Everyone needs Jesus’ love, and no one more than the thousands of senior adults who are residents of Lutheran Senior Services in the greater St. Louis region. Program Director, Darrell Zimmerman spent the evening of May 11 with more than a dozen LSS chaplains, encouraging them to come for… Read More
Written by: Dcs. Heidi Goehmann This is Jyeva. (Pronounced Yay-Vuh.) If you look up the definition of “free spirit” in the dictionary, you will likely find her picture. Jyeva has a fresh way about her, a caring and affectionate nature, and an offer… Read More
Reading time: two minutes. Happy Easter/Ascension! I hope and pray that you are still basking in the glory of our Lord's resurrection. It changes everything. From death comes life, and we're surrounded by death and dying every day. Our own aging, dying bodies are a constant reminder of our mortality. But don't our bodies also, in a paradoxical kind of way, also testify to us about life, new life, and the healing power of Christ? I'm trying to pay more attention to the wonderful healing work of Jesus in my own life. When I pay attention, it's an encouragement to me every day! Read More
Written by: Dcs. Heidi Goehmann Spring has finally decided to settle itself into the far reaches of Northwest Ohio. It is a much more patient wait here than it was growing up outside of St. Louis. But just like anything that requires patience, the wait is worth it! After the long months of winter, colors begin to protrude out of every nook and cranny, from garden beds to sidewalk cracks, vibrant greens with splashes of the happiest yellows and oranges and purples and reds. Tulips are my favorite. They always have been. They seem so dignified, but also have a certain weakness about them. They bloom bright and fast, but only last so long. You turn around once and the petals lie on your dining room table, leaving you wondering what in the world happened. There's a mystery to the tulip. She doesn't give up her secrets. I always thought that tulips were at their best, at their "peak" when they were in their tallest state, petals sharply at attention. This is the state right after the bud. The tulip has given up it's tight grip and opened to stand straight and tall. This is the tulip we see in childhood pictures and books. This is the shape of the tulip you can draw with ease for pictionary, a semi-circle on a stem with two peaks. Voila! Then, I substitute taught as an aide for the preschool class. Nothing changes your life perspective like 20 three and four year olds. Monday, we went on a walk to look for spring things. "Oh Mrs. Goehmann, look at this! I found a beautiful rock!" "Oh Mrs. Goehmann, look at this leaf!" "Oh Mrs. Goehmann, did you see my new tennis shoes?!" Joy abounded in every sight and sound and touch. The first class took their walk around 10am-ish. The tulips were a favorite find for everyone, colorful, stately, just as I expect them. The second class took their walk around 1pm. It really was a beautiful day. There was oodles of sunshine, the temperature was perfect. The teacher led the class right by our friends, the tulips, and I was shocked to see this: Read More
Reading time: two minutes When I pray for church workers, I pray for joy. From my own experience, I know that joy comes from seeing the beauty of Jesus when He shows up in my ministry. It's a little bit like Peter leaping from the boat in John 21 when He recognized the risen Jesus standing on the shore after the Miraculous Catch (Part 2). When we witness those wonderful moments in ministry that are the "Only Jesus could do that!" moments, joy follows. I hope you have those all the time. Read More
If there’s a “double whammy” of stress in ministry, it’s the military chaplaincy. What a pleasure for us to minister to clergy families who also proudly wear the uniforms of our nation’s armed services. At the invitation of synod’s Ministry to the Armed Forces, Grace Place Wellness offered a… Read More
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Psalm 84: 1-2 My son Ezekiel, at the tender age of three was a bit of a challenge. A bit might be short hand for "Lord have mercy on our house." Zeke is one of the lights of my life. He is nothing less than a beautiful gift from God. And he brings a lot of pizazz and energy into our household. Please hear me as I say, I treasure him. Zeke is diagnosed with high functioning autism spectrum. He has numerous sensory input concerns. In his early years he detested things touching his hands, sitting with his legs dangling, ingesting food in general, the sound of side conversations, and most of all-congregational singing. Church was a struggle for him to say the least. That congregational singing got him every time. I recently read read an article about quiet services for autistic children, with less signing and no instruments. This is the kind of thing that would have appealed to Zeke when he was small and may have made church a whole lot more bearable for us. This wasn't our reality however, so when the organ started playing, Zeke would lay his entire body on the floor of the church aisle, or under a pew, or in the narthex to make it bearable. People at church were good about it, but I know it came off looking like a giant toddler fit, or lazy parenting, or at the very least, just plain weird. I just wanted to worship. And more than that, I wanted Ezekiel to worship. I wanted so badly for him to find tiny sparks of joy in the service, in the Word, in His people surrounding us. Doesn't every mother want that for her child? How was I going to convince him to follow this for His whole life, if each and every Sunday it was literal misery for his poor little soul. Granted, I was fully versed in the knowledge that the Holy Spirit does His work and this was not my responsibility, but a momma's heart hurt for want of some sign, any sign that He was hearing Jesus in the midst of it all. Read More
Reading time: two minutes. Easter people expect the risen Christ to show up in the most unexpected places and at just the time when we need Him. The Incarnate Jesus did that beginning at Bethlehem and continuing all the way to the Emmaus Road and His visit with Saul on the way to Damascus. Churches are emotional places; too often emotions of the unhealthy variety. Paul listed them as "bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice" (Ephesians 4:31). That's just the time we need Jesus to show up, and you know what? He does! Read More
Written by: Dcs. Heidi Goehmann I have to say it, I, for one, am so excited to see the open window for mental health in our culture and in our churches, recently. I see more and more posts on mental health care on the web, the Synod has a task force for domestic violence and abuse, there are conferences and committees to address support and care. This, my friends, is a long time in coming. Two years ago at a conference I heard a speaker call mental health the "mission field of the 21st Century". I could not agree more. It is time. The silence has lasted long enough. The darkness of despair and anxiety and struggle has been overcome by the blood of the Lamb. He waits with healing and grace. We can be that voice of grace for those around us. But how does that work? What does grace look like when it's living and active and poured out, particularly in the realm of mental health? Here are some suggestions for churches, church workers, and any one of us ready to answer the call to Grace for the hurting. John 1:16 tells us that we have all received grace upon grace. Praise be to God that we can let that grace roll out onto all of those around us! FIND OUT MORE It's easy to assume that we know. We've read a few blog articles about depression, so we "get" mental health. But the needs in mental health are so much broader and wider. Here is just a tiny list of struggles that can be addressed in grace: Anxiety - an estimated 10-18% of the population identifies a diagnosable struggle with anxiety, myself included! Depression - including seasonal, major depressive episodes, and postpartum Autism Spectrum and other sensory processing Learning disabilities Sexual abuse and assault Domestic violence Trauma of all sorts Bipolar Schizophrenia Addictions Eating disorders This list is not meant to be exclusive. I could go on and on. What struggle knocks on the door of your heart? Find out more, ask questions, use appropriate terminology and language. Educate others on the issue and just be mindful that these are not random and rare isues in people's lives. They are much more common than we think, for those inside the Church, as well as those disconnected from the Church. Grace - reaching out by learning and growing. Read More
Reading time: two minutes. Stuck is bad. "Stuck" even sounds bad. "Stuck in the mud." "Stuck in the muck." "Stuck in a rut." Stuck. Yuck! I'm not going to get all political, but the Republicans and the Democrats are both such easy examples of being stuck. They're all stuck in ruts of rhetoric, party platforms, and short attention spans. Nobody's listening. They can't. They're stuck. Intellectual health means having a healthy curiosity about the thoughts, hopes and dreams of someone else. It's a willingness to truly and sincerely listen; to take the daring and dangerous risk of learning something new and having my horizons get un-stuck. Easter and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead un-sticks everything. Easter sets us free from sin and death and also from a stuck perspective about the people around us. Read More
Reading time: two minutes. A cartoon shows a couple reading the sign in front of the church that reads, "Welcome to the church with tons of issues." He says to her, "Well, at least they're honest about it!" It's only funny because it's true! I've personally never met a church that didn't have tons of issues. How could it be otherwise? The church is simply people (and pastor!) with tons of issues gathered together at the foot of the cross. It's not at all surprising that churches are flawed. The miracle is that we are clustered together in relationships that are marked by love and care. Relational wellbeing is the Risen Christ living in the midst of His people loving and forgiving us so we can live and serve together. Read More
Written by: Dcs. Heidi Goehmann So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. John 20:3-4 Running to Him When I was a little girl I had a lot of bad dreams. A lot of bad dreams. It seemed like anything could lead to a nightmare - someone talking about ghost stories, a scary movie preview on prime time television, or a bully's threat at school. In most of my nightmares, I was running. Running from something, trying to get somewhere, out of breath, exhausted, tripping over branches and divots of grass and hidden treachery. As I laid in my bed, the branches scrapping the window signaled someone trying to get me, I came up with infinite excuses for drinks of water and extra hugs, mostly I imagined what would come for me in my dreams that night. I'm sure there is a psychological explanation for all of this, but honestly I'm not sure I care to know. I came from a stable and loving family. I didn't experience any form of abuse. The real curse was my extremely overactive imagination. What I do know is that I hated to run for years. I saw it as a punishment inflicted to my body and soul. At recess my best friend and I would sit on swings and hash over our current favorite book reads and imagine what we would do when we were grown up - anything from European princesses, to journalists, to doctors curing disease. Watching everyone else on the playground run around us. Running the mile in gym class...pure torture. "Why would anyone ask this of awkward adolescents?" I complained. I circled around that track four times and consistently came in at my 12 minute marker. Gag. It was anxiety producing and embarrassing. Read More
The Way to Wellness for the Non-Ordained in Church and School Ministries