new life Archives - Treasure Valley Prays

Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University

In Thy Light We See Light

Post author:Kat Tigerman
Post published:August 16, 2021
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For with you is the fountain of life;in your light we see light.(Psalm 36:9)The Psalm for today from the Revised Common Lectionary is Psalm 36. The second half of verse 9, “in thy light we see light” is the motto of my alma matter, Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. This phrase is prominent throughout the university, but most so within the beautiful and tremendous stained-glass windows surrounding the altar and chancel of the Chapel of the Resurrection. This chapel is enormous, holding up…

Remodel

Post author:Justin Tigerman
Post published:May 19, 2021
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We’re in the process of remodeling a room in our house. A room. Singular. It’s a smaller one, too—the guest bathroom (not the one pictured above, but similar size and layout).You’d think, 45 square feet or so, not too big of a deal. It should be taken care of in a month or two at the most. Well, one thing has led to another and here we are—4 months later-with materials in the garage and lining up labor to get the job done.…

The Smell of Love

Post author:Kelly Loy
Post published:April 6, 2021
Post category:Kelly Loy
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How does this Easter smell to you? I am writing this as the smells from Easter dinner still fill my home, with leftover potatoes and ham, tart apples, and cool hard-boiled eggs of many colors. Outside the air seems to tempt me with whisps of spring’s freshness mingling with winter’s dry air, as some of the bitterbrush in my yard look dry and dead and others are beginning to show some green. How do you smell Easter’s gifts of new life, forgiveness, promises…

baby duck fluttering wings

New Life

Post author:Diane McGeoch
Post published:April 4, 2021
Post category:Diane McGeoch
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Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Where in your surroundings do you see new life? In nature? In your relationships? In the stirring of the Holy Spirit? Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. Alleluia! How can your prayer life rise up? Are there new rituals or practices you can try? Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. Alleluia! What is something you can release from the tomb? Can you name something (or someone) that can move from the darkness into…

Signs of New Life

Post author:Kelly Preboski
Post published:March 24, 2021
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Spring is upon us, at least for me blessed to live in the Boise area. As I turned my clock and adjusted to different time of light, what I found myself appreciating was signs of new life, signs of positive change. I have appreciated more sunshine in my days and warmer temperatures. I have appreciated tulips and daffodils beginning to pop up in yards as I walked my golden doodle, Fozzy and I have appreciated walking my kids to school for in-person learning…

Moving to Idaho

Post author:Diane McGeoch
Post published:November 18, 2020
Post category:Diane McGeoch
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Our move to Idaho happened in a surprising way. We had been doing a year of research on places to retire. We had visited several different states and areas, including Boise. During our time in Boise, we saw several homes with a realtor, including one we really liked that wasn’t on the market. Our realtor explained we could see the home even though it had an offer, to get an idea of that type of floor plan, and to see that neighborhood. That…

An Early Advent

Post author:Diane McGeoch
Post published:October 24, 2020
Post category:Diane McGeoch
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“Zechariah your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son.” Mary, listen, you are to conceive and bear a son.” (Luke 1: 13, 31) We have already been in the Advent season in a sense; because we have been in a period of waiting since the pandemic began. Waiting for it to be over. Waiting for the suffering to end. Waiting for the vaccine and maybe a cure. Waiting for life to get back to normal, or the new normal, whatever that is.…

The In Between

Post author:Sarah Henthorn
Post published:September 27, 2020
Post category:Sarah Henthorn
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As a child, I never really understood why scripture makes God’s people seem so discontented in the desert. They are freed from slavery in Egypt, provided with food and water by miraculous means, receive the ten commandments, and they get to see the active presence of God in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. I could never understand why they weren’t always in awe. Now, I find myself relating to the Hebrew wanderers. Beginnings are always…

God Brings Life out of Chaos

Post author:Sara Manning
Post published:September 11, 2020
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God brings life out of chaos. This was the theme of my senior thesis paper in college, looking at it through the lens of Ezekiel 37 (the valley of dry bones). It is also a phrase/theme I have heard brought up quite a few times recently as we are living through a time rife with chaos. The chaos of a once a century level global pandemic. The chaos of having new and different responsibilities we did not necessarily ask for (many people now…

Safe Haven and Rest

Post author:Casey Cross
Post published:September 10, 2020
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I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety. (Psalm 4:8 NRSV) Lately, I have found myself restless at night. All the things I didn’t get done or need to get done run through my mind. Worries and what ifs pop up to keep me unsettled. This is common for me at the end of summer and into early fall. I have to keep reminding myself that I go through this a…

Celebrate Today!

Post author:Tammy Heimgartner
Post published:July 16, 2020
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Fear not, earth! Be glad and celebrate! God has done great things. Joel 2:21I love this picture because of the cycle of life that it shows. There are the blackened trees that were burned in a forest fire. There is the vibrancy of the fall foliage that will soon be carpeting the ground below. In the midst of this death and near death, there is the life of the evergreen trees.When life seems really hard, as it does in these days, we can…

From Discernment to New Life

Post author:Casey Cross
Post published:July 9, 2020
Post category:Casey Cross
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(Romans 12;1-8) When big decisions loom ahead, we often wonder what to do. We may ask ourselves, what does God want me to do? What does God want for us? What is the “best” decision? Utilizing wisdom and understanding in these moments is commonly known as discernment. The more time I have spent with this passage from Romans, the more I see that Paul is fleshing out the full meaning of discernment. The new life in Christ that Paul speaks about is not just about having more faith or doing the right things. The new life is the becoming, the transformation.

Tales from the Treehouse

Post author:Heidi Gainan
Post published:May 23, 2020
Post category:Heidi Gainan
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“But now ask the beasts to teach you,And the birds of the air to tell you;Or the reptiles on earth to instruct you,And the fish of the sea to inform you.Which of all these does not knowThat the hand of God has done this?In this hand is the soul of every living thing,And the life of all humankind.”Job 12:7-10I live in a treehouse. No, really, I do! It’s actually a third-floor apartment with a balcony overlooking a nice courtyard, but with a beautiful…

A Backyard Walk

Post author:Ken Carrothers
Post published:May 6, 2020
Post category:Ken Carrothers
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We're experiencing a strangeness around us. Outside of the constancy I once felt, there's this newness, bringing forth new life. Let's take a backyard walk. (video)

Keep the Faith

Post author:Paul Malek
Post published:April 20, 2020
Post category:Paul Malek
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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3This verse is from the second reading scheduled for this week you would have heard in church. The full reading scheduled is 1 Peter 1:3-9 (NRSV). The reading continues:...and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being…

Milestone Moments

Post author:Diane McGeoch
Post published:April 11, 2020
Post category:Diane McGeoch
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We are all missing special events in our lives, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, and funerals. They are still happening, but in very different ways. These are memory making events, ones that we may be able to re-create in our minds. These milestones create many stories, ones that we tell over and over again as we recall what happened and who was there and details and layers that stay with us long after the events have ended. We attended my cousin’s son’s wedding on…

Mortal, Can These Bones Live? Ezekiel 37:1-14

These Bones Shall Live Again

Post author:Paul Olsen
Post published:April 6, 2020
Post category:Paul Olsen
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Here’s a God question for you,a question God puts to you:“Mortal,” God calls you, “can these bones live?” I’ve been thinking about the prophet Ezekiel,prophesying to that valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37.And I’ve been thinking about these dry, anxious, fearful timeswe’re living in. We are all anxious right now,whether you feel it or not—because I’m not talking about a feelingbut something more like a state of being.We’ve been threatened by something we can’t see,a virus, a danger we don’t know...

No Separation

Post author:Dawn Busch
Post published:March 29, 2020
Post category:Dawn Busch
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Romans 8:3-39 31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand…