PASTORS D AND D

thank you thank you thank you

DATELINE: MONDAY 12/29/08 MOVING DAY

472 Teddy bears moved from Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, heading for Good Bears of the World teddy bear nursery, waiting to be sorted and then sent out to 472 new homes where
eager arms and warm hearts await them.

It is always so heartwarming to see the family of teddy bears grow from a handful of bears under the Christmas tree, until, no matter where you look, bears are everywhere you look,
climbinb up any Christmas tree they can find, hiding under the tree, and I even saw one sitting
in a chair waiting for the worship service to begin. The final count was amazing. Our church
family always comes through, a little rougher this year as there were only three weeks between
thanksgiving and Christmas.

A week before Christmas I received an e-mail from Good Bears of the World, stating that they
had received a request from CASA for 600 bears to be given to abused and neglected children.
They were able to fill that request and many of the bears were from the 2007 bears donated
from Christ the Servant Lutheran Church. Since we have been involved in this project, over
40,000 have been gifted. Our donations total approximately 3,000.

I am quite sure that we are probably the only church that decorates their tree with teddy bears
and their friends, but I understand one of our very young members feels that all trees should
be trimmed in this fashion. Who knows where that trend ma y go.

Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH and in the words of Tiny Tim "GOD BLESS US, EVERYONE"

The Teddy Bear Lady

MY LORD, WHAT A MORNING......

history was made today. when I got up this morning, I thought, oh just another inaugaration day, you've seen one,
you've seen them all. WRONG! The manufacurer's of Kleenex today has much to be thankful for today, I have never
shed so many tears in such a short time as this morning. I have always known that someday there would be an
african-american president. I think I am even surprised that it took this long. I have never really seen people as black
or white or red or yellow, just as people----some I like and some I don't like so much. This wont change much I suspect. As you all know, I was not happy with the choices we had this election, but I do respect that the majority of
the people selected our new president and I respect the office he now holds. I will support him and pray for him and
all our leaders and for our country. GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD BLESS US EVERYONE.

DAWN REMEMBERS........................

going to look at Christmas lights while I checked to see if Santa had come to visit.

That brings me to the story of a "black eye for Christmas" While I was "checking" to see if Santa had indeed come, I was naturally kind of busy "checking". After all how long could daddy keep the kids interested in christmas lights when they were eager to see if Santa had been there. So hustling and bustling was the order of the
evening and while making one of the many trips from the closet to the Christmas tree
I spotted a piece of Kleenex lying on the floor. As I bent down to pick it up a powerful sneeze crept up on me and as I sneezed my eye connected with the book case
and by morning I had a beautiful shiner. Of course, I embellished the story, after
all nobody was going to believe the truth anyhow. C'mon now, sneezing was the real cause. I really believe Dad had the easiest job, but then he would never have remembered where everything was anyway.

I remember one Christmas Eve, Dad and left for work and dawn, beth, and mike were
down for the night (I thought) They were probably 4,3, and 2 years of age. Anyhow
we had gotten the girls "life size dolls" that year. The dolls were about the size
of a 3 year old. I had done some straightening up and walking thru the house I spotted the girls by the Christmas tree. I said "I thought I had you guys in bed"
No comment, only then did I realize it was the dolls I was talking to. I was sure glad no one had seen or heard me.

I mentioned in my last blog that we always kept our tree up a long time. Proof
positive---my tree is still up today. Now I don't want to hear "Graaaandma" or
"MooooooooM" I talked to my cousin Ruth in Wisconsin yesterday and she said I guess
I should really take my tree down..............I guess I just come by it naturally.
We always tried to keep it up until my sister's birthday (2/11) If it didn't dry
dry out too much that it. One year we even kept it up until Easter, but I am sure
Easter must have been early that year. One of the first years Dad & I had our own
tree in Milwaukee, I remember it had really dried out. We opened the window, we lived on the 2nd floor and the window was on the side yard, so no one was really
around and after making sure the coast was clear, we shoved it out the window. So
far, so good, until we looked. Yeah, the tree was out in the yard, but all the
needles were on the living room floor.

I still love Christmas and I still hate it when all the decorations and songs are
stored away for another year. I miss the warm and fuzzy feeling of the holidays.

I am still helping out at the church, but I look forward to them hiring a new secretary and letting me get back to being a very active couch potato
Until next blog-----luv'nhugs