Meggan Manlove Archives - Treasure Valley Prays

Video Conferencing and Sacred Space

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:February 6, 2023
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And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25, 24)I first opened a Zoom video conferencing account when the Lutheran Outdoor Ministry board president moved us from conference phone calls to Zoom in 2015. I asked our synod if we could use its account while convening the executive director search committee…

Staying Awake

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:December 17, 2022
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A few years into my call at Trinity I took a day trip to Our Savior Lutheran in Twin Falls to do a presentation on stewardship. It was a great group of people, and I thought the event went well. But a day of presenting meant that by the end I was quite tired. Part way through my drive back to Nampa, somewhere between Twin and Mountain Home, I was jolted awake by the front part of my Camry being crunched by the…

Communal Gratitude

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:November 21, 2022
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Nov. 12, I attended a Boise Philharmonic concert at the Morrison Center for the first time in a long time. A friend of mine who teaches piano lessons and accompanies at a local church really wanted to attend the concert because of the guest pianist: Fei Fei. We ended up going early to hear the Pre-Concert Talk, which included a brief interview with her. I was very excited already for the final piece of the evening, Rhapsody in Blue. The Broadway musical Crazy…

Individual Pathways Within Community

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:September 12, 2022
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One of the fun challenges in my current call at Trinity Lutheran Church, Nampa is that many people are at different stages in their life of faith. This is fun because it makes for a wide variety of rich conversations. It becomes a real challenge when choosing books, Bible Studies, or another curriculum. It does not matter if it’s an adult group or a gathering of kids. We have varying levels of biblical, worship, and faith practice literacy across every age group and…

Learning Peace

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:July 6, 2022
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How beautiful upon the mountainsare the feet of the messenger who announces peace,who brings good news,who announces salvation,who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’ (Isaiah 52:7)The last week of June around 95 youth ages 6-13 participated in the 5th year of Learning Peace: A Camp for Kids. We have had a few bumps, like so many other organizations, these past few years and I always sweat if we will get enough volunteers, if the lunches will be delivered, if the afternoon guests will…

Praise With Creation

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:May 6, 2022
Post category:DEVOTION Meggan Manlove
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11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12singing with full voice,‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughteredto receive power and wealth and wisdom and mightand honour and glory and blessing!’ 13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,‘To the one seated on…

Tree of Life

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:March 11, 2022
Post category:DEVOTION Meggan Manlove
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13 Happy are those who find wisdom,and those who get understanding, 14 for her income is better than silver,and her revenue better than gold. 15 She is more precious than jewels,and nothing you desire can compare with her. 16 Long life is in her right hand;in her left hand are riches and honour. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness,and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;those who hold her fast…

What We Have Learned

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:February 9, 2022
Post category:Meggan Manlove REFLECTION
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I read an article online that encouraged congregations to not let the current moment pass by before taking some time to reflect on what we have learned during the last year (or two). Here’s a share-out from meetings/gatherings during January, 2022 at Trinity Lutheran, Nampa:Worship Altar Guild and MusicWe’ve become adaptableThings can be simplerCommunion adaptations have gone wellWe are now ready to bring back some thingsGospel and GrowthWe need repeated, frequent contact with God and our church family; that contact was maintained through…

Light in Darkness

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:January 7, 2022
Post category:DEVOTION Meggan Manlove
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The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined. Isaiah 9:2 The house I moved into in 2011 has great closets. I do not consider myself a hoarder, but those closets have filled up over the years. They filled up so much so that when my mom stayed with me this past October, I took her up on her offer to help me purge. The biggest surprise…

A Father’s Love

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:November 12, 2021
Post category:DEVOTION Meggan Manlove
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"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:12-13).I realized this last year that there were many pieces of my dad that I lost before his actual death in December 2020. My dad, whose birthday was Nov. 10, used…

Grief and Hope

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:September 10, 2021
Post category:DEVOTION Meggan Manlove
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1How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2How long shall I have perplexity in my mind, and grief in my heart, day after day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me? 3Look upon me and answer me, O Lord my God; give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death; 4lest my enemy say, “I have defeated you,” and my foes rejoice that I have fallen. 5But I trust in…

Peacemaking

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:August 4, 2021
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“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” John 14:27“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you.” II Thess. 3:16The week of July 19-22 was Learning Peace: A Camp for Kids at the Hispanic Cultural Center in Nampa. I had the…

Thanksgiving for Night Sky

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:June 16, 2021
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Last week I spent a few days at Luther Heights Bible Camp, between Stanley and Ketchum, with a friend. We were there to contribute, specifically to lead staff training sessions. But there are always gifts received while at camp and this time was no different. On our second night, we stepped out of the cabin around 11 PM and took a stroll. The night sky was gorgeous. I remembered the times I came home to my parents’ house, west of Custer, SD, on…

Practicing Anew

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:May 26, 2021
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Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and…

Life of a Community Garden

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:May 6, 2021
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“Look, I am doing something new, now it emerges; can you not see it?” Isaiah 43:19 (NJB)Fair warning, this is less a devotion and more a story of faith in action. I was asked by Lutherans Restoring Creation to sit on a panel about community gardens so I have been reflecting on the lifespan of Trinity Community Gardens Inc (TCGI). TCGI was founded in the spring of 2008 by three master gardeners (Paulette Blaseg from St. Paul’s Catholic Church and Dale and Sheila…

Prayer and Justice

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:April 16, 2021
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On April 9 the church and world remembered German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who died in the Flossenbürg concentration camp on that day in 1945. I shared this Bonhoeffer quote, posted by the Lutheran World Federation, on my Facebook Page ,“Our being Christian today will consist in only two things: in praying and in doing justice among people.”I have been reflecting on the relationship between prayer and doing justice regularly since last February. I attended a training in California with Mark Yaconelli,…

Proximity with the Marginalized

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:March 17, 2021
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A Rewriting of Psalm 113:Praise the Lord!You who try to faithfully serve the Lord; praise the name of the Lord. Praise Immanuel, Prince of Peace, Holy Spirit, Redeemer, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Savior, Healer, Giver of Life.Blessed be the name of the Lord from this pandemic time when we have kernels of hope, from this time when some of us are still so busy and the pace of life has slowed for others, when we feel isolated but see the path towards ending…

Rest

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:March 2, 2021
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I have found myself needing rest and enjoying rest in new ways. My body, mind and spirit are occasionally beyond tired—really weary. Sometimes I thankfully have moments, usually when I am in conversation with lay people or other Nampa community members, when I have a flurry of creativity and energy. But when I approach Thursday evenings, a rough draft of my sermon finished and most of the workweek behind me, I look forward to my days of deep rest and disengagement from my…

Horizons

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:February 11, 2021
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The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired, so long as we can see far enough. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature. This Emerson quote has always resonated with me. My family moved to Custer, South Dakota, in the southern Black Hills, when I was four. We drove southwest to Colorado and east to Sioux Falls and neighboring Minnesota too many times to count. The home I grew up in looked out over those same Black Hills. I first…

Musings on Ecumenism

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:January 21, 2021
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We are part way through the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Jan. 18-25), an annual observance with over 100 years of history. Organized by the World Council of Churches, the week is a call for Christians to remember Jesus’ prayer for his disciples that “they may be one so that the world may believe” (see John 17:21). This year the theme is “Abide in my love and you shall bear much fruit” (John 15:5-9). I have to say that this is tough…

Redfish Lake

After the Waiting…Praise

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:December 29, 2020
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This is he whom seers in old time chanted of with one accord, whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word; now he shines, the long expected; let creation praise its Lord evermore and evermore. Amen. Verse 3 from Of the Father’s Love Begotten After the waiting, the longing, the hoping, what is left to do on Christmas day but praise God? It is not even so much about thanksgiving, which has its own place in the life of faith.…

The Comedy We Need

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:December 4, 2020
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When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, then were we like those who dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter; and our tongue with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed.” (Psalm 126:1-3) I have never been so thankful for the humor in the stories of Advent: Zechariah and Elizabeth having a baby in their old-age, crazy. Zechariah not believing it would happen and so he…

Practicing Participation

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:November 4, 2020
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Over my head I hear music in the air. Over my head I hear music in the air. Over my head I hear music in the air. There must be a God somewhere! (verse two, Over My Head) I am writing this on election day. We do not know what the day and night will hold. When I do not have words for my devotions and prayers, I find myself turning to the poets and artists. Poetry and art, including music, has a…

Sacred Spaces

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:October 15, 2020
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1The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who dwell therein. 2For the Lord has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. 3Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord, and who may stand in God’s holy place? (from Psalm 24, ELW translation) I have been thinking a great deal about sacred spaces since the pandemic began, but especially in the last few weeks. I was an early encourager of all of…

What Shall I Pray?

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:October 1, 2020
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Psalm 19 1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his…

Affordable Housing – Through the Pandemic

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:September 16, 2020
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“The home is the center of life. It is a refuge from the grind of work, the pressure of school, and the menace of the streets. We say that at home, we can ‘be ourselves.’ Everywhere else, we are someone else. At home, we remove our masks.” Matthew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City Desmond’s book came out in 2016, about a year after Trinity New Hope, Inc. (TNH) was started, long before masks took on new importance. TNH is…

Not Expendable

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:September 3, 2020
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“They make us sound so expendable,” was a comment made a few months ago by several people in my congregation and in my family/friend circle. What did they mean? These elderly people were repeating the sentiment they have read or heard that they are old and that their potential deaths from COVID-19 are just part of how we, as a global community, will get through the pandemic. This all made me think about my reaction to the 2015 film, The Second Best Exotic…

Dreamers and Something New

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:August 11, 2020
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Good metaphors, poetry, and art are things I find myself reaching for these days. In addition to taking time to lament and grieve, I am seeking hope. But I do not want the hope that turns out to be a mirage in the desert; I want the deep hope that comes with faith in a loving God.This summer and fall, my congregation is hearing from much of the biblical books of Genesis and Exodus on Sunday mornings. There is a lot of ground…

Gifts of the CSA

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:July 23, 2020
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Shortly after everything shifted due to the pandemic, that was back in March here in Southwest Idaho, I realized that there was a good chance I would not be traveling much this summer. I also was reminded that being a good steward of my body would help me with the new extra layer of stress. I found a website listing CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) in Idaho and found one that delivers to the Nampa Farmer’s Market each Saturday morning. This food has been…

We Are the Letters

Post author:Meggan Manlove
Post published:July 7, 2020
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“What comes next?” That’s the line King George’s character sings in his second appearance in the Broadway Musical Hamilton, after the Battle of Yorktown. “You’ve been freed. Do you know how hard it is to lead?” In fact, as followers of Jesus Christ, we do know what comes next. Confident that we are freed by Jesus’ love and mercy, we cannot but help share that love and mercy with others. What is it that drives us to love our neighbors, to boldly give…