January 24, 2011

Things are looking up. After last Friday’s -28 degree temperatures, anything warmer is better! I am grateful that we had no wind that morning. The steam from the heating plant chimneys was going straight up.

Last Tuesday we celebrated the anniversaries of 21 of our employees. Dolores Gaffke has been part of the housekeeping department for 30 years. WOW. Thanks for hanging in there with us for that many years.

That same evening we gave the Francis Award to Allen Riedeman for his positive spirit and leadership in showing the Franciscan Values at work and to all at the Motherhouse. Congratulations, Allen. Thank you.

Last Thursday, Liz Rydeen and Sister Michelle were presenters at our noon enLUNCHment program. They came wearing the clothing they were given from their hosts. They told us about their trip to Homa Bay, Kenya, Africa in December. They had a wonderful slide show and entertaining stories about their ventures. Liz is our grant writer. And we, Franciscan Sisters, have given grants to assist the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph in their ministries. We are a Sister Community to those Sisters.

There are about 50 Sisters making an 8-day silent retreat at the Motherhouse from last Thursday to this Wednesday. The retreat director is Father Jim VanVurst, OFM.

The other day Sharon Kloss brought pictures of the frost on the chicken house windows at her son’s farm. All who have seen the pictures marvel at the beautiful, intricate designs. Only God could do something like that.

The Soup Supper is coming up on February 5th fro 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Motherhouse dining room. There will be 3 kinds of soup and fresh home-made bread. “Come hungry. Leave Happy.”

God bless you and keep you safe.

Sister Mary Lou

Martin Luther King Observance Day—January 17, 2011

On the radio this morning I heard two interesting statements: “In the past three days we’ve picked up 4.5 inches of snow." “We’ve had 12 inches of snow already in January.” I think I would rather have six inches of snow in one day rather than one inch every day for six days.

Bloodmobile report: Our goal was 250 units of blood collected. In actuality we collected 209 units and had 13 who were turned away for whatever reasons. Though we did not reach our goal, we did very well. Two hundred nine units is a lot of blood. I know that some of are donors are “snowbirds” enjoying warmer temperatures and missing out on our Minnesota winter event. Thank you to all you generous donors. You are life savers.

The “Make a Joyful Noise” fundraiser in December for the local food shelf, raised a total of $5,150 which is over $1,300 over last years collection. We know that the number of persons needing to use the food shelf services is up. So, thank you, too, to all who donated to this good cause.

Friday afternoon the Sisters who live in Clare Residence celebrated Sister Justina’s 99th birthday, which was yesterday. Her nephew brought a big cake yesterday. So Sister Justina’s family and Sisters enjoyed cake, ice cream, nuts and mints to celebrate her 99 years of life.

Tomorrow we have our Employee Recognition Dinner and awards for those employees who have worked here 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 years. We have wonderful employees.

A silent retreat starts Friday evening at 7 p.m. and lasts until noon on Thursday, January 27th. It is a quite large group of Sisters making this retreat. The retreat director is Father Jim VanVurst, OFM. I am not making this retreat. I have too many things on my calendar that would keep me from prayer and quiet.

Another beautiful 1,500 piece puzzle was finished last week. It is fun to see employees and Sisters spending time working diligently in little spaces of time to fit the pieces together. As soon as one puzzle is finished, another one is started.

Peace be with you and God bless you.

Sister Mary Lou