Category: Matthew
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Remember
I was baptized at Diamond Lake Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis on June 6, 1965. Don’t bother doing the math. There is nothing particularly remarkable about that day…it was just a day like any other. June 6, 1965 was the 21st anniversary of the D-Day invasion in World War 2. On that day, the top 3 songs on…
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A Light Brighter Than Any
Deer Island is a fishing village off the coast of New Brunswick, Canada. Small fishing boats head in and out of the harbor, into the North Atlantic every day. The island is so small, that it doesn’t have a lighthouse. And in the days before GPS systems fishing boats would regularly wander into dangerous waters, hitting the rocks,…
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Predicting the Weather
Just about every day, Lori and I check the weather apps on our phone. Ok, to be honest, we usually check two of them. We look at the app that tells us the forecast. (Partly cloudy…high of 76…10% chance of precipitation…etc…). Then we also will look at the app that has the radar on it,…
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Beauty Surrounds Us
Sabbatical Day 11 Lori and I are spending the week on Minnesota’s North Shore, about 25 minutes up Highway 61 from Two Harbors. It’s been a good week. We’ve had opportunities to sit and stare at Lake Superior, to read, to write, and to take hikes through state parks. (Side note: The week after Memorial…
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Watching for New
Our home backs up to a wooded area. Every spring, I try to pay attention to the trees, plants and other growing things coming back to life. I go out and look at the buds on the trees. Because it seems like we go from bare branches to small, green leaves overnight. And I want to “notice” when the…
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God’s Vision for Trinity
A question I wonder about a lot is: “When God imagines Trinity in the days to come, what does God see?” Our leadership has spent a lot of time thinking…and praying about this question. We are confident in our mission, (Remember the mission? “Through Jesus’ love we welcome, connect, learn and serve.”) But what does it look like to be…
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The Law of Love
The new fence went in this past week around the playground at Trinity. It replaces the (quite ugly) temporary, plastic fencing that has been in place since the beginning of the school year. We put the fence in to fulfill a state licensing requirement, needed because the Trinity Nursery School was expanding its hours. We…
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Well Done
Do you remember the first time you felt really, really trusted? The first time that someone entrusted you with an important responsibility, or a task? I remember when I was young, probably just in jr. high, and my parents and my brothers had to go out of town for something, and they left me completely…
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For Whom the Bell Tolls
There are moments that stand out…that catch our attention. These are moments that make us pause, look and take it all in. These are moments that change us. I’ve experienced those moments; you have too. Some of mine include: Al Michaels proclaiming that “The Twins have won the World Series” at the end of game…
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#ForOwatonna Part III: Treasure
Miss Lucille was a woman who lived in what was basically a plywood shack, in the small community of Morehead City, North Carolina. The youth group I was leading was there as volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, to work on her new home. Living with Miss Lucille was her daughter, who was herself a single…