Crosses for Sale!

This is my official pitch for the crosses I will be offering at the bike blessing, May 18th. For those of you that made it to the pancake breakfast you were already able to see what a splendid job this gentleman does making these crosses and how great they look with the different pins. 

I am offering these crosses in order to build up the Chaplain's Fund. Everyone will still hear where we (the Chaplain's Committee) have decided to donate to and how much, but you won't be asked for extra money once a month. 

I am bringing 35 crosses to the blessing, seven of which were preordered. There will be a limited variety of pins to choose from, including: US Army, Army National Guard, US Air Force, Air National Guard, US Navy, US Marine Corps, Legion Riders, Vietnam Service - welcome home, US/POW flags and a pin that states "This National Debt Can Never Be Repaid." I can order others or you can put your own on. There will also be crosses without pins available. 

And now to the price -- I am asking $11 for the crosses without a pin and $15 for the crosses with a pin. Each cross will put approximately $5 into the Chaplain's Fund. 

My hope is that people showing up at the blessing that aren't part of our group will be buying and ordering also. Call your friends and bother your relatives, bring them to the blessing and get them to buy, buy, buy. 

Yours in Christ, Seamus

 

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, I am the beginning and the end," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

- Revelations 1:8

 

Dear Lord, we humbly entrust the souls of our dear brothers and sisters who have served our country in its times of need, the veterans who have come home to hardships and those who weren't able to come home at all, those who served in times of combat and in times of peace. God bless our jarheads, flyboys, squids and groundpounders, and God bless the family and friends who supported them in the good times and especially the bad. Amen.


Prayer Joys & Concerns

If anyone has someone who needs a few prayers, just e-mail our chaplain, Richard "Seamus" Gettner and let him know. Heck, we'll even put their names here if you want, so anyone in the group can give 'em a prayer if they feel so inclined.

We're praying for ALR member George Spain, who is battling with a brain cancer. The cancer has, unfortunately, returned. We're praying for George!

Tracy Salmon is losing an uncle to end-stage COPD. She also has a close friend suffering severe complications to esophageal cancer.

Momma Jean and Silverback's family has been dealing with a lot of cancer lately. They need prayers for their uncles Pat, Don and Gordie, and also for their friend Marilyn.

Tracy Larsen would like us to remember his friend, John LaMee, who passed away in Sturgis in 2005.

Jared Farmer's wife is pregnant and is suffering gestational diabetes.

Everett (Jim) Jackson is still not able to work. Last winter he stopped on Highway 75 south of Le Mars to help a car he noticed in the ditch. While he was by the car, another car slid off the road, pinning Jim between the two vehicles. He's been in the hospital several times since. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jim and his family.

Tailgunner had bypass surgery on the morning of February 6th. The doctors tell him he can drive again now, but they won't let him on the bike yet for a while. We'd also like to offer a prayer for Tailgunner's father who has been in and out of the hospital lately.


Prayer O' the Week (04 May 08):
Reprinted with permission from Upper Room Ministries Inc., copyright 2006.

Paul wrote, "I urge you ... in view of God's mercy,
to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God --
this is your spiritual act of worship."
                                                                          -- Romans 12:1

I sat through the Communion service with a troubled mind. A week before, a mole on my arm had been diagnosed as a malignant melanoma and would require further surgery. I work for a hospice, and I knew that sometimes melanoma can be fatal.

Suddenly, I became aware of the words of the post-Communion prayer we use: "We offer you our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice." Putting my soul into God's hands was one thing, but I was less sure about my body. As I sat and meditated on this, I realized how contradictory it is to trust God with my soul for all eternity but to be afraid of giving God my body for the time I am on earth. In the silence I repeated the words of the prayer, committing my whole self to God. Now each week I say those words thoughtfully and deliberately, making a renewed commitment to God, who holds my past, present, and future safely and tenderly in loving hands.

Prayer: Almighty God, through Jesus Christ we offer you our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory. Amen.

Thought for the day: God can do great things through us if we offer our whole self in God's service.

- Pamela Vale-Taylor of Upper Room Ministries

Never Forget

We would like to offer a prayer to all military personnel, past, present and future, as well as their supporting family and friends. Below is a list of individuals or groups for whom at least one of our members has attended a funeral, welcome home or send-off ride. May God bless them, every one.

Funerals -- Never Forget These Soldiers:
Sergeant Dan Sesker, Iowa Army National Guard, Ogden, IA
Lance Corporal William J. Leusink, USMC, Sioux Center, IA
Sergeant Lonnie Calvin Allen, Jr., Army, Bellevue, NE
Private First Class William E. Thorne, Army, Hospers, IA
Lieutenant Colonel Paul J. Finken, Army, Earling, IA
Sergeant Joshua Ford, Army National Guard, Pender, NE
Corporal Jeremy Jones, Army, Omaha, NE
Lance Corporal Clinton J. Miller, USMC, Greenfield, IA
CSM Marilyn Lea Gabbard, Army National Guard, Boone, IA
Tom DeBondt, Sioux Center, IA
Joe Franken, Rock Valley, IA
Private First Class Darrell Shipp, Army, Harlington, TX
Staff Sergeant Hector Leija, Army, Raymondville, TX
Staff Sergeant Kenneth E. Locker, Army, Burwell, NE
Dennis Ellett, Beresford, SD
Gladys Jorgensen, U.S. Navy, Sioux City, IA
Private First Class Brian A. Botello, Army, Alta, IA
Corporal Matthew L. Alexander, Army, Gretna, NE
John D. Van Maanen, Sheldon, IA
Larry Erickson, Air Force, Milford, IA
Specialist Bill Bailey, Army National Guard, Bellevue, NE
Corporal Llythaniele Fender, Army, Onawa, IA
SSG Robb L. Rolfing, Special Forces, Sioux Falls, SD
Sergeant Adrian Hike, Carroll, IA
Lt. JG Norman L. Roggow, Navy, Le Mars, IA
Corporal Chad Groepper, Army, Kingsley, IA
Martin Moeller, Sioux Center, IA

Memorials:
Caleb Jeremiah Pulver
Rolling Thunder
Maurice Memorial
Ralston, NE Memorial for Nebraska Casualties
of the Iraq War
The Moving Wall
The Wall that Heals

Sendoff Rides:
Co. D, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry,
Iowa Army National Guard, Denison, IA
Troop A, 1st Squadron, 113th Cav.,
Iowa Army National Guard, Camp Dodge, IA
Co. G, 334th Brigade Support Battalion
Iowa Army National Guard, Storm Lake, IA
Battery B, 1/194th Field Artillery
Iowa Army National Guard, Estherville, IA

Welcome Home Rides:
113th Cavalry, Iowa Army National Guard, Le Mars, IA
Joe DeLashmutt, Iowa Army National Guard, Le Mars, IA
189th Transportation Co, Army National Guard, Norfolk, NE
425th Quartermaster Co, Army Nat'l Guard, Sioux City, IA
Specialist Jeremy DeWit, Army Nat'l Guard, Sioux Center, IA
Mitch Kenyon, Sioux Falls, SD
Sergeant Corey Briest, Yankton, SD