Roles (Or Rolls?)

Hello, friends! It's another Thursday, and that means another blog post. I'm continuing with our Lenten theme today of Jesus as our AND. On Sunday, Pastor Jay talked about sacrifice AND provision, and how Jesus brings those together for us.

Last night was Vespers. We talked about the five roles in the church found in Ephesians 4: apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, and teacher. At the end of the discussion, everyone took a survey to discover which one they are. We ended up with 2 teachers, 3 shepherd/teachers, 1 teacher/prophet, 2 teacher/evangelists, 1 apostle, and 1 evangelist. We have quite the group, for sure!

As I think about how I can relate my life and work to Lent today, I keep going back to those roles. We didn't come up with them on our own. We couldn't possibly fulfill them on our own. But God provided those roles for us. He provided us with the capability to fulfill them.

And we threw it back in his face. We weren't interested. We wanted to make up and choose our own roles. We're sinners, after all. We are incapable of even wanting one of the five roles on our own. Therefore, God provided something different for us: a sacrifice, one who perfectly fulfilled each of those roles -- including taking on our sinful role -- and died for us that we might have the chance to believe and fulfill God's plan for us.

We couldn't have the provision without the sacrifice. Without Jesus to connect them, we would be helpless and hopeless without even realizing it. With Jesus's sacrifice that provided for us the opportunity for faith, we can have hope and help others in the role God has given us.

Talking about roles so much reminded me of the amazing rolls from the fellowship retreat at the beginning of February. Therefore, here is a picture of one of those rolls to remind you that YOU have a role, because of what Jesus's sacrifice provided for us.

The Wisdom of Puppets

Hello, friends! Last week, I neglected to write a blog post for you. But I have some cool stuff coming up, so get excited! Each week during Lent, I'm going to blog about how Lent is coming into my daily life. Here's what I'm thinking about today!

Random fact about myself: I love writing puppet scripts. I started loving this during my time at Concordia, and I still love it now, even though I have no opportunity to perform the scripts at the moment. One of my goals (which might be accomplished in the next few months) is to write a puppet script for each part of the church year.

Last week, I decided now was an appropriate time to write some scripts for Lent. My two characters are very confused. Why the funny-looking crosses on our foreheads? Why can't we eat chocolate? What does "repent" mean? What's Monday Thursday? And finally, why is Good Friday good? As I wrote these scripts, trying to come up with some ways young children might misinterpret Lent, I realized that I was coming to a better understanding of it myself.

In particular, I understand better why we have Lent. This can seem like a sad part of year, and it is, sort of. It's sad to remember that Jesus had to suffer and die for us. It's sad to realize that we needed his sacrifice so desperately. But it's also a happy time, because Lent isn't the end. We have Lent, a time of repentance and fasting, to remind us of how amazing Easter truly is. We need both Lent and Easter; one without the other is meaningless. We need the fast and the feast.

One without the other is meaningless, but they can't come together without the great conjunction, as Pastor Jay said last night. Jesus is our And. He relates the suffering of Lent and the celebration of Easter in a way we could never have come up with on our own. Because we have Jesus, Lent doesn't have to be sad. Lent can be filled with joy as we consider what is coming next.

Happy Lent to you!

Some New Things

Hello, friends! It's warm and sunny here in Florida today. All of you frozen people in the Midwest can live vicariously through me. ;) Anyway, today is a picture blog as promised. I thought I'd introduce you to some of the new things and developments in my life.

I've been starting my mornings and finishing off my days recently with my hymnal. Singing Morning and Evening Prayer, Matins, and Vespers reminds me of chapel at Concordia and gives me a sense of community with Christians and God.

I've converted my now-empty second bedroom into an office. You can see I have a bulletin board hanging on the wall over my desk... wait, what's that on the desk? Two computers? Yes, this is my brag blog today, I got a new computer!

I'm slowly learning how to use Windows 8. I'm posting this picture of my Start menu because I wanted to demonstrate how I'm thinking of all you frozen people. I have Urbandale and Mequon chilling (literally) in my Weather app. 

Getting back to seriousness, I made this a few weeks ago to remind me of my personal motto: people matter, alternatively stated as "people, not numbers." It sits on my desk in plain sight so I never forget.

I also have this reminder on my bulletin board. University Lutheran's annual focus is "gifted," based on Ephesians 2:8-10. Everything University Lutheran does this year should relate to that focus somehow. Keeping it on my bulletin board keeps it on my radar.

On a different track, this is my Bookmarks folder of "Job Stuff." I'm back on the call list for when my missionary year is up, but I'm not waiting idly and twiddling my thumbs. I'm also checking various job sites to see if relevant jobs have been posted. If you know of a church looking for a youth leader, or you know of a website I could check, please let me know! I would really appreciate your help!

That's all my pictures for the day. I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my life! Until next week, this is Iowa Girl Meets World, signing off.