Dear Friends

Dear Friends
I put on a good pair of trousers this morning, and once again observed that there were some snags in them. I don’t know how they all got there - just little snags, but enough so that I know that they are there. It’s sort of annoying to have these snags. I don’t think the trousers are all that old. To top it off, when I came home at a little after one this afternoon, the dog had to jump up on me; she wanted out, and I suppose she snagged some more. I like these trousers. Lois and I had tramped through the stores in downtown Minneapolis for a long time one day, until we happened upon them. They fit quite well; the color is nice, sort of beige. If only I didn’t have the snags.
That’s the problem, too, with our lives. There are snags that sometimes creep in. Things are going along, and a snag occurs. Sometimes it’s one snag after another. Sometimes the snags are so little, that only we know they are there. But they are there, nevertheless.
I can’t do much about the trousers - I certainly don’t know how to take out snags. Eventually, I suppose, I will buy a new pair. But there is something I can do with the snags in my life. I can take them to my Lord, and give them to Him. “Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7). This doesn’t mean that snags will never again occur in my life. They will, but I can live with them, because I have God. And that is enough.
Your Friend and Pastor,
Arlen Stensland

Dear Friends,
What a blessing it is, when talents are shared!
Consider Wayne Hoff. Obviously blessed by God with incredible music ability, each Sunday morning at our worship service, he shares that ability as he accompanies the hymns and plays the liturgy. You can always tell it is Wayne who is playing, because the hymns take on life and energy.
The other evening Lois and I attended a piano recital. It wasn’t just any kind of a recital. It was a recital put on by Wayne’s students. And it was marvelous. It had to be. After all, Wayne was their teacher. Each student sat down at the grand piano, and proceeded to play their piece, while Wayne softly accompanied them on the keyboard and on another piano, or organ, while someone else softly played the percussion instruments. A couple of the students, perhaps around 6 or 7 years old, played very simple mostly one-finger pieces, as their little heads nodded to the beat - but with the soft accompaniment, the result was a regular concert, a delight to the ears.
God intends our talents, whatever they are, not to be hidden away, or kept to one’s self, but to be shared. Each of us is part of one another. One talent no matter how meager or great, in the hands of God, multiplies and becomes a blessing for others.
“Do not neglect... to share what your have...” (Hebrews 13:16) “Let your light so shine before others...” (Matthew 5:16)
Your Friend and Pastor,
Arlen Stensland

Dear Friends,
As I write this, I am aware that we are deep in the midst of summer. A summer of fields of corn and soybeans, and growing gardens, and beautiful flowers; of outdoor grills, and vacations, and campouts, and a County Fair coming up. But it is also a summer of extremely hot weather, of brown lawns, and in some areas a crippling drought, and above all, an enormous tragedy in our midst.
It is a mixture of blessing and pain. Who can deny that we live in an imperfect world?
We live a mixed life. Sin cripples us, but we walk on feet that are firm; sorrow strikes, but a tune keeps singing in our hearts; death comes, but we are raised again to a new life. For we have the assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39).
That is the key. We have God. And we live with Him.
Your Friend and Pastor,
Arlen Stensland