These twelve months in Amor were full of blessings:

Like all the fun people and the crazy and the people I won't name but you might know them as Art and Doris and Ray and Bobbi and Oh that Kathy Thomas and all the youth even Chad and of course Pat and Connie in the office and having Pastor Jim for a supervisor and this list could go on so I'll sum up this blessing as a

A year in great community!

The second of the blessings of my time in Amor
Is doing is doing what we are doing right now, the singing and the praying and the gathering at communion, and even the offering because that's important, too and even though 8:15 is awfully early in the morning and sometimes in the winter it was really cold out we've been blessed by

A year of Joyful worship

And a year in great community.

No list of blessings would be complete without these

The massive amounts of cool whip and pie and cookies and bars and sausage and eggs and orange juice and brats and lutefisk soup and wild rice soup and tomato soup and anything served by the Dorcas, Mary and Ruth circles and of course coffee but my two favorite culinary blessings of the year were

Meatballs and lefsa

Joyful worship
And a year in great community.

You may not believe me but one of my favorite blessings

Was talking about Lutheranism with fourteen eight and ninth graders some of the coolest kids in all the country who now know that they are sinners and saved by grace because the most important thing is the cross and who learned things like simul Justus et peccator and what the word zealous means and who played the card game spoons until they drew blood from a classmate.  Doesn't it sound great to be blessed by

Teaching confirmation

Meatballs and lefsa
Joyful worship
And a year in great community.

A definite highlight of the blessings one that brought me to tears

Was my intern project Mission Sunday celebrating all that God has called out of us for service to the world, asking Who Me?  And hearing everyone answer Here I am Lord and the mission fair that shows what we have done and inspires us to do more but especially remembering little Lydia leading us in singing and remind us to

Let your light shine

Teaching confirmation
Meatballs and lefsa
Joyful worship
And a year in great community.

This next group blessing might not say the same about me

But I was wowed by the skills of the quilters and knitters and probably slowed their production but Nellda and Karen were kind and let me come anyway, even though I didn't quite get there at 8:30 on Mondays cause like I said that's awfully early, and although I started a few prayer shawls only one got done and poor Bev and Mickey kept me in line in the backroom as we made 216 quilts in one year.  I can see the good news of the gospel in our

Quilters and knitters

Let your light shine
Teaching confirmation
Meatballs and lefsa
Joyful worship
And a year in great community.

My world and my faith were changed by the following blessings

The trips to the Gulf Coast and Slovakia as it was so moving and powerful and hard work to see the pain and damage of natural disaster and of human oppression but also to see how we can respond with our own hands and hearts like when Mim and Carol and Doris and Sandi and I filled a whole dumpster by ourselves or when teaching the kids in Slovakia how to say broccoli and strawberry in English it's good to witness to hurt and to respond with love and hope and sometimes sledge hammers and ugly orange paint. What a blessing to be

Part of God's Mission

Quilters and knitters
Let your light shine
Teaching confirmation
Meatballs and lefsa
Joyful worship
And a year in great community.

On this list of blessings there is one I sort of resent

It's white and flaky or can be compact and icy and is usually accompanied by cold bitter temperatures and lots of darkness and is fun until about January less fun in March, no fun in April especially when they close the interstate and certainly not fun and might drive me over the edge when it happens the weekend of opening fishing and just plan crazy when it happens on your vacation in June even if you're in the mountains and yes deep down I know it's a blessing but sometimes my prayers were simply

No more snow!

Part of God's mission
Quilters and knitters
Let your light shine
Teaching confirmation
Meatballs and lefsa
Joyful worship
And a year in great community.

One of the blessings that was full of energy

Is our youth who thanks to Karen did so many things like trick-or-treating for the food shelf, OTC LYO, awesome red hawks game, and of course frying cheese curds and crazy bread for Phelps Mill, but are also some smart, thoughtful, kind, giggly, and faithful young people.  We are all blessed by

Amazing youth

No more snow!
Part of God's mission
Quilters and knitters
Let your light shine!
Teaching confirmation
Meatballs and lefsa
Joyful worship
And a year in great community.

Next on the list of my Amor blessings

Is that nutty group of folks who gather at 10 on Tuesdays around treats and coffee and when Lucy tells us to start, around the Bible, or a book, or a movie, or whatever they want to learn about that week like Michelangelo or Luther or the book of Romans or other religions or whatever Pastor Jim or I think would be fun.  Like I said it's a nutty group but I still consider them a blessing and will deeply miss

Bible study

Amazing youth
No more snow! 
Part of God's Mission
Quilters and knitters
Let your light shine
Teaching confirmation
Meatballs and lefsa
Joyful worship
And a year in great community.

I'm probably the only intern in the country

To have as her intern housing her own dock, and deck, and bonfire pit, and did I mention the lake? That I can see from my gorgeous house that you all so generously furnished and I so thankfully enjoyed and loved sharing with my friends and again, wow what a lake!  Oh what a blessing was

My lake palace

Bible study
Amazing youth
No more snow!
Part of God's Mission
Quilters and Knitters
Let your light shine!
Teaching confirmation
Meatballs and lefsa
Joyful worship
And a year in great community.

And the final blessing of my year in Amor

Seems like a more and more of a blessing the longer I stand up here and sing to all of you, but it's the group of people who fill this place with beautiful music LaVerne, and Linnea, and Nancy and the contemporary group and of course, the group of people who all like to dress alike and march in order and sit down in unison with the simple nod from Mabeth, this façade of a well-behaved group but who are really quite rowdy, yet they can really sing so I'll stop and turn it back over to them.  As I walk out today, it will be to the blessing of

Great musicians

My lake palace
Bible study
Amazing youth
No more snow!
Part of God's mission
Quilters and knitters
Let your light shine!
Teaching confirmation
Meatballs and lefsa
Joyful worship
And a year in great community!

Thanks be to God.