Word from Mother Karen: Lesson Learned in Suffering

I wanted to share a few things I have learned about suffering over the last couple of years. I have learned more than I really wanted to… 

1. I have to really live one day at a time. I cannot fret about what will happen tomorrow or next week. 

2. I have had to learn how to rest, even when I do not want to. I have to listen to the limits of my body, which God created.

3. I have learned to pray when I can’t pray as I normally would. Some days in pain, all I can do is cry out, “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.” Marilyn encouraged me to pray this when I could not pray anything else.  

4. I have learned that God can sustain me through more than I thought (as an Enneagram 8, I could always tough my way through difficult situations). 

5. I have learned to humble myself to receive. I hate being in a wheelchair, but the people of Savior would rather I be present and in a wheelchair than not be there at all. I have learned how important the prayers of people are to carry me to the throne of God. To give me joy amid my suffering. 

6. I have always been sensitive to people with handicaps, but this has made me more so. Being in a wheelchair shows you places that are friendly to the handicapped through their facilities. And the way people react to you! 

7. I have learned something about worship. I pray for healing, but I have learned to be sure I am worshiping the Healer and not just the healing. At times I have wanted to beg for healing and forget to worship Jesus. 

8. I have learned to be grateful. I started a Grateful Journal and try to write at least one thing in it at the end of each day. This was really difficult when I was lying on a couch for 3 months, or when I am in so much pain it takes me a while to find one thing.

But from those learnings, I know how to pray for others who are suffering. Recently, a friend was laid up. I wrote, “My prayer for you, my dear friend, is that you will deeply rest physically. I pray spiritually you will rest in the arms of Jesus. That you will trust Him for all the things you cannot do right now. That you know you are His beloved Son even when you cannot accomplish as much as you would like. I pray that you will know Jesus even more through your suffering, but you also know the deep joy that comes as you cling to Him. I do pray for healing for you and that you have patience in God's timing (still praying this for myself). I also pray for any trauma in your soul through this harrowing experience.” 

Maybe one of you needed that prayer today.

Remembering the Light in Epiphany

Today’s post comes from Sarah Lindsay, Savior’s Director of Communications and Children’s Ministry Coordinator.

Christmas is over: the trees are down, the decorations (mostly) packed away, the excitement of new toys has worn off. And with the snow and the cold, January is reminding us that winter has settled in for an unpleasantly long visit. Even the church calendar has reset to ordinary time: a season of days ticked off the calendar between the feast of Christmas and the solemn fast of Lent.

As we readjust to routines, packing lunches, searching for lost mittens, and eating dinner after dark, the joy and light of Christmas can seem distant. But during this season of Epiphany, of ordinary days, we have a chance to continue celebrating the coming of Jesus, the light of the world. During Epiphany, we remember the ordinary ways in which Jesus revealed himself to the world: in the muddy waters of the Jordan River, at a wedding in Cana, as he preaches in his hometown.

In children’s worship, the children sing about the colors of the church year: ordinary time is green, and “green is for the growing time.” It’s hard to remember in the icy grip of January and February that growth is happening. But just as the days are slowly lengthening and the bulbs under the earth are waiting to grow again, the light whose arrival we celebrate at Christmas continues to shine. Let us take the time in this ordinary space of Epiphany to notice how Jesus is present in our world.

Spotlight on Sandy Richter

Sandy Richter has been on staff at Savior since 2015, first as the Children's Ministry Coordinator and now as the Pastor of Adult Formation. In today's post, get to know Sandy and her passion for spiritual formation.

What is your role at Church of the Savior?

Pastor of Adult Formation, which means I am responsible for two major areas of our church life. One, I help to support and oversee our many ministry team leaders, including those who lead our set-up team, our meals ministry, our prayer and communion ministers, our small group leaders, and more. Two, I help to shape and shepherd our corporate spiritual formation, which includes coordinating and leading our silent retreats, creating devotional materials, preaching a few times a year, and discerning how to strengthen and support the rich tradition of spiritual formation in our community. Frederick Buechner describes vocation as the place where our greatest joy meets the world’s greatest needs. I love the way my job as Pastor of Adult Formation allows me to express my passions for spiritual formation, leadership development and teaching in a way serves our community. It has truly been a joy.

Where do you live now, and where are you from?

I live with my husband, Ian, and three kids, Kiah (10), Elle (8) and Ezra (6) in Oak Park, where we share a two-flat with our longtime friends and two adorable cats Sunshine and Pazu. I moved around a lot before coming to Wheaton for college. I came here from the Pacific Northwest which is still a heart home for me.

What do you do for fun?

I’m passionate about people, so I spend a lot of time getting to know my neighbors, deepening relationships with friends, discerning ways to encourage people in their life and faith journey. I also love to play board games, to read fiction, especially mysteries, and to watch tv and movies.

What are you reading?

The past few months I have been rereading David Benner’s *Surrender to Love*, which is probably my most recommended book of all time. It’s been great to sink back into the good news of God’s love in this run through, and to see the things that stand out to me this time around. As Benner says, “There is nothing more important in life that learning to love and be loved… \[and] Christianity is the world’s great love religion. The Christian God comes to us as love, in love, for love. The Christian God woos us with love and works our transformation through love.” Isn’t that such good news?

How can people get involved in the ministry you lead?

If you are interested in being involved in a specific ministry area, please contact our ministry team lead who oversees that area. If you would like to know more about spiritual formation, if you’d like to be involved in a small group, if you’d just like to talk about life and faith and the intersection thereof, give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to talk more.

Word from Father Kevin: Baptism

Anglicans believe that “matter matters.” That things physical – bread, wine, water – can convey spiritual realities. This Saturday, when Cayden is baptized, the water will both picture something and convey the reality of that picture. As the water is poured over his head, it symbolizes cleansing from sin; and through prayer and faith it also conveys that cleansing. A former Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, explained, “… all the sacraments are Christ’s acts, the touch of the hand of Christ upon human lives through visible media.” 

When we come to the waters of baptism “rightly, worthily, and with faith” (as one of our foundational documents, The Thirty-Nine Articles, expresses it), spiritual blessings are received: “they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed; Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God.” 

I look forward to our baptism this week! And I encourage you, if you or your child has not been baptized, to consider being baptized at Easter Vigil (April 20). Email me if you’d like to talk more about this.

Word from Father Kevin: Epiphany

One of our Savior traditions that is sweet – in both sense of that word – is to eat Rosca together on Epiphany. This Saturday, following the service, we’ll enjoy this traditional bread eaten to celebrate the visit of the Three Kings to baby Jesus.

And as the all-knowing Wikipedia explains, “At least one plastic miniature figurine of the baby Jesus can be hidden inside the cake. The person who finds it is seen as the lucky winner of the prize (whatever that might be).” In our case, the “prize” is that you get to bring cookies to our Annual Business Meeting (this year, Feb. 9).

This year, I can’t help but remember that our Rosca tradition was started by Marilyn Stewart, a founding member of Savior who went to be with the Lord in December. We will miss you, Marilyn. And we will keep sharing food and sharing fellowship, as you taught us to do.