Happy Thanksgiving!

Blessings Abound on this day and everyday! We just have to look...sometimes we have to look a little harder....Tomorrow we are scheduled for the final unicorn Juice (chemo) treatment....hopefully the platelets have been busy growing. But I have caught an unwelcome bug...no fever....so maybe we can proceed....we will see.

Stuffing, corn, and Brussel sprouts are in the oven and rolls are baked and ready to go....Soon we will all gather at Grandma's house....you know over the river and through the woods! Blessings Abound!

Change of Plans! No Snickerdoodles Today!

Thanks to all you for the prayers and support.....No Snickerdoodles today! Treatment # 6 of Unicorn Juice postponed until next week cut to platelet count tanking....Doctors say that it is what happens as the chemo destroys the good cells and cancer cells. It can't tell the difference. The positive, awesome thing is that I can enjoy Thanksgiving and all the fun.....might even be able to taste the food.


I am now scheduled for Friday, Black Friday! so no shopping for me....That is fine, I don't do Black Friday anyway. I am afraid I might loose my driver tho :)


Thank you so much to Becky for being my driver and escort. Thanks for the awesome conversation. We are so blessed to have you in our family! Praying that the snow misses the airport on Saturday so you and Kris can fly safely to Miami, Florida to enjoy your grand prize trip....


Blessings! Elayne

The Lost Shoe

Another and final Radio Devotion

I lost my ONE of my most favorite, comfortable shoes….I did Not loose both of them, just the one, the left one…….. I joked with my husband that I really am Cinderella, except that my prince did not find the lost shoe, he didn’t think that was funny.

I have looked everywhere for it, I looked under the bed, I found a lot of   dust bunnies, an earing, some socks that have been missing since last spring, but no shoe….

I looked in the laundry room, lots of dirty laundry, but no shoe.

I looked in the bathroom, no shoe.

I looked in the closet…why would a shoe be in the closet….it was not, but there were a few other shoes in there, but not my favorite, most comfortable one.

I still don’t know where that shoe is. I need it now that the weather is getting colder and I am the kind of person that when I find a comfy shoe, that is what I wear ALL THE TIME. I don’t have hundreds of shoes….I don’t need hundreds of shoes….some people do and that is ok…..All summer and during this wonderful, warm fall, I have been wearing my sandals, and have not been wearing that pair of shoes……, but it was raining on this day and I needed my shoe…

I will not give up looking for it, I know it is somewhere in my house and eventually it will turn up and I will not stop looking until it is found….

Kind of reminds me of a story…..about a shepherd, a herd of sheep and this one sheep who got lost.

Once there was a shepherd who had a herd of 100 sheep. The shepherd’s job was to make sure all the sheep were safe, healthy, and that no harm would come to them. As long as they were together they would all be protected.

But one day, one of the sheep wandered into the wilderness. Just one…how important was just one? After all there still were 99 sheep left in the safety of the fold.

The shepherd did an amazing thing, the shepherd went into the wilderness, found the missing sheep and brought that ONE home again.

There are a couple of things that amaze me about this story. The first is how the shepherd could leave the 99. Was he not concerned about them? Of course he was….but they were together and they were safe. There is safety in numbers, that was how the shepherd could leave for a little while….he left them together and they were safe. That is why Christians gather together regularly to worship and praise God on Sunday morning AND in all the other times that the Body is gathered. That is why congregations of the faithful are so important.

The second thing is how much the shepherd cared about that one sheep…..it was not because that sheep was the most special, or most talented, or destine to do great things…..that sheep was ordinary …. And it could have been any one of the other 99 sheep.

The shepherd would have gladly went and found any of them, one at a time. So why did the shepherd do that, why would the shepherd risk injury to himself, to go into that dangerous place for an ordinary, stubborn, smelly, stupid, sheep that wandered off.…He went because of love.  He went because he loved each one of those sheep that much. In the shepherd’s eyes each of those sheep were special, needed, and loved.

God loves each of us that much too. God is with us in the good times and has gone ahead of us into the bad….

And when we are lost and when we wander away, God looks for us until we are found….just like a favorite shoe.

Giving Thanks….

In our congregations we talk a lot about faith practices….Faith practices for us come out of the promises that are made by parents, sponsors, and the congregation to God as we come to the baptismal font.

These practices are prayer, study, worship, invite, give, encourage, and serve. All of these things, through the grace of God, have helped me and many others, to grow in faith, have the courage to follow, and answer the call to serve.

They are all important and it is hard to choose just one to talk about…..but today I choose to talk about “Giving”.

There are three ways to give….though our time, through our talents, and through our treasures.

When we think about giving, we might first think in terms of our treasures-our money and things that we can donate, buy, and give. But we also give back through our talents and vocation. Using our job as a way to serve God. It changes how we view our daily work. That in all of our jobs we are serving God’s people. And sometimes we run into God’s people who are not very nice….but with God’s help, we love them anyway!

The third way to give is through the giving of our time. Spending time with others, be it our family, friends, or a total strangers. Time is a gift, you can spend it however you choose. But when you spend your time in service to others….it is a win for everyone.

We give back, because it is God who gave it to us in the first place…

There is a great video that you can find on You Tube called God’s Pies….It opens with a table full of people who are playing the part of the things that take our time, treasure, and talents. And then there is the guy that has this great looking pie named ‘ME”. Me starts cutting up the pie and passing it out…..Me cuts the first piece and gives it to the “house”. House got at least a quarter of the pie….and then he cuts two more pieces and gives it to “car 1 and car 2”. They dig into the pie right away…..And then he cuts a piece for “fashion”, a rather large piece for them as well as a rather large piece for “hobbies”….The pie is quickly dwindling……credit card asks for interest on their large piece of pie….“education” is sleeping but gets a few crumbs….and then the dude dishes up the last sliver of pie and sits in the place marked “ME”.  He then proceeds to start enjoying his slice of delicious pie…..When he notices that everyone is staring at him. And as he looks around, notices that he has sat down next to “God” and given God nothing…… the guy squirms in his chair, and tries to hide from God, but “ME” continues to eat, faster…..All the things that take up our time are starting at the guy in total shock….finally one of them points out, “Dude, he brought the pie” and points to God…..

God provides us with all that we have, all that we are, and all that we EVER will be. God asks us to give back…Tithing or giving 10% has been a practice since ancient times. It is a practice for me personally, that has been a source of joy in my life.

If we look around we might see all the negative stuff in the world….it is ugly and painful …but when we look again, we notice that God has been generous and gracious, especially this year. If we feel that we have been blessed with bumper crops and favorable weather. Friends and family, love and security. Then it is our obligation to pay it forward and help those who did not have such a great year. And so many do….Thanks for all that you do, all that you give, and all that you are….Thanks be to God!

A Reflection on Pot Lucks....

Raido Devotion....you may have read this, but this one was one of the devotions I recorded for the radio. This one has a different ending...

A Reflection on Pot Lucks....

I love  Pot Lucks!....any time any place!!! Pot lucks have been around for awhile! The word was first used in the 16th century to mean "food provided for an unexpected or uninvited guest…….. the luck of the pot"......

The term is still used today and has come to mean: more food than one can eat, and it is truly all good!!!! Especially here in Northern and Northeastern Iowa where we know how to cook with the abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats that are produced here....and where it is not uncommon to smell fresh bread baking!

When we lived on our farm near Highlandville, Iowa we use to have spontaneous potlucks throughout the summer. The kids were off having adventures around the neighborhood, and at some point, I would have to go find them. That was when we ran into the neighbors looking for their kids too! And that lead us all to decide at the last minute that everyone should gather at the campground in a half an hour, with whatever they had and we would have supper together...Always a lot of fun, more food that we could all eat, and never planned!!!!

When we attended Seminary, there was a "covered dish" dinner every Friday night. Everyone brought their favorite thing to BBQ on the grill, and a dish to share. More than once every dish was a pot of freshly opened baked beans,……. and it was fabulous!!

When my husband, Dave was on Internship in Indiana, we had regular pot lucks there too....only they were not called pot lucks....they were Pitch ins....everyone pitched in and brought a dish. They also used mangos that looked a lot like green peppers to me....

When we moved to Cross Roads were introduced to each of the four congregations with a pot luck....during the same week....FOUR nights in a row!!!! The food was fantastic, the fellowship was wonderful! At the end of the week I said UFF DA! That was a lot of food! I think I gained at least 25 pounds!

A few months ago we had a pot luck at one of our congregations; we were honoring our missionary friends from Haiti...They called it a Pot Blessing....because we were blessed with so many pots of great food, and the best peach pie he had ever eaten!  Yup! it was ALL good!!!!

Across the country Pot Lucks may be called by different names...such as a “bring and share”, a spread, a Dutch supper, or even a Jacob's Join....But what ever it is called, FOR SURE there will enough for everyone to eat and enjoy.....

With everyone wanting the prized hot dishes, potato salad made by Muriel or Marion, or Keith or (fill in the name of your favorite maker of the best potato salad). And then there are the hot dishes, the casseroles, Jello, deviled eggs, pies, salads, desserts, and homemade bread....

And in every group there are one or two people that ALWAYS bring the same dish, because we all know it would not BE a POTLUCK with out that one dish!!!! Am I right?????

But I have not always loved Pot Lucks......My earliest memories were of red Jello melting into the scalloped potatoes. AND that is just NOT right. That was what happened before I was allowed to dish my own plate because I could not reach the table.

So when I could hold the plate myself, there were no more red rivers running through the mounds of oooie gooey goodness....and that was when my love affair with Pot Lucks began!

As I have gotten older I am also loving the analogy of the pot luck….where everyone shares food, shares time, shares the work, everyone has a great time, and there is enough even for those who didn't bring anything...

….and not only everyone have enough....there are even left overs to be taken home....

As we approach the season of advent we are reminded of The Kingdom of God. And the promise that God has given of how the Kingdom will be like that too….We wait for that time when there will be Enough for everyone with much left over. We wait for the time when there will peace. And we wait for the time when Christ will come again. Advent is that time when we wait for the baby Jesus and for the second coming of Christ…. And we wait for that time when all will have enough…..The Kingdom is restored, but not yet….We wait!

Oh, and if you are having a pot Luck, Any time any place..., I will come!