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It was the day before Thanksgiving, with Tim Hunt offering a wonderful invocation and Keith Olson leading us in songs of thankfulness. We welcomed District Governor Keith Brokke and his wife, Lynne, both members of the Fargo Moorhead AM Rotary Club; Keith just finished up his last club visit to Fergus Falls Sunrise, the prior week. Also with us were Anthony and Elysia Nordan's middle and youngest child. Rotarians then announced their guests at our special meeting: Kathy Austvold hosted Eric Uggerud from Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church; Wally Cole introduced Joey Kalan from CrossRoads; Dave Johnson brought with him Doug Stave from Bethlehem Lutheran; Jamie Larson had two guests, Rich Iverson from Bethel Lutheran and David Strom, retired; Gretchen Enoch from First Lutheran was Steve Leitte's guest; Buzz Lundeen welcomed Lee Kantonen from Grace United Methodist; John MacFarlane did triple duty, hosting Doug Dent from Federated, Krehl Stringer from PioneerCare and Ed Morgan from Maine Presbyterian Church; Anthony Nordan was joined by his wife, Elysia, also doing the work of the Salvation Army; Keith Olson was happy to introduce his sister Nancy Eldredge-Hess, retired, Christopher Eldredge from Zion Lutheran and Loren Mellum from Bethlehem Lutheran; finally, Zach Stach welcomed John Juhl from Stavanger Lutheran Church. With Anthony and our speaker, Steve Austold, we had 17 members of our local clergy attend our meeting and we expressed our appreciation with applause. During the process Tim Hunt also introduced his oldest son, Nathan, home for Thanksgiving Anthony Nordan led off announcements, passing around the Salvation Army bell ringing sign-up sheet which now includes a third day of ringing, Friday December 17, again at Service Food, from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. Pints for Polio will occur at Fergus Brewing on Friday, December 3, 2021, from 4:00 to 11:00 p.m., with $1 donated to the polio eradication effort for the first 100 pints sold and $2 per pint thereafter. Brian Tjaden also was delivering pumpkin pies to those who indicated they wanted one, with all donations going to our effort to raise funds for the Splash Pad. His company delivered over 2011 pies in three communities, with 75 in Fergus Falls this first year of the effort here. During the fine and brag segment, Jamie Larson reported he attended the funeral of Wayne Larson the prior Monday, longtime CEO of LB Homes. Tim Hunt also donated as he had to leave the meeting early for a doctor's appointment. Kathy Austvold introduced her husband, Steve, to deliver our Thanksgiving message. Steve has worked in missions since the early 90's and during the last two years has taken teams of volunteers to Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana to assist in relief efforts. He talked about a recent visit to the doctor where he was asked "what is your pain level, from zero to ten," and how that is an appropriate question for all of us in myriad situations. He told of Betty, an 89-year-old, feisty women, who waited 13 months to get her roof redone after a terrible hurricane and who went up on the roof herself to measure the area to be re-roofed to make sure it was done right; what was her pain level through that time period and where did she turn to keep a positive attitude and find relief? Steve also referenced how he has written in a prayer book every night since 1988 the word "praise" and maybe another word or phrase to help him recall the blessings of that day. On the cruise back from England to the United States he and Kathy just enjoyed during his sabbatical, he thought a lot of the Bible verse, John 3:16 and various parts to it: "For God so loved the world," "God gave his only begotten son" and "perish", the latter appropriate when they were out in the middle of the Atlantic for four days, seeing only one ship besides the vastness of the waters. The lesson is that God wants us to live so we won't perish - to have life, and to know that whomever believes in him shall not perish. On a scale of zero to ten, Jesus has taken all our pain! |
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