What if we all tithed?

Yesterday we had our church annual meeting. A good chunk of the meeting always talks about the budget for next year, which has increased very slightly. The church is considering doing a stewardship program called "Step Up," or something like that, which encourages people to increase their giving incrementally each year until they reach a tithe, or 10% of their income. I'm intrigued by this because essentially the same program was proposed at a company profit-sharing meeting a week ago. Apparently a lot of people don't put any money in their 401(k) accounts because they hear that they should be putting aside 10%, they think, "I can't do that!", so they don't do anything. But they can usually imagine putting aside 1% of their incomes, and the next year they can probably imagine setting aside another 1% of their incomes, and so on, until they reach 10%. "Step Up" is trying to encourage people to increase their giving the same way - by 1% of their income each year until they reach 10%, and then go even further if they wish. The tithe, of course, was commanded by God in the Old Testament, and He even said, "Bring the tithes in and see if I won't bless you!" (Malachi 3:10) so that seems like a good goal.

Pete & I have always tithed, and in the lean years, it was amazing to see God provide. Money would occasionally come out of the sky, it seemed. I had a strict budget, of course, but sometimes there would just be more in the checkbook than there should have been. A couple of times, we got checks in the mail from telephone companies in towns we'd lived in years before for a year or two - some kind of co-op dividend payment. Things like that happened just when we ran short.

What struck me today is - what could our church do if everyone tithed? If the average giving is 1.5% of incomes (as I've read in several places), then we would have almost a million dollars a year EXTRA. Do you think our church could help some poor people with that kind of money? Do you think we could support some missionaries? Do you think we could provide some great opportunities for struggling learners, or struggling doubters, or struggling marriages, or whatever?? I think so!! And that's just little Svea. What could the churches in Kandiyohi County do if everyone tithed? How about Minnesota? How about America? The answer to Big Government is - Tithing Christians!

Dinner Theatre Rehearsals Under Way

A highlight of the year has begun. Our church youth group, grades 7-12, puts on a dinner theatre every year; we alternate between a play and a musical. We did a musical, Love Never Fails, in 2010, but because this year's seniors are such talented singers, we decided to do another musical this year - Ducktails & Bobbysox. Can you guess the setting? That's right - the Nifty Fifties!

I direct the music part, so Pete & I scheduled our vacation for Feb. 8-22, because that way we'd be back in plenty of time before Opening Night, Mar. 11. Alas, "the best laid plans of mice and men..." Conflicts arose for three of the five seniors, and the dates of the show were changed to Feb. 25-27. We'll get home three days before! No one else is really willing or able to take over for me (even if I could bear to give it up!), so we're now on the fast track to have the music all ready to go before we do, with extra individual rehearsals. Because it's a 50's musical, we've also recruited a band - more fun and more work.

One big reason this musical is a highlight for everyone is because of the way the Body of Christ works together. Linda, our director; Lois, our set and costume manager; the various parents who take on decorating, making the programs and tickets, publicizing, cooking, getting donations and a myriad of other tasks; the young people who act, sing, run lights and sound; even their younger siblings who serve as waiters and waitresses - all play their parts with gusto and do what they do best! This year we didn't have enough girls for all the parts (Svea is quite top-heavy with boys at this time), so we recruited several willing graduates and adults.

Thank You, Lord, for this concrete example of 1 Corinthians 12. May Your people work together in all areas as well as we do in this one!

Our Homesickness

A conversation yesterday reminded me of a Christmas when Michelle was little. With only 11 in the family, we celebrated at Pete's parents' home, and he found me in the bedroom, crying - sobbing, really. He hadn't seen that very often, so was distressed - "What's wrong?" I couldn't exactly explain. The Stadem family is one of the most welcoming I have ever known, and they were great to me - but at that moment, all that mattered was that they weren't MY family, and it was Christmas.

I had been a little scornful of my sister's crying when she was separated from our family one Christmas Eve a few years earlier by a blizzard; after all, she was with our uncle's family, what was the big deal? Now I understood.

Once in a while, I will get that same homesick feeling even when I'm in my home, or with my family (my family being husband and children by now). I think it's a homesickness for the kingdom of God. Even though this world is a great place, even though our families and friends are wonderful people, even though our lives are worthwhile and fulfilling and happy, we are made for something different. I cry on God's shoulder, and He whispers, "Soon you'll be home."

Stadem Celebration at Shetek

Shetek is one of the highlights of our children's year - and ours too! This year 34 gathered at the Shetek Lutheran Ministries Retreat Center from Thursday evening until Sunday morning for the 20th annual edition of whooping and hollering, giving and receiving, cooking and eating and cleaning up, and general good will toward men. We missed Auntie Beth from Colorado, and Feyet, who lives at Tom & Judy's place, but added Saul (supposed to have an accent on the "u" but I can't figure out how to do it here), a friend from Riverside Lutheran Bible Camp who spent his Christmas break with us instead of flying home to Puebla, Mexico. (In the picture are Grandma & Grandpa Stadem and their 18 granchildren)

Among the many highlights were:
- a Norwegian feast with meatballs and lutefisk
- Andrew & Philip did the old Abbott & Costello routine, "Who's on First?" for the family. They've done it 3 times before, but the combination of their proximity to the audience (so every word was heard), their improved comic timing (so every word was heard), and their having just done it on Wednesday so they remembered everything better made this the best performance by far - and the best audience too! Lots of laughs!
- lots of Christmas carol singing in 4-part harmony, including by candlelight, and the traditional march around the living room to "We 3 Kings"
- a delicious Italian dinner cooked and served by the cousins to the adults
- "Couples Feud" - a game concocted by the cousins with questions such as, "Where and when was your first date, and who talked the most?" Steve & Tanya won, with a total of 6 out of 10 matching answers. But we all enjoyed hearing the stories behind some of the questions, and top marks for laughter went to Tom's proposal, John B's non-proposal, and Pete & Kari's first kiss!
- and, as usual, seeing the love and acceptance between all the cousins from age 22 to age 9, and the appreciation they have for their grandparents

What a blessing to have all of our extended families following Jesus with a forgiving and gracious love! Thank You, Lord!!