Dear Grace Givers:
On Friday morning, I received a text message from my eldest sister. She was forwarding greetings from Ailien Van, who was once again sharing thanks with our family. The text begins, Today is a special day for us to express our sincere appreciations to God and our sponsors – the Krogh family who had taken us into your home 45 years ago! While I was taken aback by rush of time, I was not surprised by the Thank You. Ailien is the eldest child of the Van family, Vietnamese refugees whom my parents sponsored in 1975. For 45 years Ailien, her parents and six siblings have annually expressed their gratitude to my parents and us children for being an answer to their family’s prayers. [For more detail about the experience, follow this link to an archived column from the Omaha paper written shortly after my father’s death.]
While the Van family has flourished in America, they have never flagged in expressing their appreciation for my dad and mom’s decision to take on the financial, emotional and legal responsibilities of sponsorship. Every graduation (of the seven children there are two M.D.'s, four Ph.D.'s and an M.F.A.), wedding and Van family celebration includes some expression of thankfulness to my parents, now my mother and siblings. The expression of gratitude is usually accompanied by a lengthy card and small gift. Oh, and by the way, we have said “You’re Welcome”, but the Thank Yous don’t stop.
The text message caused me to think about my gratitude. I usually express my thanks, someone receives that thanks, and we move on to the next thing. Expressing thanks is treated like a transaction, somehow covering the debt of another’s kindness. Once expressed, my gratitude for a particular moment is expended; I move on to the next experience of grace, failing to link present blessings to any past generosities.
The Van family clearly connects every present joy as building on past opportunity. It is not obligation that causes them to continually share thanksgiving; it is simply the natural acknowledgement of connectedness. Today’s present grace rests on all previous opportunities that have made today possible; to be thankful for something new requires gratitude for all that came before.
It’s the same expression that the Apostle Paul uses at the beginning of his epistles to Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae and Timothy, often repeating his thanks several times in his letter. He's thankful for them and all they made possible, because Paul’s own endurance and support came from the goodness of those to whom he wrote.
The Van family are joyous people of deep Christian faith with profound endurance. Receiving their gratitude is nothing short of a humbling honor, one that makes me deeply grateful.
Giving thanks for you, FPCLG! I remain,
With Love,
Jonathan Krogh
Your Pastor
Dear Non-Conference Non-Attendees:
As you may know, a great deal of effort was put into planning and promoting a post-COVID conference scheduled for the second Saturday in March. Pre-registrations were underwhelming, so the week before the event I decided to cancel it. It’s bad form to have more breakout groups than attendees. I’m grateful for the presenters and preparers who were unable to showcase their no-doubt brilliant work; but discussing the impact of the pandemic four years out was clearly uninteresting to a wider public.
Upon reflection, I realize I shouldn’t be surprised. I conceived of an event designed to address the unprocessed grief we carry regarding what was lost during those dark months of soaring death rates and social isolation. I recognize now that a conference organized to address denial is doomed by its own irony.
Perhaps because I spent so much time thinking about the pandemic’s impact on our social psyche,