May 2012 Hub-Bub

THE HUB-BUB Hudson Lake Mennonite Church Esther Lanting, Pastor 7503 N. Walker Rd. New Carlisle, IN 46552 574-654-8388 Vol. 15

No 5

May 2012

Thoughts from the Pastor Last month I used this section of the Hub-bub to write about the first of seven priorities adopted by the Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) at the 2011 General Assembly in Pittsburg. These priorities will guide the future work and direction of the MC USA. These priorities are: Christian Formation; Christian Community; Holistic Christian Witness; Stewardship; Leadership Development; Undoing Racism and Advancing Intercultural Transformation; and Church-to-Church Relationships Christian Formation, the first and highest priority is described as fashioning and molding our lives after that of Jesus Christ.

The second priority is Christian Community. The “heart” of this priority is that congregations (church communities) are a vital part of sharing and communicating God’s mission in the world. Because of that, we should work at strengthening the witness (both personal and congregation) through these aspects of community: • Our worship together • Practicing and extending hospitality • Doing Biblical discernment together • Developing and working at Christ-centered unity • Learning to agree and disagree in love What struck me about this priority is not so much the activities of the group listed above. Rather I was struck that some of these activities are unique to the church.

There are many “communities” that we may belong to or in which we participate. For example, I’m part of an accordion community. We meet together on a regular basis (around concert time), there is a core group, sometimes new people join, we have a common mission, we work hard and have fun together. The same could probably be said of a bowling league, a hobby group (sewing, knitting, photography), a professional group (nurses, pilots, teachers).

Those same things could be said about a congregation/church.

But there are things listed above that my accordion group or other groups don’t do – at least not on a regular basis – such as worshiping Jesus Christ together, doing Biblical discernment, working at Christ-centered unity (note: Christcentered unity is different in scope and method than other kinds of unity). These activities are unique to churches and congregations. We can be involved in other groups which practice hospitality and work at learning to agree and disagree in loving ways. But only in the context of Christian community do have worship, do Biblical discernment, and work at Christ-centered unity.

Do you see Hudson Lake Mennonite Church working at Christian formation? If so, how? And what are the things you do that form your life in Christ-like ways?

Next month’s Hub-bub will look at the next priority or two.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

May 20 th - Worship Service at Chicago Trail Village – 10:00 EDT

Coffee and Rolls @ 9:45 EDT - Invite a friend May is ……

National Barbecue Month Older Americans Month National Bike Month National Salad Month National Hamburger Month National Photograph Month National Blood Pressure Month

Unusual May dates … st

1 Mother Goose Day 4th National Tuba Day 8th No socks day 10th Clean your room day 14th Dance like a chicken Day 15th National Chocolate Chip Day 18th No dirty dishes Day 23rd Lucky Penny Day 20th Pick strawberries Day 24th National Escargot Day 27th Sun Screen Day

Diane’s Health Tips Backache – Part 3 – (or how to care for your muscles) • • • • • • • •

Apply ice for the first 48 hours, then apply heat. Rest on a firm bed. When getting up, roll to your side, draw your knees up, push up to a sitting position, and stand by pushing up with your legs.

Once acute pain has subsided, doing exercises to strengthen the abdominal muscles can help to prevent recurrences; these muscles help to support the back. Sit-ups are good. Done with your knees bent, never flat on the floor.

When sitting, keep your knees a little higher than your hips. This keeps pressure off the sciatic nerve running down the back of the leg.

When carrying a heavy purse (or all your money) switch the weight from shoulder to shoulder.

Pay attention to stress and reduce it!

Always push large objects; never pull Wear comfortable, well-made shoes.

Move around. Do not sit in the same position for long periods.

----- From Nutritional Healing: A Practical A-Z Reference to Drug-free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, and Food Supplements by Phyllis A. Balch. Phyllis Balch was a certified nutritional consultant who received her certification from the American Association of Nutritional Consultants and was a leading nutritional counselor for more than two decades.

A young man sprinkling his lawn and bushes with pesticides wanted to check the contents of the barrel to see how much pesticide remained in it. He raised the cover and lit his lighter; the vapors ignited and engulfed him. He jumped from his truck, screaming. His neighbor came out of her house with a dozen eggs and a bowl yelling: "bring me some more eggs!” She broke them, separating the whites from the yolks. The neighbor woman helped her to apply the whites onto the young man's face. When the ambulance arrived and the EMTs saw the young man, they asked who had done this. Everyone pointed to the lady in charge. They congratulated her and said: "You have saved his face." By the end of the summer, the young man brought the lady a bouquet of roses to thank her. His face was like a baby's skin. A Healing Miracle for Burns. Keep in mind this treatment of burns is being included in teaching beginner fireman. First Aid consists of first spraying cold water on the affected area until the heat is reduced which stops the continued burning of all layers of the skin. Then, spread the egg whites onto the affected area. One woman burned a large part of her hand with boiling water. In spite of the pain, she ran cold faucet water on her hand, separated 2 egg whites from the yolks, beat them slightly and dipped her hand in the solution. The whites then dried and formed a protective layer. She later learned that the egg white is a natural collagen and continued during at least one hour to apply layer upon layer of beaten egg white. By afternoon she no longer felt any pain and the next day there was hardly a trace of the burn. 10 days later, no trace was left at all and her skin had regained its normal color. The burned area was totally regenerated thanks to the collagen in the egg whites, a placenta full of vitamins.

Source: Flo Dougles, Milledgeville, GA

Be Conscious With Your Garbage When throwing away garbage, know what is recyclable, consumable, and able to be composted. Also, when you purchase food or other items, be conscious as to how much waste it will produce. Separate your garbage, and be aware of what is toxic and should be disposed of with specific care. For example: • Start a compost heap for your food waste, but make sure you know what kinds of waste can be composted – human and animal waste and some kinds of food waste should not be put on a compost heap. You can then use your compost for a nutrient-rich fertilizer • Have different cans or containers for plastic, paper, and non-recyclable items to make recycling easier • Buy food in bulk to avoid excess packaging • Don't throw away toxic household waste, like paint, paint thinner, car oil, and the like; call your garbage service provider to see what should be done with these kinds of wastes • Avoid producing waste as much as possible by using reusable coffee cups, water bottles, pens, and razors By being conscious about the waste you produce, you can reduce your footprint on the environment.

What image/picture is on every page of the Hub-bub?

…. A candy bar to the first person to give the correct answer to Esther.

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup (from Elsa Littman) Prep Time: 15 Min

Ready In: 45 Min Serves: 5

Ingredients • 2 Tbsp. oil • 1 large sweet onion, sliced • 2 tsp. cumin • 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed • 1 ½ qt. chicken broth • 1 ¾ cup Plain Yogurt • 2 Tbsp. chopped parsley or cilantro • ¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds Directions 1. Heat oil in soup pot. Add onions and cumin, saute’ 3-4 minutes. Add potatoes and chicken broth, bring to boil. Then simmer 20-25 minutes.

2. Stir in yogurt, parsley and cilantro. Puree.

3. Serve with a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.

(Elsa says she’s been using one 20 oz can of sweet potatoes, drained and quickly rinsed. After simmering, I mash the sweet potatoes with a potato masher, then add the yogurt, cilantro and parsley before pureeing).

Frosted Rhubarb Cookies Recipe Prep Time: 30 Min

Bake Time: 10 Min + cooling

Ingredients  1 cup shortening  1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar  2 eggs  3 cups all-purpose flour  1 teaspoon baking soda  1/2 teaspoon salt  1-1/2 cups diced fresh or frozen rhubarb  3/4 cup flaked coconut

Yield: 48

Frosting  1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened  1 tablespoon butter, softened  1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar  3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions •

In a large bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in rhubarb and coconut.

•

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

•

For frosting, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Spread over cookies. Yield: 4 dozen.

Editor's Note: If using frozen rhubarb, measure rhubarb while still frozen, then thaw completely. Drain in a colander, but do not press liquid out.

News from Church Council HLMC

Last Meeting: April 24th @ KRMC Next Meeting: May 29th – 5:30/4:30 @ KRMC

Question for discussion Where is God’s spirit active and moving within our congregation?

Community? Does this change anything we are going?

Facebook Amy has been posting and changing our facebook page. How can we get more activity? Can people take pictures and email them to Amy to post?

What else can we post? Any ideas?

Overseer expense Esther reported that our overseer gave considerable time assisting the pastor/elders on an unexpected, unbudgeted for situation. While he didn’t ask for extra reimbursement, we decided he should be paid for this help. We agreed to overspend that budget line.

Costs and budget for MC USA delegate The amount budgeted for our delegate to attend the biannual MC USA Convention is far short of what is actually needed. We budget $250/year and carry one year over to the next thus providing our delegate with a $500 budget. Convention includes registration, hotel, meals, travel (plane or drive). Even without having to buy a plane ticket, costs exceed $1000.

Some congregations pay the full amount. We think our delegate should pay something to increase ownership, but not as much as they currently have to pay. We couldn’t come up with a “dollar figure” because travel changes from year to year. Instead we are working on a formula that could possibly be used from convention to convention. It is as follows: For the delegate to General Assembly, the church will cover: -- registration fees -- lodging up to $XXX (for the dates of the conference) -- travel up to $XXX The delegate will pay for his/her own meals and incidental expenses.

Lodging will be based on a median price of hotels in the area and travel will be based upon the lowest cost airline ticket.

Worship at Chicago Trail Village We have permission from CTV to hold a worship service in their community building on May 20th. We will provide pre-service coffee and cinnamon rolls, put up flyers and make every effort to connect with folks there who are not involved in another congregation.

Dianna Miller memorial service The Miller family has asked if we would have a memorial service for Dianna. This will take place on June 5th at 11:30 and will be followed by a meal. The family will provide chicken and we will provide the rest of the food.

Hamilton Grove has agreed to donate lettuce (Dianne worked there for 17 years) and for $31 they will provide scalloped potatoes for 50 people + 75 dinner rolls. We will need to make about 8 or 9 desserts and provide green beans.

Worship visual storage Is there a place to safely store worship visuals? Right now they are stored in a variety of places and spaces. Could a floor to ceiling cupboard be made or bought and put in the basement hallway in place of the metal cabinets? That area of the basement is an eye-sore. Trustees will look into this.

Images for our vision statement Several people in council shared images and some in the congregation have given an image.

Chili Lunch The chili lunch, after apron expenses, brought it $873.34. This money will be dispersed as follows: $350 for Caring Fund, $400 for work on fellowship room (painting walls, possibly adding cork board). First fruits will also be given from all proceeds. These first fruits are part of the first fruit giving whose designation is decided at the allchurch business meeting in July.

God's Masterpiece is Mother

God took the fragrance of a flower... The majesty of a tree... The gentleness of morning dew...

The calm of a quiet sea... The beauty of the twilight hour... The soul of a starry night...

The laughter of a rippling brook... The grace of a bird in flight...

Then God fashioned from these things; A creation like no other, And when his masterpiece was through He called it simply – Mother.

A Portrait of John Quest I was born at home during a record-breaking blizzard in Roselle, Illinois in February 1936 - the fifth of six children. I attended eight schools in 12 years in three states. Then came four years in the Navy and three at U-Conn, whence the Navy called me back for ten months to help resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In late 1962, I moved to Chicago. The next fifteen years were spent in an alcoholic fog, a seemingly endless series of moves from one state to another, mostly dead-end jobs in the military-industrial complex, a marriage to a sociopathic druggie and twenty-some trips to hospitals.

In 1977, I tasted alcohol for the last time, began training as a medic with an Army Reserve unit, trained as a civilian EMT, and began working as an orderly in a nursing home. Then came two years getting an AA degree in nursing and a brief stay in Memphis TN. In 1983, I moved back to New York because of family problems.

In 1984 I got a job with the Indian Health Service on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. Three years later, I met the person who later became the mother of my daughter, Margaret. We moved to Michigan, where I worked for the VA hospital in Battle Creek. In 1991, we went back to Arizona, then to Gallup, New Mexico, again working with the Indian Health Service.

I divorced in 2004 and was given custody of my daughter. A year later we moved to New Carlisle, where my grandmother was born and raised. We are somehow related to at least ¼ of the people.

Life hasn't always been fun, but it has never been boring. In addition to military service, I have traveled to a few foreign countries, forty-nine states, (lived in fourteen of them), worked at many different jobs, including school janitor, factory manager, circus clown and nurse. Now retired, I spend a lot of time working in the yard and too much time identifying old Chinese coins. Some in my collection are more than 2,000 years old.  Chinese coins For most of the first twenty-plus years of my life, I attended an ultra-right-wing Calvinist church which was allegedly the last of the old Puritans. My journey to belief in a loving God was long and difficult. The first time I heard a truly believable sermon about God's love was during a midnight Easter Eve service in a Russian Orthodox Church when I was thirty. My thinking began to change. Attendance at AA meetings was also helpful in developing a dependence on a God who cared about me and would help me through difficult times.

Favorite hymns and a Bible verse which has been especially meaningful? Two have always been at the top of the list: Children of the Heavenly Father and Day by Day. Perhaps my 25% Swedish ancestry is partially responsible for this. There is a story behind the Bible verse. Nobody can ever tell me that God doesn't have a sense of humor! At about eight months into alcohol recovery, my life was still a hopeless shambles and I was probably still a certifiable crazy. One day, I angrily demanded that God explain exactly what was going on, grabbed a Bible and expected Him to show me the exact verse which would explain all of the secrets of the universe. I shut my eyes, opened the Bible, and put my finger on John 16:12. Translated into modern English, it says "There are plenty of things I want to tell you, but you can't understand them yet". Now, many years later, I am still laughing at myself.

How did I get to HLMC? I really have no idea. Since I am a recovering alcoholic, retired military, and twice divorced, I hardly fit the Mennonite stereotype. It is my belief that nothing happens by accident. I do not believe in "fate" or karma or coincidences, but that my life has been preserved and guided through some sort of totally undeserved partiality on the part of Divine Providence. "The Force" is with me. His name is Jesus.

To BE KIND is MORE important than to be right.

Many times what people need is NOT a brilliant mind that speaks but a SPECIAL HEART that LISTENS.

UPCOMING Stop and Smell DATES the Softener (all times listed are Eastern Daylight Time) Mayspent the late winter months waiting impatiently for signs of spring. When the first warm, sunny I had 05 arrived, Hamilton Grove Tea – (lunch) Saturday I eagerly unlocked the2:00 storm door and stepped onto our patio deck. I was pleased by 13 Mother’s Day the sight of green sprouts and the sounds of singing birds. More than anything else, I delighted in the 20aroma Worship CTV – 10:00 (Coffee Cinn.

Rollswindow, @ 9:45)I beckoned to my wife to join me in sweet of theat spring air.

Knocking on & the kitchen 29 the Church Council, 5:30 @ KRMC enjoying pleasures of the season.

She quietly brought me back to earth when she reminded me that I was June standing over the dryer vent, inhaling the scent of fabric softener. -- Contributed by George G. Busher 10 15-17 17 July 22 30

Carry-in meal, 2:00 IN MI Conference annual sessions, Detroit Father’s Day Gene Van Accordion Group Concert @ KRMC (stayed tuned for details) Possible date for all-church business meeting, 6:00 start with dinner

Which of these books and DVD’s are currently in our church library?

1. Amish Grace 2. Pilgrims Aflame 3. Conrad Grebel – Son of Zurich 4. Forgiveness Therapy 5. When You’re Feeling Spirituality Empty 6. Coping With Cancer 7. The Amish Nanny 8. The Perfect Stranger 9. Another Perfect Stranger 10. HLMC Handbook Candy bar to the first person to answer correctly. (tell Esther)

Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and celebrating motherhood, maternal bonds and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, yet most commonly in March, April, or May. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honoring fathers.

The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. Julia Ward Howe issued her Mother's Day Proclamation in 1870 as a call for women to join in support of disarmament. The current holiday was created by Anna Jarvis in Grafton, West Virginia, in 1908 as a day to honor one's mother. Jarvis wanted to accomplish her mother's dream of making a celebration for all mothers. She kept promoting the holiday until President Woodrow Wilson made it an official national holiday in 1914. The holiday eventually became so highly commercialized that many, including its founder, Anna Jarvis, considered it a "Hallmark holiday", i.e. one with an overwhelming commercial purpose. Jarvis eventually ended up opposing the holiday she had helped to create. She died in 1948, regretting what had become of her holiday. In the United States, Mother's Day remains one of the biggest days for sales of flowers, greeting cards, and the like; it is also the biggest holiday for long-distance telephone calls. Moreover, churchgoing is also popular, yielding the highest church attendance after Christmas Eve and Easter.

May 2012 Sun

Mon

Tue 1 May Day

Wed 2

Thu 3

Fri 4

Sat 5

National Bird Day Esther taking Spiritual Retreat Day

6

9:00 - Gift Discernment

7

8

9

4:30 Elders @ Elsa’s

National Receptionist Day

14

15

21

22

.

Sermon: Esther

10

11

12

16 Love a tree Day

17

18

19

23

24

25

26

30

31

June 1

2

11:00 -1:00 Peer Supervision

Nurse’s Week – Thank a nurse

13

Mother’s Day Sermon: Elsa Littman 20 Worship @ CTV 10:00 (coffee/rolls @ 9:45)

SwaNee Lake Area Council 1:00-3:00

Sermon: Esther

Elders, 4:30 @ KRMC

National Police and National Bike Week

27

28

Sermon: Esther

29

Memorial Day

Ch. Council 5:30 @ KRMC

All times listed are South Bend times except when otherwise stated

Invite a friends to join us for worship May 20 th at Chicago Trail Village Worship – 10:00 a.m.

Coffee and Cinnimon Rolls, 9:45