ANNOUNCEMENTS
Winter Family Fest, MOVED TO Sunday, February 26th, 2 pm till 4 pm. Sled rides, games, food, and more! All ages welcome!
Crew is on February 15 at 3:30 pm for all for all 3rd-6th graders!
Ash Wednesday, February 22nd, 6:30 pm worship with Holy Communion
Baked Potato Bar served by the Confirmation Youth Wednesday, February 22nd, 5:30 pm till 6:30 pm. Free will offering supports our youth going to Luther Park Bible Camp this summer.
Luther Park is looking for summer staff! They are looking for college age youth to serve as counselors and other staff. Go to www.lutherpark.org for an application and more information.
Communion Bread Bakers needed! Please sign-up on the table in the Narthex.
Volunteers Needed to remove snow from our sidewalks! Please sign-up on the table in the Narthex. We have a new tractor with snow blower that you can use.
Don’t forget that you can support Trinity through the Vanco app OR using the donate form on our website. Download the free app, search for Trinity Lutheran Boyceville, and go from there!
MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD
The other morning, at crossing guard, as I was waiting for kids to start showing up, I had a deep thought. An important question bubbled up from the deep recesses of my mind, a question that could change the course of human history, a question I have no doubt Aaron Rodgers is going to contemplate during his four day darkness retreat. It is a question I’m going to attempt to answer today. Drumroll, please. What holiday has the best candy?
I know, right? A crazy deep question that we are going to talk about today. I have decided that there are four holidays that are in the running for having the best candy: Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter. As a candy eating expert, I will do my best to examine each one thoroughly and thoughtfully and then I will render a judgement, one that I have no doubt will elicit angry responses from all of you. Are you ready? Strap on a candy feed bag and let’s go.
Let’s start with the holiday that is going to happen in just a few days, Valentine’s Day. You have the iconic candy hearts. I prefer the ones that come in the box as I think the ones in the bag just don’t taste as good. There was nothing like being in a relationship in middle school or high school, picking out the perfect candy heart from the box with the perfect message, and giving it to the person you knew you would spend at least one more day with, before breaking up and dating someone different a week later, then breaking up after a week and going back to the previous paramour. Also, you have the famous heart shaped box of chocolates, which is a symbol of true love like no other. However, here is my beef with Valentine’s Day as a candy holiday: that’s about it. Chalky candy hearts and the assorted chocolates in a box shaped like a heart. Both of those things can be incredibly mediocre. I really don’t get excited for Valentine’s Day candy as some of the other stuff out there is done better for other holidays.
Next up is Halloween. For sure candy volume, there might not be a better holiday. After all, the major event of this holiday is HANDING OUT CANDY. Also, props to all you parents who steal (that’s right. It is stealing) your children’s candy after Trick-or-Treating. I still have a grudge against my faither for all the candy he stole from me as a child under the guise of inspecting it for safety. I can’t ever get all those Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups back. You would think that Halloween would be contending for the title but I’m going to be honest. It is in last place. LAST. Seems crazy that a holiday built around candy would be at the bottom. But it is. Why? There is no candy just special to Halloween. It is literally all the candy you can get the rest of the year (outside of candy corn), just smaller and with special wrapping. No special at all. Sorry Halloween. That’s how I see it.
It is time to get to real contenders now. Let’s start with the birth of Christ, Christmas. It is the only holiday on this list that has a candy that people use in their decorations, the candy cane, which comes in every flavor under the sun and after Christmas you never see again until the next Christmas. You got all the specialty ones, like Lindt and Ferrero Rocher that are around all year but really matter at Christmas. You have all the Russell Stover candies shaped like Santa’s and Snowmen in a thousand different varieties. You have the second best Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in the trees. One of the highlights of my stocking from Amy every year is the bag-o-candy, filled with great stuff. All the iconic brands have their own versions of stuff in Christmas themed shapes. Frankly, Christmas has been the leader in the clubhouse and the betting favorite in this battle royal from the very beginning. But, my friends, I have news for you. As much as I love my Christmas candy (and oh boy, I do), it is not going to win this competition today. And why? Because there isn’t something that comes out at Christmas that I literally jump up for joy about. As much good stuff as there is, there is one holiday that produces not only one, not only two, but THREE holiday specific candies that make my heart flutter with joy and spirit soar like an X-Wing through space. And that is Easter.
Easter is our holiday candy winner and frankly I don’t think it is even close. I got three things for you as you raise your voice in protest, threaten to write Santa to put me on the naughty list for eternity, and ask yourselves if I have completely lost the ability for rational thought. They are: Reese’s Peanut Butter eggs, Cadbury Cream Eggs, and Peeps. The Holy Trinity of Easter candy. The big three. All-time classics that some love, some hate, but all must acknowledge are iconic, memorable, and legendary. There is no greater version of a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup than the Egg. It is so legendary they tried to shove it into other shapes for other holidays but they are not the same. A pack of these will not last long in my possession and as a child I would have sold body parts to acquire them from my sisters after we got our Easter baskets. Even now, thinking about this perfect candy, my stomach is rumbling and my eyes are watering with tears of joy. Then you got Cadbury Cream Egg. Decadent. Probably overly decadent. But awesome. This was the second most sought candy in the Easter basket. If you eat more than three in one sitting you could possibly die (I’ve tried) but it does not diminish its tastiness and the status it holds at Easter. When would you ever eat one of those except at Easter? Never.
Then of course you have the most controversial part of the Holy Trinity of Easter Candy, the Peep. They tried to make Peeps happen at other times but it doesn’t work. It is only here at Easter where you can have a sugar rush so high you think you might have joined Jesus in heaven than having a peep. I prefer the bright yellow originals, but you can’t fault the variety of colors and fun you can have. Even the bunnies are acceptable. But Peeps are the only candy that you can literally have a battle with as you place them in the microwave to Peep joust and see some marshmallow explode in glory. One note: those who eat these stale and hard are people that possibly cannot be trusted or are aliens from another planet in disguise.
Also in Easter’s favor is the solid chocolate bunny (head must be eaten first, of course), marshmallow eggs, and one that is sneaky high my list of all time favorite holiday candies, the Cadbury robin eggs. Plus you jelly beans, which I think ranks up there with peas and lima beans as the worst tasting things in the world, but many people love.
So there you have it. After an exhaustive and comprehensive examination, we have come to the final rankings. 1. Easter. 2. Christmas. 3. Valentine’s Day. 4. Halloween. Thanks for reading and I appreciate any comments you have. Lastly, remember that the only thing sweeter than enjoying your favorite candy at a holiday is the grace and mercy we have in Jesus Christ! Have a great week!
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