Treasure Valley Prays

Reimagining Church Together

We are ELCA leaders and pastors from the Treasure Valley and Northwest Intermountain Synod.
Together, we are reimagining and revisiting what it is to be church together with daily devotions.

Friends

Keith Hammer September 26, 2020 1 Comment

“A friend loves at all times…” Proverbs 17:17 Jesus said, … “I have called you friends…” John 15:15 The landowner replied, “Friend…” Matthew 20:13 One of the realities of the pandemic is that many of us have not been able to see our friends in person as much as we usually see them. We have

Thank an Unfair God

Paul Olsen September 25, 2020 No Comments

In Matthew 20, Jesus tells a parable:
For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them out into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” (see video)

On the Road

Diane McGeoch September 24, 2020 1 Comment

“Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart.” (Psalm 86: 11-12) We took long road trips during my childhood years. We drove every summer to Minnesota for an

Trusting God

Di Seba September 23, 2020 1 Comment

O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;

Fulfilling our Vocation

Gretchen Bingea September 21, 2020 2 Comments

A couple weeks ago we observed Labor Day, a time to reflect on our vocation. Typically, the meaning of that word is synonymous with employment, career, or occupation. Yet Martin Luther had a much more expansive view of vocation. Our primary vocation as Christians is to love and serve our neighbor and the world that

Messages from Agriculture

Penelope Smith September 21, 2020 2 Comments

Living in Idaho, we can relate to Jesus’ agricultural parables – the sower and the seeds, the workers in the vineyard, the wheat and the weeds. The farming and gardening process holds lessons we can apply to other kingdom ministries. For example, I recently helped conduct interviews with the ministry partners of Trinity Lutheran, Nampa.

Our Unfailing Refuge

Barbara Condon September 20, 2020 4 Comments

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by. Psalm 57:1 “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” Psalm

Transformation in the Suffering

Heidi Gainan September 19, 2020 No Comments

“A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Mark 4:37-38 I’m afraid I am approaching “overwhelmed” at this point.

This Daily Bread

Brooke Freiheit September 18, 2020 2 Comments

One of my favorite artists to connect with on social media is Lori Hetteen, a Minneapolis-based self-described “haikuish” poet. She is witty and gentle in the same breath, and her work usually makes me pause. However, the other day, her work stopped me in my scroll and a single sentence lead me straight to a

Fire and Smoke

John Hergert September 17, 2020 2 Comments

“Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.” Psalm 141: 2 Almost all the evening prayers service I’ve either led or attended have included this verse. Some churches have even gone so far as to actually burn it as the service was unfolding.

Affordable Housing – Through the Pandemic

Meggan Manlove September 16, 2020 4 Comments

“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

Two Vials of Ashes

Kent Schaufelberger September 15, 2020 2 Comments

It’s been 19 years since the attacks on the World Trade Center (September 11, 2001) and 40 years since Mount St. Helens erupted (May 18, 1980). Pictured are two vials of ash—one from each event, along with a missing person flyer given to me by the family of Tonyell McDay, who perished in the explosion

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

Susan Bruns Rowe September 14, 2020 3 Comments

Last summer I spent a month with the Benedictine Sisters of St. Gertrude’s Monastery in Cottonwood, Idaho. The nuns had granted me an artist residency: a whole month to work on a manuscript I was writing and read and engage in what they called “holy leisure.” It was one of the greatest blessings I’ve ever

Deserts and Mountains

Kathryn Baerwald September 13, 2020 2 Comments

In October of 2019, my husband and I moved to Meridian, Idaho, from Alexandria, Virginia, where we had lived for over 31 years. Due to family living here, we were already quite familiar with the area – we knew where grocery and home improvement stores were located. We had been to Boise State football and

Generations to Generations

Kelly Preboski September 12, 2020 2 Comments

For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100:5) Our outdoor ministry theme for summer 2020 was “Generations to Generations” based on Psalm 100:5. In a summer season that was so drastically different than typical or anticipated, this in many ways was a perfect theme. Written