Dear Friends in Christ, As I write this, I am preparing to be with my family in Kansas for a week and I’m reminded of how important family can be. I moved away from my family in 1969 when I ventured to Minnesota with a $100 to my name, a car, and no job, but I had a roof over my head thanks to one of my college roommates – Nan. The family members that moved me to Minnesota are all now among the saints in glory as is Nan. My Mom, Dad and Aunt Kathryn (Dad’s sister) were the hardy souls who moved me up here… in February of all months. None of us had seen that much snow – ever!
Well, I fell in love with Minnesota, it was so very different from the plains of Western Kansas but I have discovered that all states have their own beauty if one only looks and sees. I will be taking a different route this time to Kansas as the Missouri river has played havoc with Interstate 29, so I’ll be traveling through farmland on two lane highways. It will be slower, but I look forward to seeing some new things. That week with my family will seem short, and I know that when I return it will seem like I was never there. We move all too quickly these days. Sometimes I wonder if we just go through the motions of living instead of living each day. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I forget that each day is a gift. I try to remember to say thanks for a new day when I wake in the morning. It’s always a good day because we do awaken and who knows what the day will bring.
As I grow older, I sometimes wish that I lived closer to my family, but that is not likely to happen. I do know this – we are knit together because we are family and I think that we appreciate each other more because the time we spend together is limited by distance. We don’t have time to have disagreements and at this age we avoid topics which would cause disagreements – we don’t have time in our lives to do anything but love each other and laugh and talk when we are together. I love that part about being distanced by miles.
At times we may feel distanced from God too. I often wonder if that is because we don’t take time to “be” with God. We take God for granted – knowing that God is always there for us. Perhaps we need to view God as a family member from whom we are distanced by miles and make the time we spend with God fruitful. Probably the difference between our presence with family and our presence with God is that family is part of the cycle of life and death, whereas, God is life and light to our lives always.
Family will always live in our hearts, but at some point in time our relationship with our loved ones will be severed by death. That is why it is really important to spend time with family whether they live next door or hours away.
God, who has told us that we need not be afraid because God is with us wherever we are and wherever we go, should not be neglected, either. As you spend time with family, remember to spend time with God.
God bless you and your family,
Pastor Eileen
Eileen Mehl 
23427-210th Ave Glenwood Minnesota 56334 United States of America 
Phone: 320-634-3803 
