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Anthony Nordan gave our invocation and we proceeded to welcome our guests from the Ministerial Association: Anthony introduced his spouse Elysia from the Salvation Army (and she introduced him); Dean Monke introduced his daughter Anna, interning at Tungseth Lutheran, and Loren Mellum from Bethlehem Lutheran; Dave Johnson introduced Eliza Johnson, also from Bethlehem Lutheran; John MacFarlane hosted Doug Dent and Ed Morgan from Federated present and past respectively; and Zack Stach introduced John D. Juhl from Stavanger. Dave Johnson then introduced our student guests from the Fergus Falls High School: Katie Anderson, daughter of Chris and Cheryl, who plays both volleyball and basketball, is a coach for the sixth-grade basketball team and has plans to attend NDSU; Oliver Thorson, son of Mike and Beth, is involved in cross country and Nordic skiing and plans to attend UND; Jenna Carlson is on Student Council and is a National Honor Society member; and Rebecca Schindler participates in cross-country, track , band and choir and is also a member of the National Honor Society.  Zack Stach reminded us of bell ringing at Service that day and also on December 16th and 17th, of packing back packs at United Way yesterday and that we plan on handing out Andy & Elmer books to second graders at Adams on Friday, December 9th. There was a Rotary Minute based once again on the November Rotary magazine and those assembled answered one of two correctly, which was better than average but that is deceiving because the one question missed was asked two weeks ago and the answer revealed. Brian Tjaden led off Brags and Fines, contributing for the audit of club finances completed by Steve Andrews and for Dave Johnson taking a bell ringing shift for him at the last minute; Anthony appreciated Brian's efforts in the latter regard; President Ken was happy about the number of clergy present; and Keith Olson rose to report he had to leave the meeting early. Our speaker was arranged by Jamie Larson, and we heard from Pastor Rich Iverson from Bethel Lutheran. Rich told us he has been at Bethel for ten years, following twelve years in Barnesville, seven years in Texas, three years in Eau Claire and two years in Africa. He recited Psalm 111 and used it as a foundation for his Thanksgiving message, the need to see accurately what is. He recalled growing up on a family farm in South Dakota and whenever his aunts from Minneapolis visited, they talked about the beauty of the crops. He remembered thinking, "what are they talking about?" but now realizes the lesson in their glowing comments: that being faithful is looking at life with the right kind of eyes. When we see something over and over again, we lose appreciation for it. Thanksgiving is not about the amount of stuff we have but seeking it with the right eyes and acknowledging all as a gift from God. Even during hard times, we still have the opportunity to give thanks to God as the giver of our life and all things.  |
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