I have been enjoying the Sunday morning projections of our TLC Endowment Scholarship award recipients. Seeing the smiling faces of those college students and hearing their stories is very uplifting! We are making a difference in the lives of young people. Some of them are TLC members, and some are not, but they all will have a soft place in their heart for the Church that partnered with them in their higher education. TLC will forever be a part of the story of their lives.
I don’t really remember a time in my life when I was not giving money to the church. I grew up attending Trinity Lutheran Church in DeKalb, Illinois. It was our family church, a Norwegian Lutheran Church made up mostly of farmers and blue collar workers. Every Sunday my brother and I would have to keep track of our little offering envelopes. Inside the envelope was a quarter. I am not sure now if it was my money or my Mother’s, but every week when that plate was passed at Sunday School, I dropped that quarter in the plate.
I don’t really remember a time in my life when I was not giving money to the church. When I walk into the narthex at TLC and see all of those checks it lifts my spirits. The checks remind us of what we are doing together in our community and in the world.
I don’t really remember a time in my life when I was not giving money to the church. So I could not imagine leaving this world without making my final statement consistent with the values of my life. That is why Felicia and I have included the church and Luther Seminary in our wills. Blessed to be a Blessing, someday our children will read our wills and we will be given a final opportunity to share our values with them.
Have you taken the time to remember TLC in your will? It is not complicated. If you give 10% of your income to the church now, then simply give 10% of your estate to the church. Or work with the TLC Endowment to set up a named scholarship. How satisfying to know that each and every year a college student from our community would be assisted in their education by a scholarship presented in your name.
This Sunday I would encourage you to watch those projections carefully and joyfully. Your spirits will be lifted by the smiles on the faces of these students. Your spirits will be lifted when the joy of giving back and paying it forward becomes a part of your faith story.
Keep smiling!
Pastor Jim
