Cross Ways. August Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Psalm 98:4

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1 Beaver Lake Lutheran Church August 2018 Cross Ways Grow, Go & Glorify God From Pastor Nate: Another Gift Every good and perfect gift is from above James 1:17 We have a brightly painted wooden block that sits on our kitchen counter that has words of wisdom stenciled on one of its sides. The words remind anyone who walks through our kitchen to See each day as a gift. I read these words just about every morning when I am drinking a cup of coffee or pouring myself a bowl of cereal. Sometimes I let the words sink in and I send up a prayer of thanks for another day to be alive. Other times, I have too many other things on my mind and I read the words and forget them almost immediately as I rush out the door to get to work or take my kids to another activity. There are times, however, when I am talking to people or making hospital visits or just going about my day when I am reminded to See each day as a gift in a way that stays with me. This happens most often when someone tells me that they have lost a loved one or that they have been diagnosed with an illness or physical challenge that will forever change their lives. Perhaps this illness or diagnoses will prevent them from doing all of the things they used to be able to do, perhaps it will limit their freedom to get around, or perhaps it will, sadly, shorten the number of days of their lives. I recently had an experience like this when I visited a man named Ed who was dying of cancer. I was asked by a friend to make this visit. My friend thought Ed could benefit from talking to a pastor. When I first met Ed, he was lying in a hospital bed in a care facility that I had visited a number of times before. It was clear that Ed was coming to the end of his life. He was incredibly thin and his body was frail. He struggled to grab the cup of ice water that sat on his hospital table that he would drink from whenever his voice gave out. There wasn t much life left in Ed s body, but his eyes were still full of life and they glimmered as we spoke. Ed hadn t gone to church much throughout his life, he had been baptized, but his parents didn t go to church much when Ed was growing up and Ed really never took much of an interest in church later in life. But Ed had this deep trust that members of his family were waiting for him to transition to the other side of this life. Ed said that he believed in God and that a relationship with God had been important to him in his life and that there were times in his life when prayer was important and had helped him through some hard times, but church was just never that appealing to Ed. (Continued on page 2) Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Psalm 98:4 Thought for the Month: God is like Hallmark Cards; He cares enough to send His very best.

2 Cross Ways Page 2 Ed and I prayed together and I offered to give him communion, but he respectfully said No, thank you, Reverend. I asked Ed if he was ready for death and he said he was and that he had been preparing for death for a long time. He said he wasn t scared to die, but he also said that he wished he would have understood earlier in his life how precious life really is. Ed said it wasn t until he knew his days were numbered that he really started to see how incredible each day really is and he wished he would have understood this before he knew that his life was leaving his body. And I have heard this type of story from many different people. It is often when we are suffering or experiencing some kind of loss, maybe even the loss of our own lives, that we start to realize that each day of our lives really is a gift precious and incredible and good and sacred. And isn t it too bad that it often takes something sad or tragic to remind us of this fact. So this morning, as I slowly sipped on a cup of coffee, I took some extra time to look at that brightly painted block of wood that sits on our kitchen counter and let the words stenciled on to it See each day as a gift fill my mind and my soul. And today I began the day with a prayer, thanking our Creator God for the gift of this day, thanking God that I am here and that I have this moment and this day, and asking for the grace to use this day, this gift, well. And then I resolved to live today remembering what an incredible gift it truly is amazing, full of wonder and discovery, full of grace and new beginnings, another chance to do some good things, another chance to create a better world, another chance to love those who are closest to me. Thanks be to God for the gift of another day! Yours in Christ, Pastor Nate Persistent Faith Persistence, the watchword of the ant and spider. holes dug, smooth and round. Rain, wind, feet, and paws tramped the mound. Six tiny feet marched, removed the dirt, cleared the pathway and built another mound. The spider spun an orb masterpiece. Destructive hands, wind, and rain hammered the web. Skinny The ant and the spider, teachers of our Christian walk. Sin, health, finances, and death beat down our souls. Our two feet promenade in prayer and meditation on His Word. Together, the dirt is removed, the pathways cleared, and faith increased. As Christians, we must never, ever give up. Philippians 1:6 NIV, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. --by Darlene Thompson, From Asheville, North Carolina

3 Page 3 Cross Ways Memorials Given: For Audrey Green Denis Buege Phyllis Carlson Timothy Crossfield Gordy & Nancy Engfer Karen Green Harold Hallberg Barbara Hentges Joel & Joan Hilpert David Johnson Rod & Lil Johnson Peggy Karnuth Lu Larsen Carol Laumer Donald Lindstrom Gerry Madsen Pat Rohr Lu Schmidt Robert Schulte Jerry & Peg Swanson Carol Whitcomb Farmer s Market Update Our Farmer s Market is currently producing peas, green beans, cucumbers, lettuce and zinnias. We also have 4 jars of our Freezer Strawberry Jam (this is the last of the jam!). We encourage you to continue to check each week at our Farmer s Market in the atrium to see what veggies and flowers are available. The radishes are done, but we ll plant more for later in the season. We re closely monitoring our tomatoes, zucchinis and corn which we hope to harvest soon! We ask for donations for the veggies. This year we are donating the money to both the ELCA Good Gifts to establish a community garden in areas of need - and the N. St. Paul Food Shelf. Last year we received $ in donations! Can we surpass that amount this year? Let s challenge ourselves! Blessed Sacrament FunFest August All are invited to our annual FunFest! Saturday: Classic Car Show 3-6 pm., Deacon Fred s Famous Spaghetti Dinner 5-7 pm., and Polka Dance with Nathan s Old-Time Band under the big tent 6-9 pm., kids game truck, beer & wine garden, and much more! Sunday 11:30-4:30 pm.: music from Mariachi Jalisco Noon-3 pm., and classic rock band Buster Phelan 3-4:30 pm., ethnic food, pulled pork, human foosball, bag tournament, silent action, and children s games Stillwater Ave. For more information, call , or check at From your Publisher This is not my Cross Ways but OUR Cross Ways and it is getting more difficult for me to come up with things to fill the pages every month. Pastor Nate and Deb Houtkooper, our parish nurse, always have a full page (or two) article, but as you can see, there are more than two pages to the Cross Ways. I need your help. I need new ideas, stories, an upcoming church event, etc. If you have anything that you feel might be appropriate for the Cross Ways, please feel free to submit it to me; either by jdhilpert@comcast.net (preferred) or you may place it in my mail box under the counter in the church office; keeping in mind that the Dead Line for the Cross Ways is the 20 th of each month. I may not be able to use very thing submitted every month, but I do keep a file of Cross Ways information and will use what I can, when I can. Thank You!! (Yes, you have seen this before.) Deadline for Publications Crossway articles are due by the 20th of each month. Info for weekly bulletin is due by noon each Friday. Electronic content can be ed to jdhilpert@comcast.net. Do We Have Your Correct Address? Please notify the church office when you have a new address, phone number or address. This will help us with our church directory, other publications and mailings. Thank You!

4 Cross Ways Page 4 By: Deb Houtkooper What you need to know about Stroke When the Maplewood Fire Department was here, one of the things they discussed was stroke and the warning signs: How do you know if you or someone you re with is having a stroke? Here is wisdom from Mayo Clinic about strokes. It is life-saving information, because recognizing the symptoms of a stroke and calling emergency responders right away is the key! Watch for these signs and symptoms if you think you or someone else may be having a stroke. Pay attention to when the signs and symptoms begin. The length of time they have been present can affect your treatment options: Trouble with speaking and understanding. You may experience confusion. You may slur your words or have difficulty understanding speech. Paralysis or numbness of the face, arm or leg. You may develop sudden numbness, weakness or paralysis in your face, arm or leg. This often happens just on one side of your body. Try to raise both your arms over your head at the same time. If one arm begins to fall, you may be having a stroke. Also, one side of your mouth may droop when you try to smile. Trouble with seeing in one or both eyes. You may suddenly have blurred or blackened vision in one or both eyes, or you may see double. Headache. A sudden, severe headache, which may be accompanied by vomiting, dizziness or altered consciousness, may indicate you're having a stroke. Trouble with walking. You may stumble or experience sudden dizziness, loss of balance or loss of coordination. Seek immediate medical attention if you notice any signs or symptoms of a stroke, even if they seem to fluctuate or disappear. Think "FAST" and do the following: Face. Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop? Arms. Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? Or is one arm unable to rise up? Speech. Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is his or her speech slurred or strange? Time. If you observe any of these signs, call 911 immediately. Call 911 or your local emergency number right away. Don't wait to see if symptoms stop. Every minute counts. The longer a stroke goes untreated, the greater the potential for brain damage and disability.

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6 Beaver Lake Lutheran Church 2280 Stillwater Avenue Maplewood, MN Beaver Lake Lutheran Church Nate Toso, Pastor Deb Houtkooper, Parish Nurse 08/18 Worship Schedule 10:00 AM Worship Service