This is a quick weekly reminder of what is happening at Grace
in worship and in ways to connect and serve.
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Warning: Writing is healing for me. This article is about loss and grief, please feel free to scroll on past if you don't want to read about that today.
Holes
I took off her collar right before I kissed her goodbye a final time, my beloved dog, Clara. I don’t know why I didn’t just leave it on her. It was so dirty and smelly. It was the original collar we had gotten for her when we adopted her 10 years ago from the Humane Society. At the time, it was bright, vibrant orange which contrasted beautifully with her deep black fur. In the end, it was a dingy, rusty color that was a constant against her greying fur.
Clara had a fabulous last year of life. She went from 9 years of living in an empty house for majority of the day with 2 pretty short walks to a full house all the time and sometimes 6 walks ranging anywhere from 1-3 miles each (thanks COVID). Sometimes we worried about her when she had already been on three walks on a hot day in July and one of the kids decided she needed to walk the 3-mile loop. But Clara thrived, she would go without a care in the world. She loved to walk!
She hurt her leg, that was what we noticed first. We thought it was just a run of the mill injury, maybe a torn ACL, but the x-rays showed nothing. So, we quit walking her, put her on pain meds and waited for her to recover. She didn’t. She kept limping and struggling. Our house didn’t make it any better: four flights of stairs on hard wood floors! Our poor dog! Jeff carried her around (poor Jeff). She hated that!
Clara figured out how to keep walking, just a little at a time. Jeff is more patient than me (this is NOT a surprise) so he did most of the walking with her in the end. He would take her out and slowly walk down the block until she started to sniff and then she would limp back. She was always happy after a walk, even when it hurt.
Then her tail drooped, and she started to shuffle, and the vets knew her time was near. They talked to us the way they do, when they know there isn’t anything they can do, but they don’t really want to tell you that. And so we cared for her. We fed her by hand, chicken and rice. Every time she would walk, it hurt us to watch. What had happened to my dog who was the fastest one in the dog park? How had this happened so fast?
When we finally took her in, we had to wait in the car for a while (COVID), but she couldn’t settle down and so I got out of the car with her. And she started to walk. We walked round and round the parking lot as we waited. Our final walk. She hadn’t walked in the last few days, but you would have thought she could have gone on forever. I wept the whole time. What else do you do on the final walk with a beloved? I am so thankful for that walk now. After all this is what we have always done together. It felt right that it should end this way, the two of us walking one last time.
She was my first dog, a rescue pup. She freaked out whenever she saw another dog, never begged at the table and always greeted me first thing in the morning. She was a true dog, all the way. Excited every morning for the same ole food day after day, a constant in our lives and she was loved by all of us!
On the morning after, when I came down to breakfast, her collar was sitting on a table. Empty. All I could see was the hole where she had once been and so Jeff and I cried together.
I am seeing a lot of holes right now. The hole in her collar, the place where she would lay, the emptiness in our house, the hole in her leash. And there are other holes too, the empty slot where Pastor Hahn’s name tag once lived outside his office at Grace and his vacant office.
It’s amazing, how much you see and feel in the absence. It has been a hard month, not just for my family and me, but for all of us. We as a community have experienced a big loss through the death of Pastor Hahn. He is missed by our staff and I know by many of you. He is missed by me! I can still hear his voice, “Good Morning Pastor,” echoing through the hallways. I long to hear those words again in his voice.
And yet, I know that my heart has been filled because of the holes that I see today, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I give thanks for the holes and the promise that one day they will be filled again.
Blessings and peace,
Pastor Joanna Mitchell
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Transfiguration Sunday is this Weekend!
February 13th and 14th
Online Worship is now being recorded at our Saturday evening service. Online Worship will not be posted until late on Saturday nights. It will be available here for you to join us online on Sunday morning.
For In-person Worship, we are asking for people to sign up for a worship service (see links below). We ask you to stay home if you are sick and to follow all of our COVID-19 protective guidelines. Thank you!
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Remembering and Celebrating
the Life of Pastor Delwayne Hahn
If you would like to view Pastor Hahn's funeral from Peace Lutheran Church. The link is below. If you want to give a memorial in honor of Pastor Hahn, the family has recommended giving in his name to the ELCA Hunger Appeal. We are also exploring purchasing a piece of new art for Grace in his memory. If you wanted to write a check to Grace and write in the memo line Pastor Hahn's art memorial.
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Ash Wednesday Worship
February 17, 2021
Drive by Ashes: 8:00am until 5:45pm
In-Person Worship: 1pm, 6pm and 7:15pm
(see Sign Up Links Below)
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Your Help is Needed!
We are looking for volunteers to help us with ashes. Help for a half hour or more if you like. We will be going outside and coming in to get warm. It's a wonderful way to share God's love with our community as they drive by.
Contact krism@graceandover.org or 763-421-6520
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Lenten Wednesdays Worship
(Weds. 2/24, 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24 & 3/31)
Worship: 1pm, 6pm and 7:15pm
With small groups in-person, and on Zoom.
For Lent this year we are looking at the values we hold as a congregation at Grace. Each week, we will talk about what these values mean for us and how to live them out as people of faith. We hope that you will join a small group discussion following worship. Join an in-person group or a zoom small group.
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Returning to in-person
Sunday School
February 14th
We are excited to announce we will be returning to in-person Sunday School beginning with a party on February 14th in between worship services beginning at 9:30 AM and ending at 10:20 AM. Kids of all ages are welcome to attend together. We will be in the fellowship hall to ensure we can social distance, until weather permits we will stay indoors, but when the weather gets warmer, we may move to an outdoor model much like in the fall. If we need to split into multiple rooms and groups for safety we are able to do so. Kids are required to wear masks. Together we will explore the Bible lesson for the day through stories, games, crafts, and other activities! We look forward to seeing you face to face!
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LIVE FROM RAKAI!
All-Congregational Event – Sunday, February 21
9:30 AM in the Sanctuary AND via Zoom!
We hope you’ll join us for this wonderful and unique opportunity to hear directly from Richard Mutaawe, LIVE from Rakai, Uganda! In an interview conducted by Ann Hill of African Children Today, Richard will provide an update on our sponsored children, the initiatives underway in Rakai, and the challenges they are facing as a result of COVID-19. There will be an opportunity to ask questions, and we wouldn’t be surprised to hear from one or two of our sponsored kids! This event is not only for those who sponsor children in Rakai – EVERYONE is welcome! Please note: the Sunday morning Zoom Prayer Gathering that usually meets at 9:30 am will meet at 11:30 am that day.
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FAMILY TABLE “DRIVE-UP” MEAL
Sunday, Feb. 21 – 12:30-1:30 PM
Grace will be serving a Family Table Meal on February 21st and we need help! Specifically, we’re looking for people to make a crockpot of chili, donate other food items, and/or help pack and serve the meals to our hungry guests who pull up in the parking lot. (This can be a great opportunity for a family with teenagers!) If you can help, please sign up using this link. If you have questions, please contact Lynda Wilde at 612-418-6444. Thank you!
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The Power of Love
The Women's Retreat Team is hosting another "Social Devotions"
in the month of February.
Sunday, February 21
7:00-7:45pm
There is no need to RSVP just click the zoom link, join in, enjoy seeing our Grace Women, and hearing how God can impact our lives!
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Grace's Opportunities for Giving |
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Noisy Offerings
Noisy Offerings collected from February 1-15 are being directed to the "Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies" program through World Wide Village in Haiti. From February 16-28, Noisy Offerings will be directed to Grace 4 Rakai – specifically for educational scholarships and for supplies for the pharmacy that was recently built.
Thank you for being generous!
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Give Electronically through GraceRealm |
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Consider electronic giving on GraceRealm. It’s a convenient way to give consistently throughout the year. If you have any questions, contact Frances or Marie in the Church Office or Click on the GraceRealm link below.
If you are wondering where your giving is for the year, please log in to GraceRealm. Find Giving on the tool bar. Then select My Giving History.
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Prayers of the Church
Bring healing to those who are hurting, recovering, and living under disease, illness and injury. Today we pray especially for Jake, Dave, Chris, Mike Burckhard, Roger Bergman, Donald Bemis, Eric & Candace Mahowald and their soon to be born twins, John Malecha, Christopher Sluis, Julie Swedberg, Marge Davidson, Arden Kirkendall, Deb Corey, LaDonna Lilyquist, Lynda Wilde, Deb Stang, BJ Scott, Charlotte Montei, Elsie Weisenberger, Linda Christiansen, Carroll Potter, Judi Wold, and Colleen Wernimont. We pray for all those suffering from COVID-19 throughout the world, and we pray that the end of COVID-19 would be near. Lord, hear our prayer.
God of promise, grant comfort, peace, and the hope of Christ’s resurrection to all who grieve. We pray especially today for Kathy Rongere and Carl & Steph Chandler & family upon the death of George Rongere; Marcie, Maiya, Kaylee & Jaeden Haggerty upon the death of their husband and father, Pat Haggerty; the family and friends of Pastor Delwayne Hahn upon his death; Howard & Jan Prieb & family upon the death of Jan’s brother, Glen Foltz. Lord, hear our prayer.
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Grace Notes Articles Deadline
All articles for the MARCH edition of Grace Notes are due by 5pm on Friday, February 19th. The March Grace Notes will in homes the first week of March. Please have the articles in Word formatting and emailed to Marie Kolar at mariek@graceandover.org
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Virtual Connections
During this time of high COVID-19 cases, we encourage you to connect with Grace and others! If you are looking for ministries and groups to connect with please visit our web site at www.graceandover.org and click on Church Online to see opportunities to connect.
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