WELCA NEWS
by Susan Olson
Well—I thought I wasn’t going to be doing this any longer.
I was prepared to let it go. After
all, four years of writing a monthly column for the Grapevine should
be enough. I was tired and ready to rest. But circumstances have not
permitted my retirement. So here goes.
In “Suffering as Becoming” as the November
Lutheran Woman Today
WELCA Bible study is entitled, the authors point out how God uses suffering
to further divine purposes. The last six months of my life have seemed
to be totally out of my control. I guess I can’t call this suffering
exactly, but my plans for summer and fall were put on hold as I was
asked to do things that were not on my “list.” I went to
Kansas three times last summer (It was hot!) I was asked to direct the
fall Alpha course (umpteephoo phone calls.) Got that going. Then I spent
a weekend at a churchwomen’s convention. I really didn’t
feel like doing that because it took up a whole weekend. (My husband
is home from his job in Seattle only on weekends.) The week after the
convention, we went to Colorado for five days and spent the weekend
babysitting our four-year-old granddaughter, her cousin, and our bouncing
18-pound, eight-month-old grandson. (Oh, my aching neck and back.) Then
the Pennsylvania relatives arrived, and we spent four days showing them
“our” world. The next weekend was Alpha retreat. That meant
shopping and trucking all the stuff to the retreat site. There were
lots of sleepless nights worrying about how I was going to get all of
that done. (Sorry, Lord, for the lack of faith.) But amidst all the
pressure and stress (and my rabbiness,) God was providing Grace notes.
Christians define grace as the free unmerited love and favor of God.
In music a grace note is a note added for embellishment of another note.
In the busyness of the last few months, God has touched my life with
occasions and moments of pure love and joy—embellishment to my
life that lifted my heart.
The churchwomen’s convention turned out to be
fun in spite of myself. I went with a friend, and we had a good time
together. On the Kansas and Colorado trips, we bonded with our children,
grandchildren (and cousin,) as we did with the Pennsylvania relatives.
On the weekends with the visiting relatives and the next weekend on
Alpha retreat, we were blessed with absolutely beautiful weather. In
late October in Washington, that really is a miracle. Our company got
to see elk (relatives thought we’d made up the elk stories,) and
they saw fish coming up our river to spawn. We had glorious visits to
the San Juan Islands and Hurricane Ridge. The Alpha weekend was successful
in every way. On the first day, weather was fine. The big kids were
able to play out all day. The second day it was raining at our house,
but when we got to Ramblewood at Sequim, it was another fine day—until
noon. As we were moving out, the wind came up and the rain began to
fall. Thank you, Lord. You know what happened next. The temperatures
dropped below freezing. What the elk hadn’t eaten in our yard
the week before was killed off by frost. And then the rain came. The
river rose and in swam the salmon. (They were out in the canal waiting
for the rain.) And it rained and rained. The river rose, and our river
lot filled with water. The electricity went off—and the rains
continued. On Sunday morning, the rain had lessened, and the electricity
was back. On the way to church, as we drove out of our neighborhood,
we were delighted to see three big fat seals sitting on a small floating
platform in the canal—sunning themselves and waiting for fish.
But how magnificent they were! After church that morning, the rain held
off while we emptied all the frost-killed flower pots, put away deck
furniture, and removed my swing from the river bank. Then the rain returned.
There is one last heart-lifting gift that I want to list. On the way
to church this last week, a brief rain shower produced a full rainbow.
The colors delighted me as they danced and shimmered in the air. It
reminded me of promises from a faithful God. So, yes, I would say that
God has used my stressful and grouchy time to remind me, with surprises
of his glory and majesty, of His great faithfulness.
In December the WELCA Bible study continues with session
four entitled “Suffering as the Consequence of Sin.” Hostesses
for the meeting are WELCA officers. We invite all women to join us on
Tuesday, December 12, at 9:45 a.m. for coffee with Bible study at 10:00.
Lunch will be potluck. Each one is invited to bring a small dish to
share., WELCA officers will provide dessert.