A Word from Pastor Lisa: Let Your Light Shine

In the dark and freezing cold temperatures last week, we made an ice globe. We took a balloon, filled it with water, and then let it freeze outdoors for a few days. When we cut off the balloon, we dumped excess water out of the hollow ice globe. Then we lit a tealight candle, placed it inside the globe, and admired the beauty on our porch. “Let your light shine before others,” Jesus told his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, “so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

Current Events, Blog, Pastor LisaKatelyn HlavatyFebruary 26, 2021Winter, Ice, Light, Let your light shine, Emotions

A Word from Pastor Lisa: Blessing of a Skinned Knee

When I was around 5, I tumbled off my Ms. Pac-Man Big Wheel and skinned my knee deeply enough that I still have the scar. I had removed the back seat from the Big Wheel and was riding on my knees down a small driveway hill. The pain of the injury taught me not to ride the Big Wheel improperly again.

Emotions, Pastor Lisa, BlogKatelyn HlavatyFebruary 19, 2021Blessings, Skinned knee, Scars, Pain, Emotions

A Word from Pastor Lisa: Renewal

I wonder what renewal looks like in your life. Maybe it’s a new notebook to begin the semester. Perhaps it’s the feeling of entering the ocean and feeling the waves wash away the sand from your skin. Maybe it’s giving or receiving forgiveness in a relationship, then doing the fragile work of reconciliation.

Pastor Lisa, Holidays, PrayerKatelyn HlavatyJanuary 8, 2021Renewal, Prayer, New Year, Holiday Comment

A Word from Pastor Lisa: A Christmas Prayer

We greet your arrival with wonder, Loving God, that you would humble yourself and come to us as a child. This year has humbled us with grief, loneliness, exhaustion, and anxiety. Shine your light in our darkness and illumine our path with your presence.

Blog, Pastor LisaKatelyn HlavatyDecember 23, 2020Advent, Christmas

A Word from Pastor Lisa: Unexpected Gifts

When I was four years old, I received an amazing gift the week before Christmas – a baby sister. I was so excited to play with her and care for her. Yet my mom says about two weeks later, the novelty had worn off. Turns out a tiny baby doesn’t make much of a playmate.

Pastor Lisa, Blog, EmotionsKatelyn HlavatyDecember 21, 2020sister, Christmas, Advent

A Word from Pastor Lisa: Love Came Down at Christmas

This pandemic has awakened my senses. Perhaps it’s the slower pace of life. Perhaps it’s the extended time at home. Even the most ordinary moments seem stronger, brighter, and more lovely to me.

Pastor Lisa, Blog, EmotionsKatelyn HlavatyDecember 18, 2020Christmas, Advent

A Word from Pastor Donna: On Grief

Christmas is usually a season of great joy and light, but this year it may feel more like a season of great darkness and shadows. So many things can make this season hard–death, illness, job loss, financial difficulties, broken family relationships, chronic pain to name a few. 2020 has added even more—the coronavirus pandemic, election angst, systemic racism, and the list goes on! It’s no wonder you may be feeling sad, depressed, and overwhelmed at the thought of celebration.

Pastor Donna, Emotions, HolidaysKatelyn HlavatyDecember 11, 2020Grief, Pastor Donna, Christmas, Advent

A Word from Pastor Lisa: When Part of Your J-O-Y is Missing

Washington Post columnist Monica Hesse has a neighbor with 10-foot-tall letters spelling J-O-Y in the yard. She tweeted a photo this week with the “J” fallen over, leaving just “O-Y,” and she tagged it #2020.

Pastor Lisa, Blog, EmotionsKatelyn HlavatyDecember 11, 2020Missing joy, joy, Grief

A Word from Pastor Lisa: The Things That Make for Peace

When our daughter was about two years old, she entered the “Mine!” phase, grabbing toys and art supplies away from other children at daycare. In addition to correcting her, we read to her Todd Parr’s The Peace Book, a brightly illustrated children’s book with lovely thoughts about peace: “Peace is saying you’re sorry when you hurt someone. Peace is helping your neighbor. Peace is thinking about someone you love.”

Pastor Lisa, Blog, EmotionsKatelyn HlavatyDecember 4, 2020Christmas, Advent, peace, children, family

A Word from Pastor Lisa: On the Hunt for Hope

As we munch on Thanksgiving leftovers, we turn our attention to Advent, which means “arrival.” During Advent, we prepare for the first coming of Jesus as a baby and look forward to his return in glory. We live in the between-time, the place of tension, and we do so as people of hope.

Pastor Lisa, Blog, EmotionsKatelyn HlavatyNovember 27, 2020Current events, Thanksgiving, Hope, Hopelessness, Romans

A Word from Pastor Lisa: On Group Projects

In school, I despised group projects. As a type-A personality, I always felt the pressure to take charge, and often, to do all of the work. I saw a meme the other day that read: “When I die, I want all of the people who did group projects with me to lower me into my grave so they can let me down one last time.”

Pastor Lisa, Blog, Church, BiblicalKatelyn HlavatyNovember 6, 2020Hope, Corinthians

A Word from Pastor Lisa: A Prayer for Weathering this Election Season

Do not let this picture of clear blue skies and glassy water on Ogle Lake fool you. We had seen potential rain in the forecast, even had drops on our windshield driving to Brown County, but we started off on a hike with two dogs and a preschooler and left our rain gear in the car.

Pastor Lisa, Blog, Church, BiblicalKatelyn HlavatyOctober 30, 2020bike, bicycle, Corinthians

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