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For the next four Sunday’s we will be giving attention to a discipline of prayer that goes by the name the “Divine Office,.”  It is a practice of traditional daily prayer that has been found to be one the best resources for nourishing the spiritual life.  As a primary resource we will be using Arthur Paul Boers book, The Rhythm of God’s grace. I have six copies available for purchase where if six people will give me $10 I will break even.  More copies will cost you the going rate of about $18 S&H].

Reading from the jacket of the book, “Today’s hectic pace leaves little time to nourish the spirit and at one time or another all of us feel spiritually disconnected and alone.  But there is a treasure with the Christian Faith, highly prized by those who have found it, that offers a solution to this modern-day dilemma: morning and evening prayer. Practical and wise, drawing upon Scripture and long-time personally experience, Pastor Boers [presently professor of Spirituality at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries] invites us to reclaim this prayer tradition – and to find our Relationship with God changed forever. 

To enable us to practice this way of praying you are invited to our home for four consecutive Wednesday nights beginning at 7PM when we will keep Vespers together by praying together the daily office.  My sense is that this practice will take between 30 to 45 minutes.  It is not imperative that you attend all four sessions.

                        Paul Versluis
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Everything has the potential to draw forth from me a fuller love and life.  Yet my desires are often fixed, caught on illusion of fulfillment.  I ask that God, through my freedom, may orchestrate my desires in a vibrant loving melody, rich in harmony.

I exist in a web of relationships-links to nature, people, god.  I trace out these links, giving thanks for the life that flows through them.  Some links are twisted or broken.  I may feel regret, anger, disappointment.  I pray for the gift of acceptance and forgiveness.

Taken from the May 8 daily prayer to be found at www.jesuit.ie/prayer               gw
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Kathleen’s Simplicity Corner
My mother had a talent for housekeeping.  Nothing was ever out of place; everything had to be clean, and nothing brought her pleasure as much as finishing her housecleaning. Unfortunately, I didn’t inherit her talent or her passion for cleaning.   My life was so busy from morning till night that I barely had time to vacuum.  My days were filled with job, the kids, church activities, recreational activities, soccer games, cheerleading practice, etc. Later, when the kids were grown, night school added to the list. Who had time to clean?  My house wasn’t terrible, but we still scurried around to pick up if company came over.  Dishes have been known to sit in the sink overnight on occasion.
When I realized my busyness seemed to take my life over I knew I needed to take control. I longed for a simpler way of life.  All the so-called time saving gadgets only made my life busier.   My search for simplicity began at this point and the path toward simplifying my life was littered with perils, successes and failures.  Some of which I’ll share.  Others are just too embarrassing.
As incredible as it sounds, I discovered the way to simplifying my life did not include more appliances or gadgets or technology but rather in the opposite direction.  I also remembered that work expands to fill a vacuum so I took “time” completely out of the equation.  I started washing dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher, making my own bread from scratch (no bread machine), and planting a modest garden. I started ironing clothes that didn't necessarily need to be ironed.  As backwards as it sounds, these tasks took more of my time, slowed me down and actually added time at the end of the day.  As  my days seemed to slow down, I took more pleasure in my house and giving a good cleaning.  I never was one for collecting knick-knacks, but seemed to have       collected a lot of things I didn’t use.  I spent a full weekend cleaning out cupboards and closets of anything that I hadn’t used in a year and gave it away.  I washed the walls, the floors, and the cabinets. I washed lampshades and ceiling fans.  I washed windows, and washed and ironed curtains.  By Sunday night I was exhausted.  But the house looked better, smelled fresher and I had a great time.  Rooms seemed to remain cleaner after that; another mysterious effect of cleaning.  The biggest time-waster to be cut out was television.  Eliminating all but about one hour of shows improved my disposable time and allowed me to fill that gap with other more important things.  I didn't make a decision to cut down on TV it more or less just happened. I didn't have time for TV anymore.
The change did not come without problems. I spent hundreds of dollars on cleaning products; one for walls, one for floors, one for ovens, gloves, masks, paper towels, brooms.  Cleaning can get quite expensive.  I also found out that some cleaning products will actually melt plastic (by mistake of course), or will take paint right off the wall. Another drawback was my allergies.  I have many allergies and dust and cleaning just seemed to set it off.  Formaldehyde is an ingredient in most popular cleaning products and one I have a definite reaction to. 
I bought a couple of books on how to clean.  Amazing that not only would someone write a book about cleaning, but that someone would actually buy it!  Not all recommendations found in books were helpful.  Some recommended adding lemon or orange juice to cleaning concoctions.  That suggestion caused a swarm of gnats to take up residence adding to the problem, and they are not easy to evict.  Another suggestion was to melt beeswax and turpentine together for a “healthier” furniture polish.  This volatile mixture sent me right into a major migraine and the stink lasted a long time.
But I now have a system.  Those of you who know me, know I have to PLAN things.  I can’t do anything without a PLAN.  I have a schedule for housecleaning that helps me manage my time and makes sure everything gets done.  Some days I stick to this better than others but in the end it helps. I threw out commercially available cleaning products and replaced them with non-toxic ones.  The mainstay of my supply includes hot water, baking soda, washing soda, white vinegar, a little ammonia and Amway’s LOC.  They accomplish the same results without the sneezing and headaches and I’m saving a lot of money.  A cleaner house and switching to non-toxic cleaning products improved my health quite a bit. I get more exercise, breathe easier, sleep deeper and wake up fresher.
Some recipes I found and stick with are:
Walls, counters, woodwork   
    5 part    Hot water
    2 part    Ammonia
    1 part     Dawn dishwashing liquid
Floors  
     ¼ cup    Arm and Hammer washing soda (not baking soda)
    1 cup    White Vinegar
    3 gallons    Hot water
Windows   
    1 part    White Vinegar
    1 part1 cup    Hot waterWhite Vinegar
           
I still have a long way to go.  My house is not perfect and couldn’t hold a candle to my mother’s, and clutter needs to be controlled.  But there is a difference between clean and clutter and I try to control the clutter while enjoying the clean.  I may never have her passion for cleaning but not I do enjoy taking the time to do it and I take pleasure in a job well done
    Kathleen Cr
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Introducing Laura, Jeff & Ben

Jeff & I met in 1996 in the Mensa (cafeteria) at the German university where I was doing my Master’s in translation.  Jeff had recently completed his Master’s in translation at Kent State and was teaching in our little town of Germersheim.  By German standards, Germersheim is a dumpy hole in the wall, but it was our little paradise.  It had a small pedestrian zone, plenty of cafes, pubs, bakeries, and "our" treasured little movie theater.  With 2,000 students from around the world studying translation in this town of 20,000, the town was always abuzz with conversations in a multitude of different languages.  For a little outing, we could take the train (imagine several connections an hour for a town of 20,000!) or bike along the Rhine to the nearby cities of Mannheim and Karlsruhe, or go hiking in the hills a 40-min. train trip away on either side of the Rhine valley.

We tend to idealize our experiences in Germany, but we’re very happy in Ann Arbor, and it's basically half-way between my parents in Waterloo, ON, and Jeff's family near Richmond, IN.  We’ve done a fair bit of moving around, not only geographically, but also in terms of our “career” pursuits.  My undergrad was in theology / religion in Winnipeg, Waterloo, and the West Bank, before switching to German & French in Germany, and Jeff did an undergrad in chemistry and worked in a lab before moving on to translation.  At least one of us (Jeff) is using his educational background in a relatively meaningful way—Jeff is mostly at home with Ben these days, but is gradually expanding his freelance translation work, as Ben has started attending daycare 2 afternoons a week.  I’ve been working full-time at the Law Library on campus since we arrived here nearly 4 years ago.

One of our main reasons for coming back to this continent was because thoughts of starting a family were brewing, and it was time to be closer to our families again for a change.  The adjustment to having a child has been challenging for us—we chalk it up in part to our late start: after all, it is hard to go from 35 years of doing your own thing, to having a baby wrenching you out of your normal patterns of existence, especially if you cherish peace and quiet. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve certainly treasured Ben’s babyhood, but yet we're both very excited to see him growing up and gaining some (little bits of) independence.  We’re also so glad to have found you all as our church family and really appreciate your presence in our lives these past few years.
        Laura Br
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TRANSITIONS:
Congratulations to:

Andrew Sz- done with college and carrying on in New Jersey.

High School Graduates:

Elizabeth Sh- off to BVS.  She will let us know just where.

Eli Wk: off to Macalester College in Minneapolis.

Jon Hy: off to Earlham College in Indiana.

Stephen Sz: off to good old University of Michigan. 

We will miss you all, wish you well and want to stay in touch. 

Married, newly:

Dustin  and Dikshya Br , now of Ann Arbor.  Best wishes and welcome to the neighborhood.
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Mennonite Mutual Aid Resources

MMA is a church-related organization helping Anabaptists practice biblical stewardship.  MMA offers expertise in pursuing stewardship solutions through insurance and financial services as well as charitable-giving programs and fraternal benefits.  There are Welcome Packets available for anyone who wishes to have them. 

MMA has developed Stewardship For Kids packages.  These one hour curriculum pieces work well for a one time Sunday morning class.  There are three topics : exercise, nutrition, and emotions.

Tuition Gift Annuity is available to help college students with expenses and provides the donor with tax savings. 

If you have questions or would like more information re MMA resources, contact Gertrude .The MMA Web site is: www.mma-online.org
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Time for Service

Adopt A Highway:  First highway pick up of the summer was  netted 85 bags of stuff!  Our stretch of highway is looking good.  Look for two more dates to participate in this fine, fun activity.

IHN: We are now a support congregation and are paired with Seventh Day Adventist folks The dates are June 16-22.  IHN also has unfilled weeks June 30-July 13, so there will be opportunity there as well.  I will be sending out more information in early June.  The garage sale we did for IHN netted $420.

Ten Thousand Villages garage sale will be held June 6 & 7.  Contact Merle Tr to donate clothes, books, household items, toys, games, sports items.  Direct money donations can also now be made to Ten Thousand Villages.