Uphill idealist

This weekend is filled to the brim with fun and fulfilling things to do. First, this Saturday morning offers a time for students interested and already serving as Impact leaders to get some training, make some new friends, and have some pizza for lunch. Don't miss this training on Saturday at Lakewood Baptist from 10-12:30! Second, First Lutheran church is hosting a community Easter party complete with an egg hunt, crafts, story time, refreshments and photos with the Easter bunny! Third, our youth band will be partnering with Sacred Fire to help lead worship at the 9am service and sunday school and the 11am service will follow including a Palm procession. Fourth, and finally - First Lutheran youth and Families are invited to talk part in an afternoon of bowling at Jamestown Bowling Co. Shoe rental and two games is only $5.00 per person. Hope to see you there!

The following segment is taken from Chapter 6: Talking about sin in the book Holy Conversations. For the last six weeks, myself and a group of folks have been meeting and sharing our thoughts and the process of telling our faith stories both online at Facebook and in person with a small group that meets at First Lutheran Church on a weekly basis. Would you like to become a part of this conversation? Our question this week has to do with the topic of sin. Take a minute and read the following section and feel free to post your responses below or at our Holy Conversations group online here . Thank you for your honesty and mutual respect as you take part in the ongoing conversation of faith, life and the challenge to understand and talk about it. Peace, Tara "You are dirty rotten sinners, the whole lot of you!" We can picture the scene in our minds. A tall gaunt, dark-clad minister is pointing his bony finger at a group of people who are cringing at this words. They aren'...

Today's post is part of an ongoing conversation that takes place online at Facebook's Holy Conversations Book Group and at First Lutheran Church in Jamestown NY. Please feel free to join us for group on Thursday at noon(Wednesday's after Easter),leave your comments below, or click on the hotlink provided to share your thoughts as well. As always, thank you for participating and reading. TLE Psalm 37" 1-4... Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for they are like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land of and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." When I used to read this Psalm, I used to read the theme as ..."live a good life, and God will give you what you want." But on further reflection, the message I think has more to do with surrendering our lives to God and he will pla...

I love and hate to go shopping for new running shoes. When you try things on in the store, its not always a sure bet what works there will work out on the road. Will the heel slip, will the arch support where it needs to support, and will they make me rather large size 10's not look like clown feet? Sometimes I've had a simple time finding what I've needed, sometimes the shoes I love only last three months and I have to try to find them on sale as they can be costly, but one thing is for sure - I need GOOD shoes to get out there and hit the trail every day. I love this quote from the poem "Sweet Darkness" by David Whyte... "Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you." I think this poem is as true in shoes as it is in all of life. We can require the space of solitude to often really figure things out. We need to think on what fits in life and what d...

Thank you so much for the hard work, provision of soup, musical entertainment, and hands on assistance to make today's "Soup's on!" lunch at First Lutheran Church a success. Special thanks go to Wendy Larson for her chicken noodle soup, Jeff James of Labyrinth Press Co. for the Mulligatawny, The Nelson Family for the Taco Soup (the crowds winning choice), and Joseph Yelich for creating (the judges' winning choice) Zesty Creamy Tomato Bisque. Today we had an income of $250.00 and will continue to collect non-perishable and canned item throughout the end of April for Joint Neighborhood Project's Feinstein Foundation Food/Resource Drive. Keep the canned good coming! We will be collecting them through the end of April.