SALEM LUTHERAN CHURCH

1401 HAWTHORN ROAD

SALEM, IL 62881

Rev. Douglas E. Meyer 548-3190 548-2115 (home)

Vicar Josh Ketelsen 740-0457 (home)

FAX 548-3206

WEBSITE: www.salemlc.org

Salem Lutheran Church

is a family of Christian people

whose mission is to

feed the faithful, strengthen the weak,

reclaim the lost, and reach the unsaved

with the glorious Gospel message

so that all might come to know and

joyfully serve Jesus as Savior and Lord.

MAY 2008 NEWSLETTER

FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK: May is such a great month of the year. It’s a busy month as there are so many things that go on during these 31 days. There’s Confirmation the first Sunday of the month here at Salem Lutheran. There’s Memorial Day at the end of the month, with graduations sandwiched in between. The farmers are getting into the fields, gardens are getting planted, and outdoor activities are on the upswing as the weather warms. But perhaps the highlight of May is what takes place on the second Sunday of the month, that special day of the year that is set aside to honor our mothers.

I remember when I used to work in restaurants during my seminary years, Mother’s Day was (and I believe it still is) the busiest day of the year. Interestingly, Father’s Day is the day of the year on which the most collect phone calls are made. Go figure!

Well, I’m pretty confident that this Mother’s Day is going to be a pretty tough one for our family as Marilyn’s mom went home to be with the Lord on April 9. So I would like to use this month’s opening article to pay tribute to this woman who not only meant a lot to her immediate family, but to me, her son-in-law, as well.

While there are a lot of mother-in-law jokes floating around out there these days and some guys love to tell them, I never felt right in sharing them because I had the most wonderful mother-in-law that a fellow could ask for. And besides, how could I ever say anything bad about the woman who gave birth to the one that I’ve chosen to spend the rest of my life with? So I owe a lot to Marion Hartmann, not just because she gave me Marilyn, but also because of some of the lessons she taught me and lots of other people about life. Allow me share a few of those lessons with you.

First of all, she taught me the importance of finding joy in the simple things. Marion and her dear husband Henry were never much into the material side of life. They lived simply, yet comfortably. They didn’t allow themselves to get caught up in the rat race of life like it’s so easy to do today. One of Marion’s favorite things to do was to sit on her porch swing out on her patio that was part of her new garage she’d had built several years ago. When we would visit there, I loved to do the same, especially during the cool of the evening. It was a great way to let go of the cares of the day and to share some good memories and conversation, something that people often don’t take the time for these days.

Then along those same lines, Marion also taught through her life that nothing is more important than faith and family. Marilyn was blessed to grow up in a home where faith was strongly emphasized. I remember when I first started dating her, whenever it would get close to bedtime for her parents, we would have a devotional time in the living room before everyone said good night. We’d say Luther’s Evening Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer together. That made quite an impact upon me in those early days of my relationship with Marilyn because even though I was basically a stranger in their home, they didn’t let that cause them to put off what they normally did, but instead they included me right along with it.

And Sunday was definitely the Lord’s day. No excuses for missing church! It didn’t matter if you were out late the night before, you got up and went to church. And Marion was definitely a creature of habit when it came to her weekly journey to God’s house. When Marilyn would visit her on weekends during her healthier years, she would get the biggest kick out of her mom because they would always have to leave by 8:00 o’clock to get to the church about 8:05 for an 8:30 service. Typically, they would be the first ones there. But I think there was a reason for those early arrivals because a few years ago my daughters and granddaughter were there one Sunday. And when they went inside the church, they sat right in the middle on the left side, approximately where they’d always sat before. But they didn’t sit exactly where Marion normally sat. So even though they were the only ones in the sanctuary at the time, they all had to get up and move…one row back. J Don’t laugh because I think we have a few of those creatures of habit at our church too!

Then one more lesson that Marion taught me and those who knew her was how important it is to schedule some fun times into your life. I remember Marilyn telling me how after they would attend Wednesday evening Lenten services, they would stop by the local tavern in Campbell Hill and have a soda. That must sound like a pretty minor thing to younger folks today, but that was before the days of fast food restaurants and the frequent times of eating out that most families are accustomed to today. Back then, it was a real treat, a real treat that Marilyn’s mom and dad made sure their kids enjoyed.

Marion and Henry also loved to dance in their younger and healthier years. I can remember a time when I got real brave and I asked her to dance a waltz with me at a wedding reception. Though I had waltzed with Marilyn a few times before this, waltzing with her mom was an entirely different matter. I felt like I had two left feet and those two left feet kept stepping on her feet more times than I care to remember. And though I apologized profusely throughout that dance for my awkwardness, she was so kind and encouraging.

I guess that’s one more lesson she taught me – that even though there are going to be plenty of times that people step on your feet in this dance that we call life, the best thing we can do for ourselves as well as for them is to forgive them and keep dancing. I don’t know if there is dancing in heaven. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is because dancing is something that people do when they’re full of joy. And since we can experience no greater joy than that which awaits us in heaven, it stands to reason that there just might be dancing there. And if there is, I have a picture in my mind of Marion slipping away from us on April 9 and being immediately greeted by her husband Henry who has been waiting 12½ years to hold his bride in his arms and dance with her again. And after they’ve danced for a while, I picture this nail-pierced hand tapping Henry on the shoulder and saying, “May I cut in?” And then begins the greatest dance of all, the dance with Jesus that will last forever.

We miss you, Marion!