St. Luke's Blogs

On Tuesday, January 4, a severe winter storm moved across a large area, including Virginia and Washington D.C. The storm caught many off guard. First ice, then snow blanketed the area, stranding thousands of people on the roads. People were stuck in their cars for over twelve hours. The freezing temperatures were truly dangerous to all who were stranded in their vehicles overnight.

As the sun rose and the traffic remained at a standstill, motorists began experiencing hunger pains. One couple, John and Casey Noe were stranded next to a Schmidt Baking Company truck. The couple wondered if the driver would let them have something from inside…

I am a proud graduate of Lawton Public Schools. I began my academic career at Eisenhower Elementary School. Like many schools in Lawton, Eisenhower Elementary was a diverse school. The school has students from varied social and economic backgrounds. Many of the student come from a rough background where discipline and responsibility are not taught and modeled. These difficult home lives often show up in behavioral issues at school.

In the Spring of 2021, many of the older boys at Eisenhower were being referred to office for behavioral issues. Their behavior was keeping them out of the classroom and preventing them from having a successful school year. The constant misbehavior, arguments, and fights among the boys was a real disturbance.

The leadership at Eisenhower decided that something needed to change…

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel thus about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

Arise, shine; for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth,
    and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
    and his glory will appear over you.

The start of the new year is an opportunity to change our perspective. It is a chance to find a different way to look at things. Nancy Grace Roman understood that a significant change in location could offer a whole new view, not only of our world, but the universe.

Nancy Roman joined NASA in 1959, just a few months into the new agency’s existence. She was a mathematician and scientist. She had to work extremely hard to be successful in a field that was dominated by men. She demonstrated this determination to succeed early on when, in high school, she talked a guidance counselor into allowing her to take more math classes, even though the counselor asked her, “What lady would take mathematics instead of Latin?” Nevertheless, Nancy continued to persevere…

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” –Joshua 1:9

One of the great temptations of life is to think that we can do it all by ourselves. It is true that working with others can be a struggle. We don’t always see eye to eye with one another. Our differences can drive a wedge between us.  The frustration from being with others, even those whom we love, can often push us into solitude.

The same is often true for our life of faith. Our faith life should bring us joy and peace, but there are times when we are busy, when life’s demands are almost more than we can handle. In those busy times, we are tempted to leave God off our schedule. We neglect the gift of worship, prayer and reading scripture, which is our connection and communication with God.

We were not created to live life on our own. We are better when we are with others. We are at our best when we are connected to God…

The start of the new year is often filled with resolutions. The fresh start offered by one year ending and a new one beginning fills us with hope that this new year will be better than the last. We often want the new year to include a “new and improved” us. We don’t simply want the new year to treat us better, but we want to seize the opportunity to become better ourselves. Resolutions come in many forms. Many make resolutions to get in better shape and lose weight. Others make resolutions to travel more, spend more time with family, or finally get the garage clean. Still, some make a resolution to grow in their faith (this is my favorite).

New Year resolutions are a wonderful thing. They are an intentional commitment to be a better version of ourselves. However, as many of us have learned, it takes more than just making a resolution to become something different. Change is hard work. Breaking habits and creating new, more positive habits takes discipline…

During this holiday season, I found that I really appreciate the grid lines on some wrapping paper. These lines really make such a difference when you’re trying to cut the wrapping paper in a straight line!  Sometimes I have a roll of wrapping paper without those guidelines, and I find that it’s much more difficult to cut in a straight line on my own.  One little trick that I’ve found to be helpful in making it straighter is to focus my eyes on the endpoint that I want to get to.  I’ve found that without the guidelines, when I only focus on where I’m cutting, I typically veer off more than I intend.  When I focus on where I want to go, to a point on the other end of the paper that lines up with where I am, then it’s amazing how my scissors can cut and glide to that point.  The end result is a straighter line than what I would have if I just focused on each cut…

January 3, 2022 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped […]

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, […]