It’s God’s Plan

Celebrations are awesome! — Birth of a child. — High school graduation. — Winning a race. — A 50th anniversary cruise. — Buying your first house. — An LWML convention.

But what about everyday happenings? At the start of a day does your agenda put a smile on your face or a frown?

What does our Lord say about celebrations or routines?

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand (Proverbs 19:21).

Verse one of a favorite hymn, “With the Lord Begin Your Task,” LSB 869*, shares the truth that our Lord is with us through both exciting and “regular” times when we begin with Him.

With the Lord begin your task; Jesus will direct it.
For His aid and counsel ask; Jesus will perfect it.
Every morn with Jesus rise, And when day is ended,
In His name then close your eyes; Be to Him commended.

Click Begin with God devotion for several Mustard Seed Devotions to begin your day with Jesus. I pray all your days begin with smiles on your faces, giving thanks for both the mountain-top experiences and the “everydays” — all blessings from God.

Char Kroemer

Assistant to the President / Resource Editor
Lutheran Women’s Missionary League

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From the Convention Mountaintop, Back to the Plains

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7).

The 2025 Growing in God’s Grace Convention is wrapping up! What an incredible, mountaintop experience!

A Bible study — His Love, Our Love — is one of many valuable resources on the LWML website and begins: “Think of a time when there was love all around you. If you have been to an LWML national or district convention, you would have experienced love all around. … The women excitedly told how their love for God was going to be shared through the funding of missions with Mite Boxes.”

The study continues, “We do live in the ‘valley’ of everyday life. But we also have the ‘mountain-top experience’ in our daily lives as we pray, worship, study His Word, partake of the Lord’s Supper, and fellowship with others. Thanks be to God for His love.”

Lutheran Women in Mission, let’s get to work — sharing His love with others as we live here in the plains!

Signing off, your sister in Christ,

Brenda Piester
Recording Secretary (2021–2025)

P.S. Thank you for the privilege of serving you on the Board of Directors for these four years. It has been a labor of love, and I have been blessed through your own work and joyful service!

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, … because of your partnership in the gospel (Philippians 4:3, 5a).

Brenda Piester

Recording Secretary
Lutheran Women in Mission

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Lutheran Women in Mission — Where are you this week?

“Growing in God’s Grace” in Omaha? At convention? If not in person, then in spirit! We gather for business meetings, corporate worship, Bible study, fellowship, service to others, mission speakers, and collecting offerings to support selected ministries. We locate old friends. Establish new friends. We hug, we laugh, we talk, we smile – because we are all here for one purpose – to further the good news Gospel message and to serve the Lord with gladness! We further the Gospel message through the mission grants selected and ministries that we support. We serve the Lord with gladness! with our smiles and encouragement to those who are in turn serving us during this convention.

As we “Grow in God’s Grace” this week, let us also show God’s grace to everyone with whom we come in contact.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (2 Peter 3:18).

Karen Morrison

Vice President of Gospel Outreach
Lutheran Women in Mission

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Grow in God’s Grace

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (2 Peter 3:18).

Are you ready?
Have you completed packing and made your travel reservations to join nearly 4000 Lutheran Women in Mission in Omaha, Nebraska, for the LWML Convention?

Are you ready?
Are you excited to worship, sing, fellowship, hear mission stories and learn from God’s Word?

Are you ready?
Is your heart prepared to “Grow in God’s Grace” as our theme suggests?

The Pre-Convention Devotion, available on the LWML website, is available to help you get ready for our time in Omaha. Here is an excerpt from that devotion:

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ — these words from St. Peter aren’t a directive to believers, either those early Christians or us of the 21st Century church. That would be as fruitless as a farmer standing in his newly planted corn field and commanding his seeds to “grow already, why don’t ya!” When our Lord, through Peter in this verse, tells believers to “grow”, He is saying that the grace and knowledge of Jesus are how spiritual growth comes about. God brings the necessary ingredients to the ‘soil’ of our hearts and minds, so the faith He planted will grow.”

See you in Omaha.
Shine On!

Susan Brunkow

Vice President of Christian Life
Lutheran Women in Mission

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Counting

Most of us enjoy counting the days until a special event — a special birthday, wedding, vacation, retirement, or the birth of a grandchild. You may be counting the days until you travel to Omaha, Nebraska, for the 41st Biennial Convention. I am counting those days too and looking forward to spending time with my sisters in Christ being inspired to dig deeper in God’s Word, being nurtured to share the love of Christ with enthusiasm, and being encouraged to support missions and our mission goal.

Blessings are something we can count, too! I use a jar to accumulate the blessings I jot down on paper. I enjoy going through the jar periodically to remember some of the blessings God bestows. Check out the retreat/workshop resource, Count Your Blessings. There are some wonderful Bible verses and questions for thought in this resource.

As of June 8, 2025, it’s 14 days until I travel to Omaha. It’s a blessing to be able to attend and to serve the Lord!

Kathy Pavelock

Vice President of Communication
Lutheran Women in Mission

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Raindrops Keep Falling

He covers the heavens with clouds, he prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills (Psalm 147:8).

Spring rain from heaven brings blooming flowers, singing birds, and green grass. God created raindrops to evaporate, transform inside a cloud and condense, fall as precipitation, and eventually, it starts the cycle all over again by either being steered towards runoff or into the ground through infiltration and then percolates into the groundwater. Whew!

Your transformation happened through the Holy Spirit. The sprinkle on your head or your immersion during Baptism created faith in you. Remembering your Baptism daily helps ground you in your daily walk. My prayer for you — when it rains, you remember your Baptism knowing you are forgiven and restored. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection offers salvation and eternal life!

Next time you grab your umbrella, think of your Baptism!

Read the Mustard Seed Devotion on the topic of Baptism, Water of Life: Same but Different.

Cheryl Mattil

Strategic Plan Facilitator
Lutheran Women in Mission

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Remember Your Baptism

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26).

In our backyard is a bird bath we fill daily with fresh water. Last week several robins took a bath simultaneously. They squawked and flapped their wings in an effort to get clean and make room for each other in the water. What a fun sight to see.

An even more beautiful sight to see is Baptism. Through the water and the Word, a child/adult is washed clean and becomes a child of God. God always has enough room for one more person to join His family. You are valuable to God; daily remember your Baptism – He has washed you clean to love and serve Him.

Arlene Naasz

Vice President of Organizational Resources
Lutheran Women in Mission

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