May 2, 2021 Newsletter

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

~1 John 4:16b

Sisters and Brothers-

I wasn’t looking for this, but it jumped out at me when I was preparing for Bob Haaf’s Zoom study on Hunger. It’s from http://www.gcsynod.org/news/lenten-reflection-5-what-will-it-take-to-end-hunger-action.

In his response to the plague that reemerged in Wittenberg in 1527, Martin Luther addressed the question of how a Christian is to act in a pandemic. After highlighting the ways God shows concern for good health in Scripture and exhorting his readers to care for their neighbors, Luther writes that prayer, though important, is not enough. Christians, he proclaims, must do more than pray. They must act.

Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others.

Pray. Then act.

It sounds to me as if Luther would be in favor of wearing a mask, keeping a safer distance, and getting vaccinated.  Does it sound that way to you?

~Submitted by Pastor Howard

1. Our Blood Drive this last Friday provided 24 units of blood!! Thank you to all who donated – the Red Cross was extremely appreciative. Thanks to the Grace volunteers who helped take temperatures, registered donors and helped with snacks – Mary Schneider, Cindy Wood, Jalyn Slaybaugh and Ron Hiatt.
2. We have a new room for meetings. Classroom 6 or it’s other name “The Purple Room” has been vacated by Inspired by Grace.  So, if you have a meeting in Classroom 6 it is across from the Pastor’s Office
3. Can you smell the garlic and the tomato sauce and hear Brenner kitchen noise? Yes, get ready for the Youth Pasta Dinner and get your orders in for the Saturday May 1^st pick up.
4. Summer is coming back and so is VBS. It seems so long ago that we had VBS – in fact, it has been almost 2 years. So, the halls of Grace will be alive in July with construction!
5. The morning sunrises across the parking lot have been absolutely outstanding – God’s and Mother Nature’s paintbrush at work!
6. Last week we had tree dandruff (snow) coming down – Mother Nature must have forgotten to use Head and Shoulders Dandruff Control … Then on Wednesday we were attacked by ‘Snow Bombs “falling from the trees. Snow is beautiful but in April????
7. The pink azalea in the flower bed next to the office is just starting to bloom and the Easter Lilies that were planted 2 years ago are breaking through the ground. Spring is still trying to Sprung.
8. The church phones have been updated. So, no more dropped calls when you call in unless one of the people in the office are still being challenged by how to work them (Gretchen and Pastor) Cathy is the guru.
9. Confused about which doorbell to press outside the office door? No more confusion – we have one doorbell now. We will no longer have to get off the phone to answer the doorbell!
10. Remember: Grace is not the building but the people of Grace carrying out God’s mission.

 Some people think of bones as being hard and lifeless. This is not true as bones are living and growing tissue! Throughout our life we constantly lose old bone and make new bone at the same time. This is called bone remodeling and there are 2 parts to it – we have cells in our bones called osteoclasts that help break down and remove old bone and another special cell called osteoblasts that help from new bone.

Osteoporosis happens when you lose too much old bone, form too little new bone or a combination of both.

Young people add bone faster than it is removed. This results in bones becoming larger, stronger and denser until what we call peak bone mass. Peak bone mass occurs at about age 30 in women and around age 40 in men. After these bones lose more protein and minerals then they can build up. Bone then becomes thin and porous which increases the chance of a break.

Osteoporosis is still thought to be a disease of women; however, men also are affected. Women can lose ½ to 1% of their bone mass per year once bone loss starts and is increased after menopause. This is when women notice that they not quite as tall as they once were – “shrinking in height”. Men start out with more bone mass then women, so their bones typically remain thicker and stronger longer than women. Therefore there are more osteoporosis fractures in women than men.

Even though it is thought of as an “old person or older person disease “it is important that kids and teenagers and young adults think about keeping their bones strong. This is the best time to build up the “bone account”!

Three important factors in building bone are – calcium, vitamin D, and physical activity!

Next newsletter – so what the heck is a T-score?? Is this a golf thing or a pickle ball thing? Check it out next week!

Interesting stuff!

1. If your mother or father broke their hip as an adult, you may be at risk for osteoporosis.
2. People with osteoporosis do not feel their bones getting weak and often they only find out when they break a bone.
3. Weight bearing exercise like walking helps with making/maintaining stronger bone.

Quiz:

1. What food has the highest amount of calcium (you will be surprised)?
2. Does regular yogurt have more calcium than Greek yogurt?
3. What is the difference between osteoporosis and osteoarthritis?

(Answers next week)

Stroke Awareness Month 

If a stroke occurs the brain is not getting the blood it needs. Getting treatment As Soon As Possible is extremely important as it can lower the chance of brain     damage, disability and even death.

Use the FAST test to check for the most common symptoms of a stroke in yourself or someone else.

Face: Smile and see if one side of the face droops

Arms: Raise both arms. Does one arm drop down.

Speech: Say a short phrase and check for slurred or strange speech

Time: If the answer to any of these is yes call 911 right away and write down the time symptoms started

Minutes matter in treating a stroke. Calling a doctor or driving to the hospital yourself wastes time. EMS workers can judge the situation sooner and that boosts the chances of getting the treatment you need as soon as possible.

Depending on the type of stroke you may be given an aspirin or clot busting drugs. The treatment works best if received within in a certain time form when your symptoms started so that is why it is so important to call 911 and to mark down the time the symptoms started.

Warning Signs

• Sometimes a stroke happens gradually, but you are likely to have one or more sudden symptoms like these:
• Numbness or weakness in your face, arm, or leg especially on one side.
• Confusion or trouble understanding other people.
• Difficulty speaking.
• Trouble seeing with one or both eyes.
• Problems walking or staying balanced or coordinated.
• Dizziness
• Severe headaches that come on for no reason.
• If you have any of these symptoms, call 911 even if you are not sure you are having a stroke.

(Next newsletter prevention tips for strokes)

                                       Do not grow weary of helping others. Perseverance will be rewarded

   ~Galatians 6:9

Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

~(George Bernard Shaw)

Your feelings, and the thoughts that created them, are your own responsibility, nobody else’s.

Change your thoughts if you want to change your feelings …. Imagine your mind as a garden.

Which thoughts will you plant in it?

~(Sue Patten Tholek)

We welcome Janelle Rife playing the flute in the praise band.

Our second service is growing!

This is the day the Lord has made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

~Psalm 118:24