“For I know the

plans I have

for you,” says

the Lord. “They

are plans for

good and not

for disaster, to

give you a fu-

ture and a

hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11

J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 5

Christmas, a time we celebrate God’s plan in Jesus? Too often the miracle of Christmas gets put away with our ornaments and tossed to the curb with the tree. The stores are already full of Valentine’s Day hearts and we are all moving on… but to where? Instead of following the beat of the retail drum, let’s listen again to the beat of that little drummer boy and real-ize that God has a great plan for this world that shouldn’t be rolled up and put away for next year but unfolded and examined and embraced! God has resolved to send his son, Je-sus, into this world to transform it by conquering hate with love, sin with for-giveness, and despair with hope. God is the director of this plan and we are part of it! As the Body of Christ we are called to continue this work in a world that is starving for love, forgiveness, and hope! We are called to celebrate Christmas everyday and not to rely on our own will power to make that happen, but to re-member that we “… can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” (Philippians 4:13) So…. go tell it on the mountain and ring Christmas bells because God has resolved to save us all in Jesus Christ! This new year let’s not put away God’s plan, but let’s ask God to show us how we can support it! Celebrating God’s magnificent plans all year long together!

Pastor Eric Olaf Olsen

CELEBRATING 63 YEARS IN GOD’S SERVICE

GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN CHURCH & SCHOOL

Dear Faithful People of Good Shepherd, Happy New Year! While we celebrated the church’s new year with the arrival of Advent, the secular world’s celebration is al-ways rung in on the eighth day of Christmas on January 1. A new year brings an opportunity to change, to start over, and to refocus. Many resolutions last only a few days if not hours and are usually focused on behavior modification such as dieting and/or a promise to exercise regularly. The main reason why resolutions often fail is that, although a desire to change may be sincere, we rely only on will power to keep them going. During this time of year many of us are already fa-tigued and stressed due to family gath-erings, travel, and overspending, so talking ourselves into waking up at 0’dark- thirty to go to the gym or tell-ing ourselves that we can’t open that tin and eat that chocolate chip cookie is usually not going to go well! When our resolutions are broken, we feel de-feated so how can we avoid setting our-selves up unnecessarily this year? What if we first come clean with ourselves and honestly admit that we don’t have all the answers to all the

questions in life? What if we confessed that although we may be pretty stubborn at times our will power is often as tough as a wet noodle? What if we take a step back, put our plans away and acknowledge that it is still

As we proceed into our new “church year” and 2015 I think, once again, as a congregation we can look back to 2014 with a certain sense of accomplishment in many areas. Our Social Ministry efforts were very successful in providing food and coats to those in need. Also, due to the additional generosity of many members, over 75 families received hundreds of chil-dren’s gifts for Christmas. Our Good Shepherd Fund Disbursements Board once again eval-uated and awarded grants totaling $20,000 to a broad range of ministries throughout the region. Major improvements to our buildings and infrastructure were completed with the replacement of the church roof and replacement of the school windows. Our membership continues to grow; this past year 61 new members joined our faith community, and you can begin to see we are outgrowing our fellowship space in the Narthex! An additional enhance-ment to the marketing and communication needs of the school has resulted in the develop-

ment of a brand new school website that describes the school ministry and all of its offerings. Looking ahead, our Parish Life/ Evangelism/For Future Generations teams are working together on a great special event to benefit the FFG Campaign, a Surf & Turf Dinner in February. Finally, the congregation council has received the Parsonage Assessment Report prepared by our consultant. This report will serve as a guide for the restoration and complete updating of the parsonage.

In Christ,

Kevin Ocker,

Invitations are important. When we don’t receive an invitation that we expect, we feel left out; we ask ourselves “why?” What did I do to not be invited? Does someone not care about me or not think I’m good enough? When God does the inviting, no one gets left out! Did you know there are 26 hymns in our hymnal that start with the word “Come” or “O Come” plus others that express that you are in-vited to be part of God’s party. Stewardship is all about taking care of God’s world, and that includes taking care of your-self. When we respond to His invitation, we are making ourselves spiritually healthy. When we invite or encourage others to experience God’s love, we are working in the vineyard. When we are regular in our worship, we are coming to the party we have been invited to. As we all begin the New Year maybe a good resolution to make would be to check our pile of stuff that makes our lives so busy and take time to respond to the invitation that has been there all along. See you at the party!

- Submitted by Bob Rickmeyer

The 75 children and disabled adults connected with the New Life Center had a merrier Christmas thanks to your response.

Our "Christmas Angel" appeal was a huge success which was obvious as the generous contributions of approxi-mately 65 members of our congregation were sorted and packed to be delivered to those families in need. That’s an increase of 17 more members participating!

We hope you had an opportunity to help as the angel tags flew quickly off the wall! But remember that there are needs at the New Life Center throughout the year and the committee will present many other opportunities for your help.

Sincere thanks to all our participants and the help of my fellow members of Social Ministry. - Loretta Ruff

PLEASE JOIN US ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, AT 7:30 P.M. AT ST. STEPHEN’S LUTHERAN

CHURCH FOR A JOINT CELEBRATION OF THE EPHIPHANY WITH FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH .

As we learned last month Martin Luther believed that faith in God’s promise of forgiveness and not any human works brought one to their salvation. This was in conflict with the Church’s teachings of the day. The Church at that time taught that they were allowed to decide who would go to Heaven after death. They also believed that by buying the Church’s indulgences, one could buy their way into Heaven. Of course this made the Church rich and those with money had a means to gain forgiveness. Those that were poor continued to suffer not only materialistically but also spiritually. Martin soon found that indulgences were being sold in his region. Among

those buying were Luther’s parishioners. He began preaching against indulgences and in October of 1517 Luther writes his 95 Theses. He publishes them and called them “The Disputation of Doctor Martin Lu-ther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences”. These were posted on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. Many public announcements were placed there during this time. Luther’s intent was to encourage debate. He sent copies to a few bishops and some friends. His 95 Theses became a big success and was translated from Latin to German, printed, and widely circulat-ed. His ideas were widely accepted, and the debate began. Martin initially believed that he could change the Church by still being a part of the Church. The Papacy, however, received his ideas as heresy; and in June of 1520 Pope Leo X excommunicated him. Lu-ther had 60 days to recant. Upon receiving the papers Luther burned them and stated that he would not obey the Church. On January 22, 1521, Emperor Charles V convened the Diet of Worms to hear the case. It was Martin’s last chance to admit he was wrong. Martin refused, and the Diet declared him an out-law. With the help from friends Martin hid in the Wartburg Castle, near Erfurt. While there he translated the original Greek version of the Bible and the New Testament into German. Up until this time the Holy Mass and the Bible were in Latin and very few people spoke or read Latin, therefore they did not understand. From this time on, though, an individual could read and interpret for themselves. With his friend Philip Melanchton, Martin started his own Church………………………………………..

To be continued. - Submitted by Jim Blewett

The vernal equinox will occur over the weekend of March 20—22. We will officially welcome back the spring season! Daylight will be longer as the clocks will have sprung forward two weeks earlier. It is the last weekend of Lent, a final time of reflection before Palm Sun-day. Indeed, this weekend seems like the perfect time for us as a church family to refresh, regroup, and renew in the beautiful, peace-

ful wilderness setting of Koinonia. You read about it in Pastor’s December newsletter address, and now we are making plans! Room prices are $206/single; $160/each for two adults; $130/each for three or more adults; $75 for ages 5 through and including 16; and free for children under 5. Each room accommodates up to four people. Prices include meals from Saturday breakfast through Sunday brunch with 10:30 a.m. worship on Sunday. We have blocked 10 rooms, which are on a first-come-first-serve release. Please RSVP to the church office before January 19 if you would like to be part of this. Bring your whole family on this group experience! Something is almost always happening at Koinoina and they’re glad to help make it happen just for us. Participation in Koinonia's community activities can create stronger rela-tionships. Their mission is to send us back out into God's beloved world charged with new life! Let’s make this happen!

O n November 30, 2014, the First Sunday of Advent, we wel- comed back to our family

4 returning members and welcomed in another 38! We are very happy to have Robert, Suzanne & Sarah Beers, Allison Mike, Madison & Ryan Carey, Katie, Tony, Gregory & Emma Cogli-ano, Dana & Robert Coupe, Straty, Paula, An-drew & Ethan Eaonidis, Kelly, Peter, Annika & Austen Flink, Debbie, Izzy Christopher & Ve-ronica Garcia, Donna Hickey, Gail Kelly, Kris-tin, Peter & Madelyn Luedemann, Ruth Mat-tana, Joseph Mattana, Rose Minnick, Meridith, Patrick, Logan, & Isa- belle, and Kristyn, Ethan, Jackson, Olivia & Sofia Mulada as part of our Good Shepherd family.

S uzanne and Robert Beers are happy to return to Good Shepherd where they married on June 25, 1988. Their sons John (23), William (21), and

Matthew (19) were baptized, confirmed, and grew up here. But their daugh-ter Sarah (12) was baptized at Faith Lutheran as the family lives in Syosset. The family returned to Good Shepherd when Sarah began her confirmation class here, and we are happy to have them back. Many of us know Suzanne’s mom, long-time member Eleanor Bierlmaier-Dugan.

M ike and Alison Carey met 12 years ago while working for the same com-pany. They married in 2005 and moved to Plainview where they still live

today. Mike works as a Senior Finance Director for Sleepy’s and Alison is a stay-at-home mom. Mike describes Alison as a genuine, loving and creative person who puts everyone she knows ahead of herself. Alison spent a few years singing on tours and in amazing places like Carnegie Hall. Her current pas-sions are baking and cake decorating. Alison was “made to be a mom” and de-lights in every moment of it. Alison says that Mike is honest, intelligent, and thoughtful and loves to make people laugh. His strong values and integrity make it so easy to love him. Mike is a huge sports fan and has had season tickets for the Islanders since he was little. “It is as a Dad where all of Mike's best qualities truly shine, and he always puts his family first,” says Alison. God has blessed them with two amazing children, one carried in the tummy and one carried in the heart, both treasured and infinitely loved and created for their family alone. Ryan is a kind and sensitive 6 year old who loves karate and video games, and Madison is a sassy and sweet 2 year old who loves to dance and sing. When they enrolled Ryan in preschool at Good Shepherd 5 years ago, they had no idea the impact it would have on their lives. They not only met great friends that will last a lifetime, they also found a church and community where they feel welcomed and at home.

K atie and Tony Cogliano met through mutual friends, hit it off right from the start, and were married in 2008. Katie is a special education teacher in Farm-

ingdale, and Tony is a social worker currently employed by Molloy College. Origi-nally hailing from Massapequa, they and their two children, Gregory (4) and Emma(3) moved into this area a year ago. Through their children who attend our school, Katie and Tony became acquainted with our church family and feel very blessed to have found such a warm and inviting place. The Coglianos look forward to having Good Shepherd in their lives.

D ana Coupe (nee Hall) grew up at Good Shepherd and was confirmed here in May, 1991. A LuHi graduate, Dana lives in Ridge with her husband, Robert and two

daughters Addison Julia (2 1/2) and Harper Myla (5 months). Robert runs his own Wedding Cinematography business, Couped-Up Productions. In October 2012, Pastor

Olsen baptized Addison here at Good Shepherd, and we recently celebrated Harper’s baptism on November 9th. With their daughters’ being part of Good Shepherd’s church family, Dana officially returned, and we are very happy to wel-come Robert as well.

P aula and Straty Eoanidis, along with their two sons Andrew and Ethan, are de-lighted to join the community of Good Shepherd. They reside in Cold Spring

Harbor and enjoy the active outdoor lifestyle that living in the Huntington area af-fords all of its residents. The boys attend Lloyd Harbor Elementary School and are active on various athletic teams. The Eoanidis family is excited to become members of the lively congregation that exists at Good Shepherd!

K elly and Peter Flink along with their children Annika (10) and Austen (11) were mem-bers of Faith Lutheran. They decided to become part of Good Shepherd’s family when

the children enrolled in our Sunday School program.

D ebbie and Isidro Garcia met in the spring of 1973 at Halsey Junior High School, (Forest Hills). She was 15, and he was a “very persistent”

17 year old, so they were soon dating. They went on to Forest Hills High School and graduated in the spring of 1977. Isidro took the NYC Police Test to become a Police Officer while Debbie went to Queens College to Major in Business. After six years, the Garcias were married in Our Sav-iour Lutheran Church in Rego Park and moved to Middle Village were Isi-

dro graduated from the NYC Police Academy and Debbie became the Manager for Red Lobster in Rego Park. In March 6, 1986 the Lord blessed their family with a baby boy Christopher Michael who is now 28 years old and majors in computers. In the summer of 1988 they were again blessed again with a beautiful baby girl, Veronica Marie, who is now 26, “has the voice of an angel”. Veronica is majoring in Massage Therapy while working as a administrator for a dental office. After 21 years of service Isidro retired from the NYC Police Department as a detective, Debbie started working as a real estate sales associate in Levittown. She went back to school to become a broker associate and notary. Isidro is the owner of Shark Investigation and Security. The Garcias make their home in Levittown and have a 3 year old dog Shepherd Mix named Coco. They feel truly blessed as a family and thank God everyday for his blessings.

D onna Hickey has been a Registered Dental Hygienist for 22 years as well as a Real Estate Agent for the last 5 years. She has three beautiful children, Dan,

Jaclyn, and Kevin, and four grandchildren: Dan’s children, Brian (3) and Danica (2). And Jaclyn’s children Gabriella (2) and Joey (6 months). Her son Dan is a New York City Fireman in Rescue 4 Queens while daughter Jaclyn, is a professional make up artist and stay at home mother, and Donna’s youngest son Kevin is a recent graduate from the University of Rhode Island. Donna loves to travel to warmer cli-mates whenever she can get away. Through her livelihood in the dental hygiene profession, she has had the opportunity to visit different parts of our country and has found this to be very exciting and fascinating. Her favorite thing to do, howev-er, is to be home with family. “As a child my family were members of Good Lutheran Church,” Donna relayed. “I attended Sunday School here and also received Confirmation from

Pastor Hinsch. Thanks to my sister, Bonnie McGowan and her husband John, along with Pastor Olson I have found my way back. It feels really good to be ‘home’ again.”

G ail Kelly was introduced to our church at Naomi Hulver’s grandson August’s baptism, and she knew immediately that she had found her new church. It

reminded her much of Our Savior in Mineola, where she grew up, was baptized, confirmed, and married. Widowed after 26 years of marriage to her husband Mar-tin, Gail lives in Hicksville with her two terriers, Gracie & Reilly. From walking Gracie & Reilly, she met and became good friends with her neighbor Naomi. Gail has a sister in New Jersey, Shelly, and a brother in Babylon, Keith, as well as two nieces, Madelyn and Patty. She spends a lot of her time in Mineola helping and going out with her 87 year old mother. She also enjoys social gatherings with her friends, reading, movies, gardening, antiquing, and has an impressive collection of owls. Gail is happy to be a member of Good Shepherd and is grateful for all of

God’s blessings.

P eter and Kristin Luedemann met at Binghamton University in 1998 and have been together over for 15 years. Both from Long Island, they married at St. Peter's

Church in Huntington Station and lived in Manhattan before buying a home and set-tling in Plainview in 2010. Peter works in operations at J.P. Morgan while Kristin is a school counselor (currently on childcare leave) for the NYC Department of Education. They have two daughters - Madelyn (3 years old) and Emma (4 months old). Two weeks after welcoming Peter, Kristin, and Madelyn into our church family, we celebrat-ed together Emma’s baptism on December 14th. Former members of St. Peter's Luther-an Church, the Luedemanns were seeking a church within their Plainview community

and felt so welcomed here at Good Shepherd from their first attendance at service.

R uth Mattana was born in Brooklyn and spent most of her years grow-ing up in Cambria Heights. She and her family attended the Cambria

Heights Church where she taught Sunday School and met her future hus-band John. After getting married they moved to Valley Stream and joined Trinity Lutheran Church (which later became New Hope Lutheran Church) where she continued to teach Sunday School, and John became very involved as an usher, a member of the church council, and many other church activities. After John passed away this year Ruth moved to Plainview to be closer to her son Joseph and family and soon afterward be-gan attending services at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Ruth and her son Joseph are very grateful for the very welcoming environment they have found at our church.

R ose Minnick is married with three daughters and two granddaughters . A Kings Park resident, Rose works in Bayshore as a store manager. About two years ago, she met

Pastor Eric at a funeral and was impressed by his service. She began attending services here at Good Shepherd last April and has become a regular as she “finds Pastor Eric very inspirational and comforting.” Rose also feels very welcome and comfortable in Good Shepherd’s church family.

S yosset natives Patrick and Meridith Moran met and began dating in 1995 while working at CVS Pharmacy. They were married in May, 2006, at St. Peter’s Lu-

theran Church in Huntington Station. Their son Logan was born in June, 2007 and daughter Isabelle in September, 2011. Patrick works as a Project Manager and Merid-ith is a School Counselor. The family moved to Hicksville in 2008. Logan is a 2nd grade student at East Street Elementary School. He plays basketball and baseball and is in the Cub Scouts. Isabelle is in the nursery program here at Good Shepherd and enjoys playing soccer. The family has been attending various activities and events at Good Shepherd and is so happy to officially become members.

K ristyn Mulada is a very busy lady as the mother of four, Jackson (9), Sofia (7), and twins Ethan and Olivia (4) who were born in Tokyo. The children enjoy activities from basketball, football, soccer,

wrestling, baseball, and gymnastics to sewing, art, and chess. Former members of Faith Lutheran, the Mu-ladas joined our church family after enrolling in our Sunday school program. Many of us know Kristyn from our Sharing the Faith Christian Education Hour where she is a frequent contributor.

W e are all very blessed to have these people join our family of faith and look forward to our spiritual growth together with them.

Our Children’s Christmas Pageant 1/21/15

The presiders of the annual POB Community Interfaith Thanksgiving Service on 11/25 at the Church of the Latter-Day Saints

Did you know that all children through kindergarten age are welcome in our Kids’ Corner during the 10:15 a.m. worship service?

Were you able to attend our December Taize service? It’s always beautiful, but against the backdrop of Christmas decorations, it was truly breathtaking!

Come to our next service at 7:00 p.m. on January 18!

On Monday, December 15, our Seniors enjoyed their 9th annual Christmas luncheon in the West Cottage. An impressive turn-out of 25 on a pleasant sunny day enjoyed a cocktail 1/2 hour of shrimp cocktail, devilled eggs, stuffed dates, crackers with a spinach & kale yogurt dip, and a variety of cheeses that quickly disappeared. They sat down at linen-covered tables decorated with Lenox and Spode candlesticks and enjoyed some wonder-

ful home-made deli-cacies, in-c l u d i n g , pineapple glazed ham, penne alla vodka, Swedish meatballs, macaroni & cheese, creamed vegetables, and a num-ber of other dishes created from individual family rec-ipes. And if that wasn’t enough to titillate the taste-buds...they brought too many sinful deserts to even mention!

DATE SERVICE

ASSISTING

MINISTER

LECTOR

ETHEL’S

COFFEE HOUR

GUEST USHER

January 4

Second Sunday of

Christmas

10:15 a.m. Bonnie McGowan

Kathy Ocker Marilyn Benner

Social Ministry

Team

Cathy Aldrich

Eleanor Bierlmaier-Dugan

Karen Faucera

Cathy Vollono

January 11

Baptism of Our Lord 10:15 a.m.

Lori Mason

Terry Miccio Richard Benson

Melissa Gresser &

Nicole Steinert

Rich & Ellen Benson

George & Inara Hirn

January 18

Second Sunday after

Epiphany

10:15 a.m.

Marilyn Benner

John Schwan-

inger

Marge Wenger Please Sign Up The Tollefsen Family

January 25

Third Sunday after

Epiphany

10:15 a.m. Marge Wenger

Anne Rickmeyer

Ellen

Sangesland Property Team The Uzzo Family

January Altar Care: Anne Rickmeyer

Join us at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 24, for a music recital with per-formances ranging in musical genres and styles including classical, thea-tre, rock, pop, and jazz. Come and support our community’s budding musicians at this free concert. As you know, these students always put on a heck of a show!

The Metro NY Synod LYO is holding a youth retreat at Camp Koinonia: on Febru-ary 20 – 22, themed PUSH—Pray Until Something Happens. Registration is $120, which includes room & board, pro-gram, & t-shirt. Financial assistance is available to those who need. Please sub-mit all money and paperwork to the church office by Janu-ary 31. A permission slip is provided here for your con-venience

Janet Banzer – 1/20

Liam Broggy - 1/11

Virginia Brown -1/27

John & Judy Cooke -1/2

Danielle DeFilippis - 1/11

Debbie Dexter - 1/6

Mikayla DiMartini - 1/22

Lois Fassino - 1/16

Ava Filagrossi - 1/28

Diana Fox -1/19

Allison Haupt -1/22

John Hulver -1/14

Gavin Jansky -1/2

Grayson Kies -1/9

Keegan McGowan -1/20

Trinity Parisey -1/24

Austin Passolo -1/11

Angelo Russo -1/24

Nicole Tollefsen -1/31

Cathy Vollono -1/6

Helga & William Mitze

66 years on 1/30

Mary & Warren Wiegert 34 years on 1/3

T H O S E P R E P A R I N G

F O R O R D A I N E D M I N I S T R Y

WE PRAY FOR...

T H O S E S E R V I N G

I N T H E M I L I T A R Y

Roger Griffith & Nick Sollom

T H O S E I N N E E D O F H E A L I N G

Maureen Kelly Araujo, Alex & Derek Bartkow, Eleanor Bierlmaier Dugan, John Binsfeld (Benner family friend), Jack Bedsole, Edwina Bishop, Troy Braaten, Janet Brazel (Terry Miccio’s relative), Dr. George Blednick (Wenger family friend), Aiden Brown (former members Audree & Bud Brown’s grand-son), John & Eddie Brusdeliens (J. Hinsch family friend), Jacie Capuano (Beatrice Haas’s friend), Brad Carbone & family (R. Benson family friend),

Lynn Carlson (Irma’s daughter-in-law), Carol Cassis (Elaine Cassimatis’ mother), Ava Cataldo (GSL stu-dent), Gisela Conforti, Lorraine Couronis (Martha Peterson’s friend), Dorothy Cronin, Chris Cucci, Clau-dia DeMauro, Ryan DeVerna, Susan Dowd (Maisch family friend), Brooke & Sally Ducey, Anna Duda (Denise Bartkow’s mother), baby Scarlett Duffy (Hickey/McGowan family friend), Becky Ernst (Paul Wenger’s cousin), Mary Faccio (Helmers family friend), Ryan Faret & family, Jim Fassino, Irene & James Fields (Vincent Cronin’s sister & nephew), Agatha Filagrossi, Pat Froehlich (Peggy Lang’s friend), Bob Giddings (Vorstadt family friend), Mary Gessing (Vincent Cronin’s cousin), Lilah & Jim Gillett (Kathy Prinz’s friends), Kristin Goldberg (Deb Steinhilber’s daughter), Eileen Greenfieldt (Griffin family friend), Tom Gucciardo (Olsen family friend), Liz Haley, Hedy (GLS Teacher Barbara Valenza’s mother), Diane Helmers, Renee Iannone (Irma Carlson’s niece), Gary Jacobs (Anne Rickmeyer’s relative), Alexis Jacobsen (GSL teacher LeeAnn’s daughter), Anna Jerome, Robert Kamps (Lee family friend), Chris Kim (Yuna Jin’s friend), Ingrid Kraft (Andrea Uzzo’s mother), Lisa Lamey (Lisa Olsen’s friend); Lois Lengenfelder, Christian Lakis, Ken-neth Lane, Martha Langjahr, Claire Larrie (Mary Wiegert’s sister), Jean Lombardo (Rickmeyer fam-ily friend), Angel Lorch, Kim Maca (Kathy Prinz’s friend), Dottie Melillo (Kathy Prinz’s friend), Claire Mehrhoff (Alice Vorstadt’s friend), Mike Miccio, GLS teacher Staey Milios, Teddy Moore (Miccio family friend); Henry Nacewicz, Bill Oleschuk (GS Teacher Barbara Valenza’s father), Rose Oliver (Ellen Benson’s friend), Don O’Neil (Olsen family friend), Meghan Ortega (Lisa Olsen’s niece), Robert Pic-ciano, Bob Podewils (Boy Scout leader), Nick Portugal (Liam Broggy’s friend), Dr. Mark Prowatzke (Danny Wenger’s father in law), Lenore Rapp (Anthony Vollono’s sister), Faith Ressmeyer, Nicole Rich-ards (Karen Faucera’s friend), Justin Rogers (Karin Kienle’s nephew), Bob Rosado Glenn Schabel, Diane Sicca ( Debbie Garcia’s sister), Adam Sink (Judy Hinsch’s nephew), Bill Smith (Anthony Vollono’s brother in law), Ian Spadaro, Don Stevens (Patty Larson’s friend), Nancy Stingelin, Ruth Strakele, Reverend Susan Switzer, Joyce Tare, Debbie Tassi (Denise Donitz’s sister), Susan Tonnesson (Terry Miccio’s friend), Kay

& Bob Van Stry (Dorothy Cronin’s cousin), Reverend Susan Switzer, Jeff Zenko (Karen Faucera’s friend), and Brother George Zenle (Wenger family friend).

Keith & Kyle Calderone (Army), Specialist Sean Has-sett (Lori Mason’s cousin), CPT. Paul Rickmeyer, Cap-tain Robert Saueracker, LTC. Phillip Sounia, USMC, Corporal Nicholas Ventrelli-O’Connell (Patty Larson’s family friend).

T H O S E W H O A R E C E L E B R A T I N G

The Luedemann family who celebrated the bap-tism of their daughter Emma on December 14 and the Russo family whose daughter Stella will be baptized on January 11. Krysta & Ross, who will be married on January 16.

UPDATE FOR JANUARY 2015

WITH COUNSELING SITES LOCATED IN: NASSAU SUFFOLK MANHATTAN QUEENS WESTCHESTER

Prepared especially for LCC Association Congregations & Schools

It’s a new year – 2015! Happy New Year! Are you

expecting yours to be happy? Maybe there’s some-

thing you’re looking forward to? Or does the new

year bring worries to mind? Is there something

you’re dreading or fearing?

Do you know the most common reason people

come for counseling? Anxiety. Anxiety can be expe-

rienced in many different forms, like excessive hard

-to-shake worry, phobias, panic, anger, depression,

and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, to name a

few. The top five things people worry about are

work, health, family, money, and something hap-

pening in the news (and certainly there’s always

plenty to worry about there!).

Here are some important things about anxiety that

are helpful for everyone to know:

1) Some anxiety is normal and useful. Anxiety is a

personal alarm system built into us. An alarm (like

a smoke-alarm) is not reality but a signal about

possible reality – possible danger. It’s a signal to

check out the danger to see if it’s real. Alarm sys-

tems are calibrated to give false positives – overes-

timating rather than underestimating the danger.

So the general rule is to check out the alarm. Most

of the time an anxiety-alarm signals CAUTION, not

danger.

You can see that anxiety can serve a useful func-

tion in our lives. Fear can be a warning about real

dangers and motivate us to protective actions (to

wait for the stop-light to change, to get a medical

exam, to study for a test). A moderate amount of

anxiety is most helpful, leading us to do things that

are in our best interest that we might not want to

do. Beneficial anxiety can be a signal for caution,

self-acceptance (maybe you’re too self-critical), self

-care, and relationship repair.

2) Anxiety that is too high is the problem. It can

make problems worse or generate new problems.

With high anxiety all signals are taken to mean that

something bad WILL happen, and “I won’t be able

to cope with it.” It often involves scanning (taking

in lots of superficial information which just increas-

es anxiety), thought-racing, over-self-

consciousness (“I might be judged or criticized”),

and super-vigilance (judging others, intentionally

looking for negatives and dangers).

3) Anxiety and anger often go together. Here is

the formula: ANXIETY + BLAME = ANGER & RE-

SENTMENT. Much anger and resentment, especial-

ly in families and couples, is anxiety we blame on

each other (“Something bad will happen and you’re

to blame”). A person can get addicted to a blaming

-mode, which leads to chronic resentment, which

eventually leads to depression (“life stinks!”).

Blame therefore is a very dangerous route to take.

But it is very seductive because blame does feel

better than anxiety.

4) How can anxiety be treated? Problematic anxie-

ty originates in the brain. Neurotransmitter activity

can be excessive and out of balance, producing

high anxiety. Worry is an unnecessary byproduct

of overactive brain cells in an anxious brain. Ther-

apy can teach a person with an anxiety problem

how to control their anxious brain. Anxiety can

drain our energy and rob our joy. Therefore it’s im-

portant to take some action and not avoid facing

your fears and anxieties. In therapy with a coun-

selor, thinking errors, behavior patterns, relation-

ship problems, childhood issues, medications, re-

laxation techniques, and spiritual resources can all

be explored and healthy coping skills developed.

Clients can learn specific techniques to relax,

change their lifestyles, and control their anxious

brains.

Remember, moderate anxiety is a useful tool God

has created in us. Many people also find relief,

help and strength in a faith-relationship with God,

in a faith-community, and in the use of spiritual

resources such as meditation, prayer, and Holy

Scriptures.

‘SOME HELPFUL THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ANXIETY

By Rev. Dr. Ronald Lehenbauer, LMFT,

Certified Imago Relationship Therapist

Contact Lutheran Counseling Center at 1-800-317-1173 or e-mail us at Center@lccny.org for more information or to set an appoint-

ment. Visit our website at www.lccny.org .