It’s All Going According to Plan

I haven’t always been this deep, theological, well-spring of knowledge and wisdom. Before that I was a microbiologist. Instead of spreading the good news of God’s love and mercy, I was spreading Pseudomonas in a petrie dish. (That’s for all my fellow microbiologists out there, you know what I mean.) Sr. Jean, my high school chemistry teacher saw in me great potential in the sciences and encouraged me to pursue a degree in Medical Technology. As part of my degree I spent 12 months doing a clinical internship in a hospital. We rotated through all the departments in the hospital lab; chemistry, hematology and immunology to name a few. My favorite rotation was in the Microbiology department, because it was one of the few areas that wasn’t automated. It involved hands on investigation. It was just you and some unknown bacteria. Your job was to uncover its identity. It was all about mystery and solving the puzzle. And the thrill of discovery! As exciting as that sounds it just wasn’t my life’s calling. Sometimes I wonder if it was wasted time. Very soon after, I “merged onto the spiritual highway” in my early 30s, putting my faith and my desire to know God more personally on the front burner. I felt a restlessness. It was a desire to do more with my life in gratitude for the deep love and forgiveness I felt when I let God into my life. At the same time a church friend of mine saw a flyer for the Catherine of Siena Institute’s Called and Gifted Workshop that was coming to Milwaukee. It’s a program that helps participants through a process of discernment to discover their gifts and where God might be calling them to use those gifts. She thought I should go. My life hasn’t been the same since. Through that program I learned that we all have been given charisms, or spiritual gifts, to carry out our mission in life which is to bring Christ to the world. How we do that is unique to each one of us as is the mission field we are called to. For some it’s a classroom of students we are to bring Christ to, others an office of coworkers, and still others those tiny faces across the kitchen table. Our job is to discern what gifts God has given us and be willing to use them to bring his goodness to the...

Too Many Golf Shirts

My blog this week is late because I was waiting on the OK from my husband. Why you ask? Because it involves me making fun of him, one of my favorite pastimes. He said it was OK. He would take one for the Firstfruits team. To set the stage, I have to explain to you about the closets in our house. We live in a four bedroom house but only use one bedroom now that the kids are grown and gone so we have three empty closets. (Empty doesn’t exactly describe them. They are full of grade school art projects, high school yearbooks, homecoming dresses, trophies, and old Halloween costumes.) One of the extra closets houses our daughters’ wedding dresses and some blankets. The other two extra closets house my husbands extensive golf wardrobe. No, that’s not a typo. Two closets full of golf attire. I counted his golf shirts and needed a calculator. Seventy five in all. Hung by color and all facing the same way. In his defense, I can honestly say they were all either a free gift given in a golf outing or purchased with pro shop credit from his winnings. He’s a really good golfer. When I ask him why he doesn’t get rid of some, he says they have sentimental value. Out of desperation, I found a small section in the Golf Shirt Closet to store my out of season clothes. You know summer stuff in the winter and winter stuff in the summer. The other day my sentimental, Jack Nicklaus, called me upstairs and looked at me very serious and said...

The Lesson of the Geranium

I wouldn’t say I have a green thumb exactly but I like to think I do, so I plant tulip bulbs in fall to watch the green leaves push through the spring ground never to be followed by a flower. Just green leaves. I plant annuals every year and make sure they are spaced just the right distance apart as recommended so as they grow and flourish they don’t overlap too much. Mine are exactly that same distance apart when it comes to pulling them out for the fall clean up. Never have to worry about my garden becoming unruly. Then there were the years I decided to “go green” and grow my own vegetables in raised beds in our backyard. I thought it would be fun for the grandkids to learn about reaping and sowing and harvesting. Well...

A Real Resolution

The new year is off to a crazy start for me. First it was a biopsy for a spot on my nose. The results came back negative for skin cancer. It’s just a red reminder of how baby oil was the “sunscreen” of choice back in the 70’s. Then a summons to jury duty next week. I don’t mind fulfilling my civic duty. It’s trying to find the courthouse in Waukesha that has me in a tizzy. Anytime I have to go anywhere in Waukesha I breakout in a sweat. I’m directionally challenged so I find this charming suburb very hard to navigate. Then it’s time for my every ten year colonoscopy later this month. Need I say more. These out of my normal routine experiences had kept me from deciding on a New Years resolution. However last week I was doing my morning reflection with a book called Sacred Reading, a great book by the way, that is a guide to daily prayer using the scripture reading of the day. The suggested prayer at the end of that particular day’s reading was “Guide me with your Spirit today. Make me free to abandon bad habits, to do inspired works of love for God and for others.” It hit me...

A Christmas Rhyme

The gifts are wrapped, the cards are mailed, the cookies are baked and eaten. The halls are decked, the malls are checked, the sales couldn’t be beaten. But all along a thought prevailed that took my breath away. All these things they come and go but this one truth does stay. The baby born so long ago was our gift from God-his Son. To be born and die so all of us are with him when day is done. Let the hope this brings, the joy this sings, fill your thoughts for just one day. Show the love you hold for those young and old, that’s true peace on earth, as they say. Merry Christmas from Firstfruits!!...

The Two Weeks of Advent

If you looked at our 30+ year old family Advent wreath you would swear there are only two weeks to this season leading up to Christmas. Even after all these years the pink candle and the purple candle representing week three and four of Advent  look like new. The first two purple candles, not so much. I’ve had to replace them a couple of times at least.  Its a yearly reminder of how I lose track of what this time of year is really about. I always started out with good intentions. Lighting the candles as we all sat down for dinner each day for the first two weeks. But by week three my mind was full of other things. Which is a shame because the third week of Advent, represented by the pink candle, is all about rejoicing. It’s a time to spend in joyful anticipation! Our world could use a little more joy. When was the last time you felt true joy? Someone told me JOY stands for Jesus, Others, You. If we live our lives with our priorities in this order we will have joy. And to that I would like to add that if you take the J out of joy it’s just OY. And isn’t that the truth. Take Jesus out of the equation and our days are filled with..OY, OY, OY! Be joyful this week. It’s a choice. It starts with counting our blessings and looking for the good that surrounds us each day. If you need a reminder, light a candle. If you need a pink one, I’ve got one, good as new. Joyfully yours, Joan...

Shoes Off!

It’s a strange feeling the first time your children teach YOU something rather than the other way around. Like how to work the DVD player, how to pick the winning Fantasy Football team, or even how to behave properly. One day, unbeknownst to me, my daughter was within earshot as I was talking on the phone and when I hung up she said “That wasn’t very nice, what you said about that lady.”  Ouch. I am convinced that God works through children to teach us some of the most important lessons we need to learn in life. What is even stranger is when God’s loving guidance comes through grandchildren. Two and half year old grandchildren to be exact. Our granddaughter, Harper has recently taught me a very valuable lesson. A few weeks ago when I walked into her house, she ran up to me so excited and the first thing she said was Num Num (a.k.a. Grandma), shoes off, shoes off? My first thought was wow, my daughter has her trained well. I then realized she wasn’t concerned about keeping the floors clean, she was concerned that I would leave right away. She wanted me to stay. She knew that if I took my shoes off, I was staying. Once I removed my shoes, there was a look on her face of relief and sheer delight. She twirled around, squealed, took my hand, and skipped me through the house to the playroom where she knew she had me. I was going to stay. Everything else that needed to get done would wait. Nothing was more important. And that was all that mattered at that moment. What I learned was how powerfully important the gift of our time is to others and that includes God. I can hear him whispering “shoes off, shoes off?” As the countdown to Christmas reaches the 14 day mark, work hard to give God the gift of your time this week, even if it’s just five minutes at your desk, in your kitchen, in the break room. Let him know he has you. That everything else that needs to get done can wait. Nothing is more important than your relationship with him. He is all that matters for that moment. And that you plan to stay forever by his side. How excited He must get when we do that. Shoes off! Joan...

I Dare You

I’m doing something different this Christmas season. You could argue I’m just lazy or getting more “Scroogesque” in my old age. I like to think I’m getting wiser. This year I am not just mindlessly doing everything the way it’s always been done. I realized my pre-Christmas rituals had taken on an almost superstitious quality like crazy Packer fans who have to wear the same shirt for every game or eat the same food at the pre-game tailgate. Somehow I had, over time, come to believe if we didn’t do things exactly the same every year, Christmas would be a disaster. If we didn’t get the icicle lights on the roof peaks or bake at least four different kinds of cookies, Christmas would be a disappointment. I often found myself going through the motions and doing things I didn’t enjoy in an effort to make Christmas great. This Advent I am taking the time to think about why I do some of the things I do in preparation for the holidays and getting rid of things that steal my peace and make the lead up to Christmas anything but silent nights, holy nights. I’ve already put out less decorations. The icicles lights are still in the attic. The rolling pin is gathering dust on the top shelf. I trust that the spirit of the season will prevail regardless of what I do or don’t do. I can’t make Christmas great. It couldn’t get any greater. Christmas is God’s gift to all of us. The gift of His Son. Dare to be different in the next few weeks as you prepare for Christmas this year. Slow down and simplify. Consider doing away with some of the things that keep you so busy you miss the great gift that this season is meant to be. Join us at Firstfruits December 5-8 for Dare to Be Different Week. Stop in anytime between 11-1 on those days for a break from the busyness of the season. Spend time in our Prayer Room or relax over a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and some homemade goodies. Or join us Tuesday evening from 5:30-6:30 for a soup supper and at 6:30 my Advent reflection called "The Weight of the Wait." Trust it will all get done. Seek first the Kingdom and all the rest will be added...

Uncle Lee

Thanksgiving must be right around the corner, the Christmas decorations are up in the stores. That’s a topic for another day...

The Raining Tree

I saw the weirdest thing this week. I was stopped in my car at the end of my block waiting for traffic to clear so I could pull out when a tree in the front yard of a neighbor’s house caught my eye. Leaves were falling like rain. You say, what is so weird about that? It’s fall, Joan. But this was like nothing I had ever seen before. We’ve all seen leaves slowly floating off a tree or with a gust of wind there might be a whole bunch of leaves tumbling down but this was different. There was no wind. It was a very still day. Yet all of a sudden leaves just started raining down. It was as if the Alpha leaf sent out a command, “On the count of three we’re out of here...