For the Love of God

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4–8

Today is Valentine’s Day—a day associated with love. But the kind of love we tend to think of today, that expressed with candy and flowers and paper hearts, isn’t the love for which Saint Valentine was initially commemorated. (Sound familiar, St. Nicholas?) In fact, one of the only things we know for certain about St. Valentine is that he loved the Lord Jesus Christ enough to die for his faith. This is the kind of love we should desire for ourselves and all people.

That isn’t to say expressing our love for others is discouraged. Quite the opposite. Listen to the words of St. John, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us” (1 Jn 4:11–12). Whether it was feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, or preaching the Gospel—the good news of our Savior who also loved to the point of death—countless men and women whose names will never be in books or plastered on cards have followed the model of our Lord by loving others, not for their own gain or redemption, but simply as a reflection of Christ’s perfect love.

To that point, we thank all those who show their love for us. Whether it’s a birthday card, a letter, or a note of encouragement, we rejoice to know there are so many people praying and caring for us. Your acts of Christian love are a great blessing to our family.

Now, an update on our past couple months. Our trip to South Dakota over Christmas break was wonderful, but it’s also been nice being in a routine the last several weeks. This has been quite a good quarter for me. (We’re one and a half weeks away from the end.) I have a music and theology class which is fun; a class about Luther’s texts on the Lord’s Supper which has been interesting; Pastoral Counseling has introduced me to some topics I previously knew nothing about; a course on baptism approaches the sacrament from a different angle every week which is highly engaging; and I think it’s fair to say my preaching has improved with Homiletics II this quarter. Best of all, the workload has been distributed more evenly than in some past quarters which has spared me—and consequently my family—some stress.

We’re still doing the usuals: homeschool community for Pamela and the boys, choir for Logan and me, Seminary Women’s Association (SWA) for Pamela, Trail Life for the boys and me. We’ve also added a few things recently. One of the professors started a theological writing workshop this quarter which meets over lunch on Wednesdays. I’ve attended almost every session and have found it to be very useful in my academic writing, something I had very little real knowledge of prior to studying here. The same professor also began leading a session for women prior to SWA covering Luther’s Small Catechism. Pamela has been attending and comes home every week very excited about what she’s learned (or relearned). Logan and Camden have been playing in a basketball league through the YMCA since the beginning of January. I don’t think either of their teams have won a game yet, but they’re both improving and having a great time.

In January, Zion hosted a church worker appreciation supper. Some members prepared a delicious meal for the pastor, field workers, and spouses, and occupied our children while we had an uninterrupted adult conversation. It was remarkable! My homiletics professor also held a gathering in January. This one was for the class and our families, so it wasn’t quite as peaceful, but still fun. We celebrated my birthday last month and Logan’s last week. We used a gift card from Christmas to have supper out as a family, Logan had a few friends over one evening for playing, a movie, tacos and cake, and I got my annual birthday cheesecake. All were good. Our other outing for January was an afternoon with some local friends at a quarter mile–long toboggan run at Pokagon State Park in northern Indiana. I’m not one for thrill rides, so I wasn’t particularly pumped about sledding down an ice track at 30 mph, but even I had a blast…eventually. Besides that it’s been a few playdates, a hike at a nearby nature park, and plenty of time outside as the weather has begun to warm up. Aren’t we all looking forward to spring?

I’ll end with my first plug for the vicarage placement service which you can watch live on the CTSFW website on April 24 (https://www.ctsfw.edu/daily-chapel/). Make your predictions now about where we’ll be going. Texas, anyone?