St. Luke's Blogs

Yellow rubber ducks have been a part of society since the early 1940s. Jim Preston understood that the yellow rubber duck is something that many people enjoy. That is why Jim bought hundreds of the little yellow toys and used them to help inspire people during the past 14 months. Jim lives on a busy street in Menlo Park, California. Each day he would wake up, before sunrise, and use the toy ducks to spell out a word of encouragement in his front yard. He wanted to offer hope and inspiration during a time of uncertainty and lockdown.

My mom felt helpless.  The scene was quickly getting chaotic.  She had to protect her two children, but didn’t know what to do.  She turned on her windshield wipers… but that didn’t work. The protesters were still draped across her windshield.  We were in the middle of a riot. My older sister was so scared, she put her hands over her ears to block out the people screaming outside.  I was in a fetal position – in my mother’s womb…

This past Sunday, we continued to look at the poem by Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb. In the poem there was a powerful line that read, “If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy.” When I read that line, I reflected on the concept of mercy. Mercy is choosing compassion and forgiveness over punishment.  Mercy is mentioned over 250 times in the Bible. Mercy is our story. It is God who extends mercy to us, over and over. We do not deserve God’s love, but God continues to offer it freely.

Who is a God like thee, pardoning iniquity
    and passing over transgression
    for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever
    because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion upon us,
    he will tread our iniquities under foot.
Thou wilt cast all our sins
    into the depths of the sea.
Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
as thou hast sworn to our fathers
    from the days of old.

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
    he heard my cry for mercy.
Because he turned his ear to me,
    I will call on him as long as I live.
The cords of death entangled me,
    the anguish of the grave came over me;
    I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
   “Lord, save me!”
The Lord is gracious and righteous;
    our God is full of compassion.
The Lord protects the unwary;
    when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return to your rest, my soul,
    for the Lord has been good to you.

Wanda Smith knows what it is like to have a dream, but also to have obstacles and life’s demands before her. Wanda’s dream was to become a teacher. She loved children and wanted to spend her days helping them to become the best they could possibly be. Wanda was a mother of three children, who also had a big responsibility of caring for her mother, who had a long-term illness. Wanda never let go of her dream, but spent her time taking care of her family. With her limited time, Wanda would work at the local elementary school, in Brenham, TX. She would work as a bus monitor and eventually as a custodian in the building. At the age of 37, Wanda returned to college to pursue her dream…

I think most of us realize that with any physical task or feat, that the battle is not just a physical one, but a mental one as well.  Whether you’ve gone through physical therapy after an injury or surgery, prepared for a race, or practiced intensely for a game or competition, there are ways to train both your body AND your mind.  We know these challenges rely on our physical strength and ability, but the will power to lift our arms, twist and turn, or to pick up our feet is connected to our minds as well as our bodies. As a runner since junior high, I’ve heard that running is 90% mental, and the rest is physical.  I do believe in the truth of this and realize that our own self-talk and motivation is key to getting through the challenges of a race, training run, or practice…

Oh, the hills I have climbed! My mother’s favorite saying is “If anyone, as terrible a child as I was, could end up as well as I have done, there is hope for everyone!” I feel like every day I should continue to apologize to her for all the heartache I caused her as a teenager. I was not always a dedicated employee who managed four childcare centers, in fact I was a rebellious teenager. I was not very interested in school; in fact, it was a good day when I attended class a couple of times. Driving around the school and socializing with my friends was much more fun!

There was a short time in my life when driving was a struggle for me.  During my junior year of college, I was involved in an accident that totaled my car and sent me to the hospital. Thankfully, everyone involved was eventually physically fine, although neither of the cars in the incident would ever be driven again. Although I did not realize it at the time, the wreck affected me more than just physically…

Growing up in the small town of Clymer, NY, I was privileged to run with the track team for 6 years in junior high and high school.  Our team, led by “Coach Mac,” would run several miles each day on the rural roads in this farming community.  One of our weekly destinations was “The Hill.”  This incline was the site of our conditioning drills…