REMEMBER – CLOCKS GO FORWARD THIS WEEKEND!
PRAYERS – Jon Cook; Karen Engels; Millie Mutka; Dawn Gonitzke; Myria Strong; Kathy Mayo; Barb Zima’s friends Mick, Steven and Marilyn Hummel; Nancy Ehlinger, Gregory Bowens; Laurie Nelson; Amber Ross’s daughter Linda; Karen Stanton’s friends Don & Penny Waite and sister Pam Schweitzer; Jerrie Van Haverbeke’s niece Jolane Gervasi; Sandy Bishop’s friend Kelly Newman and brother Larry; Randy & Diane Niemczyk’s daughter Julia VanAvery, niece Sarah Joda, Denise Runde and Denise Hazel; Dick Volland; Valeria Hesselberg; Chris Markussen; Anne Verona’s sister/brother-in-law Pat & Woody Woodworth and friends Dennis Peterson, Natalie Madine, Eli Peters and Randy Ballard; Strong’s friend Erin Molle, and cousin Debbie; Debbie Cyrtmus’ mother, Rose Wicker and sister, Corrie Trittin; the Ebert’s friend Patricia Kulzick and Donna; Patricia Rasmussen’s sister Christine; Joyce Leander’s cousin Laurie Nelson and Joyce’s son Kevin Church; the Del Ponte’s nephew Gabriel Del Ponte; Ashley Clark’s friends Keith & Becky Hernandez and Kristie Dehart; the Waggoner’s sister-in-law Cheryl Busse, and friends Karla Zyhowski; Karen Engels niece Lisa and friend Bob; Ann Carlson’s people Christian and Darren; peace for all nations and comfort for those in distress.
PRAYER LIST PROCEDURE – Submit your prayer requests to the office in writing, by phone, by email or in person. If requesting prayers for someone other than yourself or an immediate family member, please obtain permission – unless the circumstances are public in nature.
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Anniversary to you
May the Lord Jesus keep you
Ever faithful and true!
GUESTS – if you are visiting us today, please sign our book at the entrance to the sanctuary.
MOUNTAIN OF LOVE FOR LENT – Following is the schedule for the Mountain of Love!
Mar 8 – hot and cold cereal
Mar 15 – boxed foods (mac & cheese, crackers, dry soup mixes, jello, pudding)
Mar 22 – paper products (Kleenex, paper towels, toilet paper, paper plates even)
[*Please check expiration dates for items donated to the Mountain of Love. Anything donated with a bad date will be thrown away. Also – only complete meals in a sealed box. Please do not donate loose items, for example, an unused spice packet.]
GAME DAY SUNDAY MARCH 15 – feeling the letdown after the Super Bowl? No more Winter Olympics? March Madness not doing it for you? Bring your need for competition, good times, food and laughter to the Fellowship Hall on Mar 15 from 10am to 1pm. We won’t have torch bearers, medals or a half-time show, but we will have a plethora of appetizers and plenty of games to whet your appetite. There is a sign-up sheet for games and treats in the Narthex.
“I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU!” – [We’re all F·R·I·E·N·D·S here] The sign-up sheet for Fellowship Hour is in the Fellowship Hall. We are still looking for volunteers – cause even if it isn’t your day, your week, your month, or even your year – we believe you have an hour. Bake, set up and/or clean-up – we’ll be there for you – cause you’re there for us too!
MISMATCHED SOCK SUNDAY – please wear mismatched socks on Sunday – Mar 22 in recognition of Downs Syndrome Day (Mar 21). Barb Zima has been in touch with the folks at https://www.worlddownsyndromed… and they have asked for pictures of our mismatched sock day! Our feet are going to be famous!
CHRISTIAN WOMEN’S LUNCHEON – meeting at the LAST CAST resort at 11:30 on March 12. The Last Cast used to be the Kathan Inn. It is 2 miles down HWY H. The sign on the highway still says Kathan Inn, 2 miles. Hwy H is before you get to Honey Bear. Please RSVP to Lauralee Martin at landjmartin@yahoo.com.
FUN FACT: The Royal Game of Ur, estimated to have originated from around 4500 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia is considered the oldest playable boardgame in the world, with well-defined game rules discovered written on a cuneiform tablet by a Babylonian astronomer.
The Game of Ur is a race game and it is probably an ancestor of the tables family of games that are still played today. The Game of Ur is played using two sets of seven game pieces, similar to those used in draughts or checkers. One set of pieces is white with five black dots and the other set is black with five white dots. The gameboard is composed of two rectangular sets of boxes, one containing three rows of four boxes each and the other containing three rows of two boxes each, joined by a “narrow bridge” of two boxes.
The gameplay involves elements of both luck and strategy. Movements are determined by rolling a set of four-sided, tetrahedron-shaped dice. Two of the four corners of each die are marked and the other two are not, giving each die an equal chance of landing with a marked or unmarked corner facing up. The number of marked ends facing upwards after a roll of the dice indicates how many spaces a player may move during that turn. A single game can last up to half an hour.
The objective of the game is for a player to move all seven of their pieces along the course and off the board before their opponent. On all surviving gameboards, the two sides of the board are always identical with each other, suggesting that one side of the board belongs to one player and the opposite side to the other player. When a piece is on one of the player’s own squares, it is safe from capture.
When it is on one of the eight squares in the middle of the board, the opponent’s pieces may capture it by landing on the same space, sending the piece back off the board so that it must restart the course from the beginning. This means there are six “safe” squares and eight “combat” squares. There can never be more than one piece on a single square at any given time, so having too many pieces on the board at once can impede a player’s mobility.
When a player rolls a number using the dice, they may choose to move any of their pieces on the board or add a new piece to the board if they still have pieces that have not entered the game. A player is not required to capture a piece every time they have the opportunity. Nonetheless, players are required to move a piece whenever possible, even if it results in an unfavorable outcome.
All surviving gameboards have a colored rosette close to the middle of the center row. According to Finkel’s reconstruction, if a piece is located on the space with the rosette, it is safe from capture. Finkel also states that when a piece lands on any of the five rosettes, the player gets an extra roll.
In order to remove a piece from the board, a player must roll exactly the number of spaces remaining until the end of the course plus one. If the player rolls a number any higher or lower than this number, they may not remove the piece from the board. Once a player removes all their pieces off the board in this manner, that player wins the game. (Pictures at the bottom of the game boards)
NOTE FROM ANN – the picture at the top I refer to as a “doe ball”. Took this sometime this past week. She was curled into such a tight little ball. Adorbs. The other picture is from the full moon the other night. I really need to figure out the settings on my phone for night time pictures so I can capture some of these things properly. I love the blues but it doesn’t capture a sharp picture of the moon. If I capture a sharp picture of the moon, I lose all of the blues.
There has been a lot going on in the world and to people around me. The ‘old’ me would have taken all of these things *on* and carried the burdens as if they were my own. I have learned to leave the peripheral stuff alone. It is not mine to carry and can be insulting to the person whose burden to whom it belongs.
What I can do and what I try to do – is to be there. Be a sounding board. Actively listen. Try not to jump in with solutions unless asked. Sometimes the hardest thing to do for someone when they are struggling is to just be still. And wait for them to figure it out and/or ask for help. Holding space for others and for ourselves.
Have a great week and be well.
