February 15th, 2026
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Winterfest for Sunday has been cancelled.
Ash Wednesday Worship is on February 18th at Noon and 6:30 pm Baked Potato Bar served by the Confirmation Youth at 5:30 pm.
Lagers with the Lord February 23 at 6 pm at Buckshot’s.
Lent Worship with Holden Evening Prayer starts on February 25th, 6:30 pm. Meal prior at 5:30 pm till 6:30 pm. Our Lent Theme this year is “Your Favorite Bible Verse.”
The Crew is Wednesday, February 25th 3:30 pm till 5 pm for all 3rd-6th graders.
Youth Service March 8th, 9 am.
There is a new way to give at Trinity: Venmo! You can find us using: @TrinityLutheranBoyceville. If it asks you for a phone number, use 1349
MUSINGS FROM PASTOR BRAD
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day and it got me to thinking about holidays in general and I realized something: I have a beef with every major holiday. There is something about every major holiday, a grievance if you will, that bugs me. That sticks in my craw. That annoys me. And so, I’m going to share that grievance with you at this time. Please note that I do not include Memorial Day or Labor Day in this list. They are more like long weekends to me and don’t really fall under the holiday category in my eye or, maybe just maybe, could just be perfect. We are going to start with our most recent holiday, Valentine’s Day, and go in chronological order from there through the year.
· Valentine’s Day: If the biggest gift you give someone on this day is something that inevitably dies, flowers, that really isn’t a good look. Here, what a lovely gift to show you my love, flowers, which will die, which means my love might die. Just seems dumb to me. Also, half of the people seem to hate this holiday or are miserable on this day. If you need a holiday to tell the person you love them that you love them, that is NOT a good look. Finally, I’m married to a diabetic, so giving candy on this day could be really bad, but at the same time, when she has low blood sugar, could also save her life. To a 50-50 situation there for me. (Side note: Amy and I went out for the first time in forever on Valentine’s Day this year to a new favorite restaurant. Why? A Baby Yoda Valentine’s Day mug. See picture at the end of this email).
· St. Patrick’s Day: Yes, let’s have a holiday that promotes physical violence if you aren’t wearing a particular color. Also, no one ever talks about the snakes. Sure, St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland. But in the marketing and on the shirts, there are never pictures of snakes. Half the reason he is a saint is that he supposedly got rid of all the snakes in Ireland (mostly a myth, but still). I’m going to be in the drunkest Disney park during this holiday this year and I have no doubt it is going to get INTERESTING.
· Easter: You know where I’m going here. THE EASTER BUNNY. An abomination in every way. I don’t have to say anything else. Just awful. Also, and I am part of this problem too, we all need to start getting empty tomb scenes in our homes like we have nativity scenes in our homes for Christmas. This is the most important Christian holiday and hardly have the most important scene displayed in our houses. Having the cross is important but we have to have the other part too. I have got to correct this. Destroy your Easter bunnies. Burn them to the ground.
· Fourth of the July: Lot to love here. Hot dogs. Baseball. Hanging out at the lake on the boat. Fireworks. Independence. But here is the thing: that stuff is ON THE 4TH. For the love of God, can you keep the fireworks to only on the 4th? Some of us have dogs that get really scared of those fireworks. Do we have to shoot them off on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th? I think you should be thrown in jail for three years if you shoot Fourth of July fireworks on any day other than the Fourth of July. It is like six days of trauma for our poor dogs. Keep it on one day. We can handle one day. Thank you.
· Halloween: An introverts nightmare, to talk to strangers in costume. Plus, can we have it without the eggings, toilet paperings, and the smashing of pumpkins? Does every costume ever made have to have a slutty version? Slutty cop, slutty nurse, slutty monk, slutty couch, slutty firetruck, etc? Can we just have normal costumes? We also need to remember the rules of Halloween. Porch light off means don’t come knock on the door. Respect the rules.
· Thanksgiving: Why turkey again? Turkey is essential for good stuffing but is otherwise useless. Why cranberry sauce? Who decided this? Again, pretty useless. I think we need to introduce other meats into Thanksgiving. Maybe some BBQ ribs? Steak? Also, if you need one day to decide to be thankful for stuff than we need to figure some other things out.
· Christmas: Here is the thing about Christmas: we put too much pressure on it. We try to make it perfect. Relax. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s ok. Don’t worry so much about it. It is an important day but it isn’t the be all end all. If we took a little less pressure off of it, it would go much better. Don’t worry about everything being just right. Let it breathe a little more. Relax. That would make it better for everyone. Parents, kids, extended family. Instead of forcing a magical moment, let the magic of Christmas just be. Also, can we every year just give Joseph a little love? Maybe a little? The forgotten character of Christmas.
· New Year’s Eve: Once you get over the age of 30, it is impossible to stay up that late and have real fun. It really is. Maybe even 25. I think the ball should drop at 8 pm. Then we could all really enjoy it.
And that’s it. My holiday grievance list. Have a great week and may God bless you today and always!
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
Me with the Baby Yoda Valentine’s mug
