be still Archives - Treasure Valley Prays

Trinity Lutheran

Come Into the Wilderness

Post author:Mary Braudrick
Post published:March 9, 2023
Post category:Mary Braudrick
Post comments:3 Comments

You would love the way our sanctuary looks right now, during this season of Lent. Some gifted women in our congregation have transformed it into a wilderness, visually inviting us on a Lenten journey. When you first walk into the sanctuary there is a display of sage brush, desert rocks and even a skull laying in the illusionary sand. An old trunk sits in the sand holding the “Alleluia” banner in its dark interior until that joyous day. Bare branches stand tall here and…

Advent – Be Still and Look Inside

Post author:Heidi Gainan
Post published:December 10, 2021
Post category:DEVOTION Heidi Gainan
Post comments:1 Comment

“The success of your Advent can be measured by your belief and awareness of God’s presence in yourself, in others, and all things.” Edward Hays, “Meeting Christ at Broadway and Bethlehem” Edward Hays, “Meeting Christ at Broadway and Bethlehem” “What are you doing for Advent, Heidi-dear?” I was visiting a former high school teacher while home from college on Christmas break. The Irish Sisters of Mercy tended to call me “Heidi-dear,” either all one word or with a hyphen. I looked at Sr.…

Ironing a Messy Life

Post author:Kathryn Baerwald
Post published:June 28, 2021
Post category:Kathryn Baerwald
Post comments:3 Comments

This spring, I purchased a new linen shirt to wear as the weather warmed. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing quite like linen in the summer. The fabric breathes and stays cool in the hottest weather. That was true even in Northern Virginia, where we lived for over thirty years. The summers there are hot but the worst part is the humidity, which is overwhelming. But my linen clothing stayed comfortable.There is one drawback, however. Linen wrinkles. It requires ironing, although for…

Mini Lop Rabbit Breed

All Creatures Great and Small

Post author:Kelly Loy
Post published:January 9, 2021
Post category:Kelly Loy
Post comments:4 Comments

Did you grow up learning children’s songs at church? One of the earliest hymns I learned was “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” whose words were written by Mrs. Cecil Alexander around 1848 in a collection of hymns for children. The tune I learned is often paired with the words she wrote, a melody coming from a century earlier than that. You can find it in our blue “With One Voice” hymnal #767, and the final verse is “God gave us eyes to see…

Actively Waiting

Post author:Kari Sansgaard
Post published:December 12, 2020
Post category:Kari Sansgaard
Post comments:3 Comments

https://tvprays.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/actively-waiting.mp4I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lordin the land of the living.Wait for the Lord;be strong, and let your heart take courage;wait for the Lord!Psalm 27:13-14Many of our devotions in recent days have pointed us to God’s goodness “in the land of the living” - in nature, in people, in ourselves. Amen. Amen. Amen.I recently snapped photos of Payette Lake (see above) as I waited for the fog to lift.We know ‘thick fog’ days - when it’s hard to…

Now What?

Post author:Susan Bruns Rowe
Post published:November 11, 2020
Post category:Susan Bruns Rowe
Post comments:4 Comments

In the past week my heart and my prayers have been all over the map. I've experienced gratitude and wonder, fear and anxiety, relief. But never true peace. Peace eludes me. I have spoken to friends and acquaintances who tell me the same thing. That peace feels out of reach. Our contentious election is over, but in its wake comes the unspoken question, "Now what?" How do we begin to come together as a nation? How do we work together to stop the spread…