Greetings
Keep your eyes open because something great is about to happen…the
snow is going to melt! It will take longer than I want, but it
will happen soon. Watch and you will see these signs: the people
who have shoveled all winter already have clean sidewalks; the
corners of the streets that have lost definition will begin to
reappear; the rough sidewalks filled with craters made by feet
moving through the slush will level out and finally, the mountains
of gray and black “snow” that have spread like glaciers
in our supermarket parking lots will begin to shrink and eventually
a daylong rain will wash them away.
I am confident that if we keep
our eyes open we will see, in the melting of the snows, the power
that God has to transform our lives.
Some of us believe we have
kept our paths clean and still we find patches of ice that have
the power to make us fall. Only the sun can completely melt the
dangers on the sidewalk. In my life I have “rounded” off
the neat curbs that are designed to help me control the traffic
of my hectic existence. The highs and lows, the successes and failures
that we encounter as we move forward seem to level out as we apply
God’s perspective to our short life set against the vastness
of eternity.
And, oh, the mountains of sin that WE have built in
our communities! We collect the snow that falls so pure and we
gather it in one spot, turning it into a disgusting mixture of
salt, ice, oil and dirt, just as we take the gifts of God and pollute
and devalue them.
But we have already heard the Good News. The
snows are melting. God comes to us offering to clear our paths
and knock down the mountainous messes we have we have built up.
I want you to look for the melting snow in your life. I want you
to see the clear places. I want you to marvel at the power of our
God to transform our world. Spring is coming; get ready!
School News
Our Grade School Band program provides us with a very real expression
of the fact that Walther is an Association of Congregations. The
Band program serves kids from 18 different grade schools. We would
love to have all of these kids continue at Walther but many choose
to attend another high school. Still, the benefit of this program
to building churches and extending God’s Kingdom is undeniable.
Earlier this month we hosted 200 of these kids for a day long festival.
The Director was a visitor from the West – from Iowa, actually
and he has sent us these comments...
“Your students were terrific! I have nothing but good things
to say about the kids I had the opportunity to work with. They
were polite, well mannered, enthusiastic, prepared, and I thoroughly
enjoyed my day. Your directors, Erica Grass, Cristina Petersen,
and Samantha Rose, should be commended for having such wonderful
students and I very much appreciate being able to teach them and
give a great concert that evening. I hope they had a good day,
learned a lot, and enjoyed doing so. They could really play well!”
Career
Day 2008 is upon us. We will host more than 40 colleges and 30
speakers on this day geared toward helping our students explore
the options they have for finding their vocation. One of the strongest
doctrines of our Lutheran Church is that God has a plan and a place
for each of us. Our great challenge is to find where we can most
successfully use our talents to extend His Kingdom. Career
Day is a regular feature of Lutheran Schools Week. This year’s event is set for Monday,
March 3. Click
here to see a roster of alumni presenters.
Also during Lutheran Schools Week the Walther Choirs will take
to the road and present the Word of God through songs and hymns.
The group leaves on Tuesday, March 4 and will “Praise the
Lamb” through song in Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina
and Kentucky. They return home on Sunday, March 9, and will finish
with a “homecoming” concert at St. John Lutheran Church
in Wheaton. The concert begins at 7 p.m. and it would great to
have you there. Click
here for details on the tour. Click
here for information about the “homecoming” concert as well
as the Instrumental concert on Sunday, March 2, at Walther.
Alumni News
LaFringe Hayes ‘02 has signed a professional baseball contract
with the Windy City Thunderbolts. The independent league team plays
their games in Crestwood, Illinois; you can check our web site
for information on all of our Baseball Alumni.
We got a great note from Pastor Mike Knox ’80…
“I hope this email finds you well. I saw that the girls
(basketball team) lost a tough game that would have sent them to
State. Good luck to the boys (basketball team) tonight as they
start regional play. It must have been an exciting season with
two PSL champion BB teams. The team I'm an assistant coach with
here in Cedar Falls is playing in our District Championship tonight.
(The District in Iowa is the equivalent of the Super-Sectional
in Illinois.) We are ranked 7th in the State and play the 2nd ranked
team.”
We have not heard how the game turned out.
We ask you to pray for Linda Tamm Bredehoft ‘77 who has
undergone surgery this week for cancer. The surgery appears to
be a success and Linda is grateful for all of the prayers that
have brought her this far. Linda is the Director of the preschool
at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School in Elmhurst, and the mom
of Erica ’11, Amy ‘07 and Bethany ‘04.
God’s blessings
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