CYF Blast (Page 9)

January 5, 2023 Dear Peace Families, Over the few days, Minnesota has gotten plundered with snow, and winter breaks have been extended. So to help you think warm thoughts, I’m excited to share with you some opportunities for your students to enjoy the outdoors, grow in community, and grow in their faiths this coming summer. The summer schedule, in chronological order, is as follows: We hope that everyone will be able to participate and enjoy these events. If cost is…

December 29, 2022 Dear Peace Families, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you’ve all enjoyed quality time with friends and family, eaten good food, and rejoiced in the celebration of Christ’s birth.  As we prepare to turn the calendar to 2023, I invite you and your families to look back and reflect on 2022. What were your favorite memories? What aspects of your life have brought you the greatest joy? What experiences brought you closer together as a…

December 22, 2022 Dear Peace Families, Christmas blessings, from all of us at Peace to you. First, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who helped make this past Sunday’s Christmas Program possible. It was such a joyous morning, and the Sunday School children did an amazing job singing, acting, and sharing the Christmas story and the love of God. As I mentioned on Sunday and wrote in the bulletin, it took a great team to bring…

December 16, 2022 Dear Peace Families, This Sunday will be a very special one—the Peace Christmas Program. This year’s program is called Follow The Star, and there will be 31 Sunday School students participating, including our 11 Alleluia Singers. They’ve been doing a wonderful job rehearsing and preparing, and we are so excited to praise God with you on Sunday. They will share the Christmas story through music, scripture, and costume, and they’ll be joined by the Peace Choir’s participation—and yours…

December 8, 2022 Dear Peace families, This year I’ve waited a little bit longer than usual to listen to Christmas music. I’m not sure if there was any specific reason for it—I just wasn’t ready yet.  But when I did start to listen, I noticed something—that the music always seems to meet us wherever we are in our lives and proclaim Christ’s presence, promise, and peace into them. Presence—that God will not leave us alone in our deepest challenges nor…

December 1, 2022 Dear Peace families, Next Friday, December 9, our Children, Youth, and Family Committee will be hosting a Parents Night Out event from 6:00-8:00pm. If you need time to do some Christmas shopping, enjoy some quality time with your spouse, or sit in the quiet alone, this event is for you!  Registration before the event is required (no walk-ins), and there is a limit of 20 children. We also ask that you give a suggested donation of $5…

A happy Thanksgiving to you all! And beginning on Sunday, a blessed Advent to you all as well. As we continue into this holiday season, I pray that this time would filled with love. That you would be able to see family members, laugh over old stories, and smile over tables of delicious food. That your hearts would be opened to the needs of your neighbors and that your eyes would be opened to the divine within them. That God would fill you with…

November 17, 2022 Dear Peace Families, There are three things I’d like to inform you about today! The first is about this year’s Christmas Program, “Follow the Star.” The program follows Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, where Jesus is born. And above Bethlehem, a star shines bright for all to see. The angels proclaim, “Follow the star!” And so the wisemen, shepherds, sheep, and all the animals abide, and find the greatest gift the world has ever known. You can…

November 10, 2022 Dear Peace Families, November. When colorful fall has officially become brown and gray fall. When the warm, sunny days have been blown out by the cold winds of the oncoming winter, and the rain chills you to your bones. I won’t speak for everyone, but for me, it can be hard to feel grateful when it feels so dreadful outside.  But I’ve found that something that gets me out of the late fall funk is thinking about…

November 3, 2022 Dear Peace Families, There’s an uncomfortable conversation that many parents dread having with their kids, and it’s one that is usually put off until they’re forced to have it—talking about death. We all die. It’s a fact of life, and it unites all of us in our common humanity. Yet it can sometimes seem taboo, as if avoiding the discussion will make it less likely to happen. But no matter how far we try to run away…

October 27, 2022 Dear Peace Families, This weekend marks two important days for us—both of which are formally celebrated on October 31st.  On Sunday, we will celebrate Reformation Sunday—a day in which we commemorate Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses and having freedom in our faith. Christian freedom is important. The prevailing thought in Luther’s day (one that still lurks around today too) was that your had to do good works in order to get into heaven. But in rebellion against…

October 20, 2022 Dear Peace Families, This week I had to bring my car into the local auto shop to get an oil change, in addition to some extra items that came up in my 100,000 mile inspection. It’s certainly not the most fun thing to do, for my time or for my wallet, but it is necessary to keep my vehicle running well and efficiently for as long as possible. And, it forces me to stop and assess how…