Uphill idealist

Image found at Wild Life Command Center It was a warm and dark Wednesday night. A friend from home stopped into town to visit me and to see the churches that I'm serving in the Ken-Ton neighborhood. She was excited to see my name on the sign and take in the worship space. So we stopped in to one of the buildings for a tour. As I showed her around the altar area I told her about how amazing it is to be able to serve communion now. In my excitement I laid my flash-light app engaged cell phone down, held my hands in the air to represent my imaginary "bread" and started to say the words on institution. "On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread broke it and said, "This is my body broken for you..." In my friend's delight she shouted, "Oh do that again I want to take a photo!" I obliged and as I held my hands up I felt a "WOOSH!" of air by my arms and head. Was it a gust of wind? Was it a moth? Um. NO. It was ...

Carpooling, chaos and hard-headed spark. Friends that are family, is us from the start. Meals and museums and pages from old books, these are just a few steps that we already took.    Goliaths we've wrestled and they've made their mark, but this way that we walk-wobble-walk encompasses our whole human heart.  Many cups of dark coffee and sharing a tune have been our mantra, our method our rune. The melody that greets us is one I can't hear too soon. Gospel and grace give us hope for the days set before us. Laughter and space call us to stay close. For this piece in the road  and the life that you've given - what a treasure, my friend, you are and always have been. For Jenn Swift Copyright 2015 T.L.Eastman

There are a few things you should probably know about me. 1. It is necessary for me to be creative. 2. Relationships born and fostered in community are my life-blood. 3. Serving God in the Church is my long-standing vocation. Image found at: grdodge.org 1. Creativity "31 he (God) has filled him with divine spirit,[a] with skill, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft," Exodus 35:31 Perhaps it's because I grew up in a rural community in North Western Pennsylvania where I had time and space to play or the fact that my family valued music, art and reading; but I love to create. While some folks may designate a specific hobby or art medium they prefer to work with; I love to choose from a varied array of subjects to engage in creative process. From cooking to painting or singing to writing; creating beautiful things to taste, touch and view is a hobby and focus that gives my life, well, life. Part of what I feel God has called me to is using my cr...

If I could, I'd take all of the favorite days and place them in a frame. This would be perfect, except there are too many moments to fit any size frame. There were dreams - and they came true. There a people I longed to meet - and did. There are songs that were written - and played. There were paintings painted - and displayed. There were broken hearts - and they were mended. There were strangers - and now they are dear to me. All of this - all of these people are infinity. They can't fit into a frame, but they can reside... in my memory, in my heart  and  in my pockets... I'm taking you with me. Poem and image by T.L. Eastman copyright 2015

When words don't cut it and emotions run deep. When life is shifting in all the places feet sweep. When hearts are full and beats loudly bleat. This is the place that verklempt and I meet. For family. For friends. For foes who once were friends and those no longer foe... when verklempt comes to visit - you pray for the shortest stay, this about verklempt... I know. T. Eastman

Over the last two years, First Lutheran Church has been making an intentional effort to reach out into their surrounding neighborhood by using their parish house, “First House” as a place for community gathering and outreach. Since January, First House has been open to the public every Friday afternoon for a time dubbed “Friday’s with Friends”.  “Friday’s with Friends” is a free coffee house that offers youth and adults coffee, cookies, and comfortable-supervised space for conversation, reading and playing board games. (Janet Wahlberg, Kairie Williams, and Jim Wahlberg) Every Friday is run with a team of volunteers from the church and community. The summer time hours will be from 1-3pm each Friday or when our open sign is placed outside by the sidewalk to the front and kitchen entrances of the building on 116 Chandler Street. Earlier this year, First Lutheran Church was awarded the Karl Peterson Field of Interest Fund by theCommunity Region Community Founda...

For the warmth, for the pause, for the need beyond words, for the joy bubbling to the surface... light a candle. Because of the news we read, because there is news we can't bear to read, because there is news we can't wait to share... light a candle. In loss, in abundance, in the in-between, in the hopes, in the pits of despair, and in the embrace of love... light a candle. For its flickering, because it's light carries on even in the darkest of times, in the way it reminds us that we are loved by a God that uses tiny things like water,  word,  bread, wine, wax and wick  to connect with us... light a candle. Image and poem by T.L. Eastman copyright 2015