November is almost upon us. Many changes outside will continue to happen that started in October. Living in Minnesota, we are blessed with the changing of the seasons. Mary Jane and I were able to visit both in Minnesota north and south as the colors of the leaves came into brilliance. It’s a grand chance to watch and experience. But it also brings on the changes in temperature that we don’t always appreciate!

November 1 is a Sunday this year and we get to experience an extra hour of sleep as we turn the clocks back an hour to Central Standard Time. The church doors will be open even if you show up for an hour early for worship!

November 3 is Election Day in the U.S. We have a great opportunity to serve our country by voting. It may not be as crowded at many polling places due to the many people who have mailed in their ballots this year. I still prefer to drive to our polling place and vote in person. That many change as age continues to creep up.

November 11 is Veterans Day (and Blood Drive), a time to remember and honor our service men and women.

November 22 is Stewardship Sunday at Christ Lutheran, a time to pledge our time and resources for the coming year as God has blessed us.

It has been a vastly different past ten months with the onset of Covid-19. We hope and pray for an end to the pandemic. I can still remember “the good ole’ days” before the pandemic hit. Hopefully we will return to those days again soon, Deo volente! (God willing.)

We celebrate life and its blessings as we give thanks at our Thanksgiving Eve service at 7 pm on November 25.

Each of us has been blessed in countless little ways, and some big ways, for which we are thankful. Within this setting at Christ, we have been blessed by God to be a blessing to others. And to whom much has been given-yes, you guessed it, much is expected

Let me share with you a story that I heard. The story is titled: “The Cookie Thief.”

A woman was waiting at an airport one night with several long hours before her flight. She hunted for a book at the airport shop, bought a bag of cookies, and found a place to sit while she waited for her flight. She was engrossed in her book but happened to see that the man beside her, as bold as could be, grabbed a cookie from the bag between them. She tried to ignore him, so as to avoid a scene. She read, munched cookies, and watched the clock as the gutsy “cookie thief” diminished her stock. She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by, thinking, “if I wasn’t so nice, I’d blacken his eye!” With each cookie she took, he took one too. When only one was left, she wondered what he’d do. With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh, he took the last cookie and broke it in half. He offered her half as he ate the other half. She snatched it from him and thought, “Oh, brother, this guy has some nerve, and he’s also rude. Why, he didn’t even show any gratitude!” She has never known when she had been so galled and sighed with relief when her flight was called. She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate, refusing to look back at the “thieving ingrate.” She boarded the plane and sank in her seat, then sought her book, which was almost complete. As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise. There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes! “If mine are here,” she moaned with despair, “Then the others were his, and he tried to share!” Too late to apologize. She realized with grief that she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief! (Author unknown.)
 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Pastor Drews