Father's Day Creation

Father's Day is this coming Sunday. To recognize and celebrate the fathers of the congregation I had the kids make a gift for them this past Sunday. In Alaska if there is one thing that people share in common it's their love of fish. It's not just the matter of loving the sport of fishing but it's a staple in meals, and lifestyle.

Hard at work adding detail and the screws

What better thing to get for an Alaskan dad than something...fishy. When I think of my own dad I think about the times he loses wallet or his keys (not really they usually are right where he left them). To combat this problem for a craft the kids made a salmon key holder.

Drawing the details

Len, a gentlemen from the congregation who is incredibly gifted in woodwork volunteered to cut out wood fish. From there he drilled holes where the hooks would go. The students then painted the fish, added the detail (ie: tail, fins, etc), and glued on a googly eye, and then screed on the hooks for the keys.

Wrapping them in paper for the dads to open

The preparation a bit more than the normal craft but the outcome is something of great quality. It was easy enough for the children to make and they enjoyed making it too. Hopefully the fathers who receive these fish will save some time that would otherwise be spent looking for keys.

Completed key holder

Mother’s Day Creations

This past Sunday was one of finger painting. Red, yellow, purple green paint on over a dozen little hands. Call me crazy but I think the stress of managing tiny humans with paint on their hands outweighs the fun and excitement when it’s all done.

With mother’s day a couple weeks away the kids were busy on their mother’s day creations. This year it’s a reusable canvas bag with the handprints of the children. There is one bag made for each family that way a mother of four does not end up with four of the same craft. This gift, I feel, is one that is both practical and sentimental.

Adding yellow and red thumb prints for bumble bees & lady bugs

Each of the handprints serve as the top of a flower. The children also put thumb prints of yellow and red which will be transformed into bumble bees, and lady bugs.

Next week—after the paint has dried—the children will draw on the stems to the handprints, and fill out the bugs. In the meantime Ericka and I are going to iron on the quote “Mothers hold their children’s hands for a while, but their hearts forever”. I think it will turn out very cute and the mothers will cherish it as they can look back at how tiny their son or daughter’s hands once were.

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. ~ Psalm 127:3

Easter Sunday!

What a rush! Easter Sunday is like non-stop celebration--because that's what it should be. The morning began at 4:30am when my alarm went off. From there I awoke and prepared for church. I made a trip to Wal-Mar to pick up a couple last minuet items needed for the puppet show.

I arrived at church to set up the puppet show area. I was going to use a piece of drywall as the puppet show wall but it was too heavy to move upstairs. I then oppted to stringing up a tablecloth hung on twine between two windows. It was heavy for the twine so I rigged up a support pole (a handle from a snow shovel) in the middle by using safety pins to keep it in place.

Our B-E-A-U-tiful flower display the alter guild does such a marvelous job.

Yes those are ALL real, tulips, daffodils, lilies, and birch trees.

Choir arrived to rehearse at 6:45am. We ran through our Easter Cantata complete with brass accompaniment.

The first service was smaller in attendance than I was expecting since back home sunrise was always the big service but here it was the smaller of the two. Throughout the service the brass added triumphant sound on several of the hymn songs. It gave me goosebumps.

After the first service I went downstairs to enjoy a fantastic Easter Breakfast prepared by the men of the congregation. This is a tradition that has been going on for 25+ years. It was neat to see the men armed with spatulas, aprons, and grills. Sausage, pancakes, eggs, and fruit was the menu. It was delicious.

We love our men!

More pancakes

We had a great turn out!

I got to sit with a variety of people some new some old. I love talking to new people the social butterfly in me is always interested. I got to build a really neat relationship with a family I had never met before and found out they just moved here on military and were glad to find such a welcoming congregation for Easter. I could tell the Holy Spirit was with me because conversation came easy and when we finished I had a little happy dance in my heart (I don't know how else to explain it).

After breakfast was second service. Second service began with a bang as the bagpipes opened with Amazing Grace. It gave me chills and even brought a tear to my eye. Not sure if it was the atmosphere, the realization that my time here on internship is coming to a close, the fact that Gary was back with the pipers after heart surgery, or the power of being surrounded in community with so many other fellow believers in Christ. It was probably a combination of all of the above but it was simply awe-inspiring.

Bagpipes!

Full house-love it

The service was my favorite. As much as I like contemporary there is something so comforting about the traditional service. "This is the Feast of victory for our God" is one of my favorite songs--and it's part of the liturgy. There is something within all of us that seeks tradition. Maybe it's a connection to the past, a familiar memory of a special time that brings us comfort in our often turbulent lives. Maybe it's a link to our communal history, a sense of union with those who came before us. But there's some deep desire to connect with our past, to continue our traditions and for me I received that today.

"Jesus Christ is Risen Today", "Now All the Vault of heaven Resounds", "Crown Him with Many Crowns"...these are the songs, the songs I love. With added brass to them it is extremely powerful and speaks in a way that words alone cannot. It speaks to my heart, to something internal, the joy that Christ has Risen! It was one of those moments when I could feel the complete presence of Jesus Christ so strongly that chills ran down my spine, my heart skipped a beat, and I was washed in perfect peace.

After second service it was time for the annual Puppet Show and Easter Egg Hunt. The week previous the youth had helped assemble the eggs. We had so many eggs we did not have enough time to hide them. I called upon the Stoltenberg family to help in-between me teaching each of the three kids their guitar lessons. We hid 350 eggs around the church basement.

Puppet show

The puppet show was based on the Resurrection Eggs . It was a funny yet compelling story of the journey to the cross that Jesus traveled for the payment of our sins. I think the kids really enjoyed it, and their parents too.

For the little guys it was their very first Easter Egg Hunt

Got one

So the couch is kinda covered in lots of eggs

They caught on...digging in the cushions 

Showing off their treasure

counting them up...

Following the puppet show the kids split up by age groups and went to their respective areas in search of Easter Eggs. Each egg was complete with a Bible verse and of course candy.

Palm Sunday

My childhood memories of Palm Sunday include parades of palm-waving children, liturgical dancing with ribbons, and a familiar church member dressed up as Jesus. It was corny, but when we sang “Hosanna in the Highest!” my young heart felt all the joy that accompanies the commencement of Holy Week.

Passion Week begins and ends in exaltation, yet in between is a cornucopia of other emotions. We see Jesus overturn tables; people hanging on Christ’s every word; cloak-and-dagger deals made to kill the Messiah; proclamations made and prayers offered.

From our perspective today, Palm Sunday is just another milestone on the road to the Resurrection, but think about what it must have been like to be in that moment—the King you have waited and wished for is finally here! Here’s how the Gospel of Luke describes the “triumphal entry”:

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
I have to think that even if the stones were crying out in that moment, they would have gone unheard for the joyful song coming from the crowd.

It’s hard to throw ourselves into the celebratory spirit of Palm Sunday knowing Jesus will be crucified by the same hands that are here waving in adoration. Soon the sea of gratitude will become a a storm of mockery, and even Christ’s disciples will lose faith. But when we gloss over the exaltation of Palm Sunday, we miss a valuable part of the Easter story: the sense of expectation.

Today instead of being a child waving palm branches I was the person leading the children. Before the service the children gathered to hand out palm branches to those who attended worship. They were so eager to do so it was cute. I think each person got offered a branch at least three times, so no one was left out that's for sure.

The kids are eagerly awaiting people to hand out palms to.

Jacob REALLY wanted to be the student to give me a palm branch

Mrs. Jennie has three kids at once trying to give her a palm

The service for me was much a blur. After handing out branches the children went downstairs and I joined the handbell choir as we played along to the traditional liturgy. It was an added bonus to an already beautiful service.

After playing first part of the handbells I ran downstairs to assist with Children's Church. Children's church is Sunday school but it takes place during the church service. This Sunday in Children's Church the kids made an Easter Garden. Using potting soil, a tiny buried flower pot for the tomb, shade grass seed, & crosses made from twigs the kids created their very own resurrection scene. With proper watering and sunshine it will be green for Easter.

In hindsight having kids play with dirt, rocks, and sticks while dressed in their Sunday clothes may not have been the best idea but the kids had fun and no one got too messy.

Working on their Easter Garden.

While their mothers teach Children's Church Isabella and Landon play together.

They are coming along nicely.

Adding the seeds, now just a little more dirt to cover them.

Adding the seeds

Completed project today...

...and what it looks like a week after watering :)

After Children's Church (it goes until the Sermon is done and then children join their parents in worship) I headed back upstairs for the remainder of the service. Handbells played along with the pre-communion liturgy. During the offering the choir sang with handbells. Since a lot of choir members are also handbell members there was overlap. We are talented and sounded pretty good if I may say so myself.

After worship the youth assembled Easter eggs (placing candy and a Bible verse in each one), and then hid them as next week we have a large Easter Egg hunt and puppet show for children birth-5th grade.

Palm Sunday was busy for me but also a great time of celebration. As Christians, we celebrate Palm Sunday in anticipation of Easter. What a marvelous thing: Jesus, God made flesh, died for sinful humanity’s sake and then rose from the grave to conquer death! Words don’t do justice to the joy that still fills my heart at the thought of such love and hope.

Palm Sunday remains a day of expectation, even if our expectations differ from those of the crowd that welcomed Jesus. Today, we are expectant of the glorious event at the end of the week, when Jesus returns as the King of Kings to bring forgiveness to all those who want it.