A HOT AND HUMID SUNDAY IN MAQUOKETA...IN THE 80'S FOR SURE!

I HAVE BEEN BUSY!

JUST GOT HERE TO OFFICE, AFTER ATTENDING CHURCH WITH NANCY. WHAT'S NEW AT FIRST LUTHERAN? PASTOR PAM SCHROEDER WILL BE LEAVING WITHIN A YEAR. HER HUSBAND, BRAD, ALSO A LUTHERAN MINISTER, HAS ACCEPTED A CALL TO DES MOINES AND THE FAMILY WILL MOVE THERE. PASTOR PAM, WHO HAS BEEN THE ASSOCIATE PASTOR HERE FOR SEVERAL YEARS, WILL BE LOOKING FOR A CALL TO A CHURCH IN THE DES MOINES AREA. WILL HATE TO SEE HER LEAVE. NANCY AND I SAT BEHIND BUDDY AND MYRNA OLSON. BUDDY WAS FORMER CHIEF OF POLICE HER.....WHILE I WAS MAYOR IN THE EARLY 70'S, HE WAS THE BEST CHEIF I EVER HAD. HE AND HIS SON JAY OWN AND OPERATE A SECURITY FIRM FROM THEIR HOME NORTH OF TOWN, THAT HAS CLIENTS ALL OVER, WIRED BY PHONE LINES TO MONIOR BUSINESS FIRMS AND HOMES. BUDDY, LIKE ME, DOESN'T SING LOUD. AND HE DID NOT WEAR A TIE. NOT UNUSUAL THESE DAYS. I, PASTOR GJERDE AND RON RATH WERE THE ONLY THREE IN CHURCH WEARING A TIE. RON IS MORTICIAN WITH CARSON AND SON FUNERAL HOME IN MAQUOKETA. MORTICIANS
ALWAYS WEAR TIES OF COURSE. EVEN JAKE BICKFORD, OWNER OF BILL MOLER'S MEN'S WEAR IN MAQUOKETA WAS IN CHURCH TODAY, WITHOUT A TIE. HE AND JUDY HAD 3 GRANDKIDS WITH THEM FROM INDIANA. BRIAN'S KIDS, WHILE THEY ARE ON VACATION. A WEEK AGO YESTERDAY, I WAS
TO NICOLE CLAUSING'S WEDDING IN WAVERLY, AND IN THE PEWS, ONLY I AND A COUPLE OTHERS WORE A TIE TO THE WEDDING. I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THAT, BUT I DO HAVE SOME OF THE SPORTY OUTFITS WORN THESE DAYS TO CHURCH. IN OTHER WORDS, SOME GO TOO FAR AND ARE TOO CASUAL.
DURING THE KIDS SERMON TODAY, HE ATE ONE M & M AT A TIME, JOKING WITH THE KIDS ABOUT HOW HE LIKED ALL THE DIFFERENT COLORS OF M & M'S..... HE JUST KEPT EATING THEM...ALONE....UNTIL THEY WERE GONE. THEN WENT ON TO TALK ABOUT "SHARING". CLEVER KID'S SERMON. OH YEA...HE HAD LITTLE BAGS OF M & M'S FOR THEM AFTER, TO TAKE HOME. HE REGULAR SERMON WAS ABOUT
"MATERIALISM", AND HOW IT CAUSES MANY FAMILY PROBLEMS. SO MUCH ABOUT CHURCH.
APPRORIATE, RIGHT? SINCE THIS IS SUNDAY. ATTENDANCE WAS DOWN...ALWAYS IS DURING SUMMER.
PASTOR GJERDE'S WIFE WORKS FOR ST.PAUL LUTHERAN IN DAVENPORT AND FOR THAT REASON, THEY LIVE HALF-WAY BETWEEN, IN DEWITT.

PART 2 OF THIS SUNDAY REPORT CONTINUES ABOVE. SINCE I AM HAVING SOME COMPUTER PROBLESM I BEST POST THIS BEFORE I LOOSE IT,AND THEN CONTINUE.