for anyone in the community who may not feel like celebrating. During the holidays, grief, illness, aging, depression, lonel…
I’m a “big picture” person. Details aren’t my strength. This is best exemplified by a trip I took by myself to Minnesota – or more specifically, the trip I took home. I had attended a conference in Minneapolis and, since it was fall, I decided to fol…
Just before Thanksgiving, my family and I traveled to Denver to see my parents and sister. Though we live in the Quad Cities, we flew out of Cedar Rapids on an airline known for its affordability. This limited our travel days, shortened our trip, but…
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My father, Terry, was a true outdoorsman. He loved to hunt, fish, work outdoors, and particularly to be on his cattle ranch in southern Missouri. It was obvious to all who knew him that he had faith in God. He was community-minded and always willing…
Hearing an unexpected voice can evoke a range of emotions – from extreme fright to joyous comfort. I have lived in the rural countryside for 47 years on a small family farm. We are the third generation on the 200 acres that have been lovingly cultiva…
Southern Utah, Death Valley, the Badlands and, closer to home, Wildcat Den, come to mind when I think of wilderness. For many, the term “wilderness” conjures up images of desolation and isolation. Because of their isolation, they also sometimes have…
Thirty years ago, our family went through a very tough few months. It began when Art’s dad was killed in a crash. Then, our Tupperware franchise was closed by the home office without warning. Art and I had no job or income. Art went into a deep depre…
While most of us were rolling over on the couch the day after Thanksgiving, or lining up outside a big box store to land a deal on a vacuum cleaner, a church community in Durham, North Carolina was struggling mightily. One of its own, an undocumented…
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Early Tuesday morning, just as the chilly day began, several teenagers pulled into the parking lot at St. Paul. They were there to see a project they worked on do its job. At the request of Matt Spencer, building manager, this welding class from Dave…