 Greetings!
"Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." - 1Thessalonians 5:11
Remember when our kids were young and they would bring pictures they had created home from school? Praise would flow from us as easily as water from a river as we proudly hung their young works of art on our refrigerator. An art critic may not have been able to appreciate what we were able to see in their stick figures, crooked houses and purple ducks that looked like cows, but still we knew, the beauty was there. And never for a second, did we ever entertain the possibility of hiding these pictures away or trying to teach our kids that houses had to be straight or that ducks only had two legs, not four. To do so would have been to destroy their joy and spirit.
When children get to be teens, they don't bring home their drawings anymore but they do come to us with wonderful creations,usually calling them "plans". Teens, often brimming with idealism, spin wonderful dreams about the future. Much of the time their dreams are impractical and poorly though-through, looking more like a purple cow than one that can provide a solid foundation for the future.
We could of course, use teens' misshapen dreams as opportunities to teach practical thinking. We could candidly assess the likelihood of whether they might succeed. Who knows, we might get them to rethink things...in the future they might craft their dreams more carefully. But of course, we would never know that for in critiquing their creativity, we would certainly also teach them to keep their dreams to themselves.
We never hung their pictures on our refrigerators because their works of art were so wonderful, we hung them there because we knew our children were wonderful and full of life and potential that needed celebrating.
As we prepare to celebrate with graduates and continue to make space in our lives for the young and the young at heart, may we always be blessed with eyes to see their messy plans (and works of creativity) through the eyes of the joyful parent, who loves, who honors and who looks to the future with hope and a sense of possibility.
Tony
tony@cantonlutheran.net
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Year-End Schedule for Wednesday School & Sunday School
Wednesday School and Sunday School may be coming to an end, but the fun at church is just starting to begin.
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Cinco de Mayo Year-End Family Picnic5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 5th
Crazy Quilting: Family Service Event
8:45 a.m.
Sunday, May 9th
Last Day of Adult Sunday School
Sunday, May 9th
Minnesota Twins Family Fun Trip
Sunday, May 31 - Monday, June 1
PreSchool Vacation Bible School
Sunday, June 6 - Wednesday, June 9
CLC Day Camp
Monday, June 14 - Thursday, June 17
Confirmation Camp
Sunday, June 20 - Friday, June 25
Sr. High Mission Trip: Brooklyn, NY
Saturday, July 2 - Sunday, July 11
CLC Family Camp Week at Outlaw Ranch
Sunday, Aug. 1 - Friday, Aug. 6
The schedules may change in the summer, but there are still lots of opportunities for all generations to connect with Christ & community. Come connect and join in the fun!
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People Needed to Mow Church Lawn
In an effort to be good stewards of our resources, we have decided to ask members of CLC to help us in keeping our lawn mowed this summer. We have a riding tractor and trimmer that was generously donated by Trent & Vicki Weihe. If many of us pitch in, we should only have to take a turn once or twice during the year. If you would be willing to mow our church lawn once or twice during the upcoming year, please drop an e-mail to Janet at janet@cantonlutheran.net
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 NEW Volunteer Software
UPDATE
The new volunteer software, Ministry Scheduler Pro is up and running although we're still trying to work through some bugs. Some reminder e-mails are not getting through and so one thing we would ask everyone is to make sure that all the staff at CLC is added to your address book. Here are some of our e-mail addresses:
Pastor Tony: tony@cantonlutheran.net
Rhonda Haglund: rhonda@cantonlutheran.net
Janet Henke: janet@cantonlutheran.net
Lori Pudenz: lori@cantonlutheran.net
Kari Elling: kari@cantonlutheran.net
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