Partnership
Dear Friends in Christ,
How do you keep warm? I am writing this on a day here in Northwest Ohio where the high temperature is going to be 14 degrees. It is a fact that we humans need to protect ourselves from severely cold temperatures. We are taught to layer our clothing, wear a hat and gloves. All of these things ensure that we can live and survive in the cold. Creation at times can be cruel, and northwestern Ohio winters can be some of the cruelest. Weather patterns are a part of life, and part of God's good creation.
Without the time to renew itself under frost, snow and ice out mineral rich soil here Ohio would run out of its; life giving power. The cold is necessary. The cold is here. We work to stay warm.
Some people actually live out in this weather. I am sure it is a struggle but faced with limited resources that fend for themselves and their families as best they can. These brothers and sisters of ours do not only find themselves physically on the outside, but many of them also find themselves excluded from a "normal" life. A number of factors can contribute to this reality, but in many cases, it is a mental health issue that leads folks to make drastic and dangerous choices for themselves.
For over 140 years Lutheran Social Services and their appendant agencies have provided for those who find themselves out in the cold. Food assistance, emergency housing, mental health coun seling are just some of the issues the committed and Christ centered folks of LSS accomplish with little or no fanfare. The people of LSS just do their jobs because that is what Christ has called them to do.
LSS works with us and for us to fulfill our call to provide the "least" of these. We are to care for those struggling, this what Jesus asks of us, and the ministry of LSS assists us, in fulfilling this important work.
I am grateful for our partnership that we share between congregations as people and pastor.
We are blessed with the gift of our SAMs who keep my feet to the fire. I am grateful to the office staff that do the same thing at both congregations. I am grateful to you all. I am so proud to be your pastor.
Pastor Bob
