Rest for the Weary When Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened," we’re all ears. That’s us. We are all weary and burdened. It’s not just the burden of our daily work. No, it’s the weariness of living. We sometimes get downright sick and tired of everything. We scramble so fast in this world of ours, just going about the business of living, that the whole concept of rest seems foreign to us. What can be done about it? May people believe that the Christian faith is supposed to do the trick. Faith in Jesus will help us find the silver lining in every cloud. The trouble is that life doesn’t work that way. Sheer willpower will not turn our frowns upside down into big happy smiles for Jesus. The Christian Church is not a big self-help group, where we simply forget our troubles by thinking happy thoughts to chase the blues away. Fortunately, Jesus has something better for us than simply happy thoughts. He gives us Himself. "Come to me," He says, "and I will give you rest." It’s important that we hear Him clearly. Left to ourselves we really don’t want rest from Jesus; we want rules. We’d like to know what we can do to improve our situation, what we can do to become healthy, wealthy, and wise. We would like Jesus to give us a 12-step recovery program. At minimum, we want to know what we can do to clean up our act and make ourselves look better to others. But Jesus is not a moralist. He is a Savior! It sounds strange to hear Jesus first invite us to rest and then in the next breath to say, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light." How can a yoke be easy or a burden light? When it is the yoke and burden of Jesus; that’s when! It is the yoke of the cross. On His cross Jesus pulled off the greatest swap in history. He took our sin and gave us His righteousness. He took all our sin away with Him into His death. His cross, that sign of death, is the sign of life and healing for us. This is what it means to be a Christian, to be baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus, to bear the mark of the cross in this world. This is our calling. This is our yoke, but it is also our deep and abiding joy. For every burden there is strength, in every sorrow there is comfort, and in all distress there is peace. It is the strength, comfort, and peace of Jesus Christ. Wherever Jesus is, there is rest for weary hearts and burdened souls. He is present among us, offering a Sabbath rest for all the people of God in this world. We have the high honor to come to Jesus where He has promised to be found – in His holy Church, where His Word is preached and His sacraments administered. There He continues to bring healing for weary hearts and strength for burdened souls.

April is nearly gone, but we have had the showers and are seeing the April flowers … hopefully they will still be with us tomorrow … I’m hoping it will not freeze tonight! This is a good time to give your perennial flowers some attention. If certain clumps are too big, now is a great time to divide them. Hostas, daylilies, phlox, Shasta daisies and similar "clump" forming perennials that are divided now have the whole growing season to re-establish themselves and are better prepared to face the reality of winter. My preferred method of division is to set a sharp spade across the center of the clump and step it down to cut the mass in half. Then you lift one half out, leaving the other half undisturbed. If that crown is still too big, you can repeat the procedure. The point of this method of division is to leave the remaining crown undisturbed. This is a good time to mulch the strawberry bed … I use a light layer of oat straw, and just let the berry leaves grow up through it. The straw helps retain moisture, blocks weed invasion, and keeps the berries and your feet clean. Grass clippings work, too, but they tend to stick to the berries. Now is also an excellent time to plant new strawberry plants. Cool weather is essential for their establishment. We have both June-bearing and ever-bearing plants available here at the greenhouse. Plants should be set 18 inches apart in rows 3 feet apart. June-bearing plants are much more aggressive growers so it is very important to give them that growing room. Plants that are too thick produce much smaller and fewer berries. Generally, I figure on completely replanting my patch every 3 to 4 years to keep the vigor strong and the production at its best. Most types of fruit are beautiful, but the berries are always my favorite … versatile and delicious! Blueberries are not native to this part of Minnesota. They require an acidic soil, and we are alkaline. If you are determined (as I am!), you need to amend the soil. Dig a planting hole 2 to 3 times the size of the pot the plant is growing in and mix half peat moss and half soil in the backfill you use when planting. The peat moss is acidic and will help retain moisture, because blueberries do not want to dry out. Their root system is massive but just right below the plant and not spread out. An annual application of iron sulfate will maintain the acidic base to keep the plants happy. Without the amendments, the blueberry leaves will become chlorotic or yellow and eventually the plant will die. One more word of warning … the birds are going to do everything in their power to keep you from enjoying your hard work … don’t send them to my yard!

Dream deeper and further ahead than any current fantasy When I was living with my parents, I’d fantasize about all the things I’d do when I had a place of my own.I’d paint my nails without being warned to move to the kitchen table lest I spill on the carpet. I’d eat spoonfuls of orange juice concentrate and peanut butter from the jar (not together, of course — that would be gross).Without any parental supervision, I’d stay in my pajamas all Saturday and dance around the living room to Cyndi Lauper’s greatest hits. I’d have parties on the weekends and stay up late weeknights reading scary books. Unfortunately, I’ve tried these things and they’re overrated.After having a place of my own (whether an apartment or house) for more than a decade, some of my early dreams have been shattered.That’s probably for the best, because my dreams are now a little deeper.I can’t claim to be wise, but I have had time to discover richer things that life can offer.I say all of this because this time of year is big for young people — with prom and graduation on the way.They might be having all kinds of fantasies themselves that could prove more nightmarish. I just want to remind them that plenty of mistakes can be made in life (I’ve got a list) but at least wait until you’re an adult to go through too much. For example, keeping a boyfriend isn’t worth losing yourself; it’s perfectly fine to change your major once you’ve started college; making an impression on a girl doesn’t mean you have to do something so foolish she’ll never forget you. Don’t try to get away with too much. There’s a reason the law requires children to live with an adult until they become one. Follow the rules if you have them, and if your parents are too naïve or even too lazy to give you decent rules — do your best with other good influences. Whatever you do, don’t pretend you’re 25 just because you’re dressed up as if you are on prom night, and, frankly, at any age, it is best to remember to paint your nails at a table rather than over the carpet.

Mary and I, like many of you, toured Luverne over the weekend checking out other peoples’ junk. As we meandered through town, we often found ourselves in an impromptu parade of other junk seekers.We’re more like junk viewers than junk collectors. The true junk collectors are easy to spot. They’ll be driving a truck or pulling a trailer. Of course, if the right junk would present itself, any vehicle can be adapted to a junk hauler. Urban legend has it that a true junk collector can get a three-piece living room set in a four-door sedan.Junk collector drivers, known for driving the speed limit of Sanford and Son, are also safer drivers than rummage sale drivers, as a rule of thumb. Junk collectors rarely drive over the unofficial junk collecting speed limit of 10 mph. Any faster than that and one might miss a buried treasure. Rummage sale drivers, on the other hand, are always in such a hurry to get to the next sale that they sometime forget the posted speed limit.It didn’t take long on our Sunday afternoon junk jaunt to come to the conclusion that at the top of this year’s most popular junk items to set by the curb were the toilet and vacuum cleaner. The sight of toilet after toilet near the curb gave me pause to ponder the fate of the toilet. All but one of the toilets getting the heave-ho were white. The one exception was beige colored.Now I, too, have thrown away a toilet or two in my day but never because they were broken. When you think about it, the toilet is a pretty darn dependable fixture. Sure, the working parts of the toilet wear out from time to time but they’re fairly easy and inexpensive to replace. Even when the parts wear out, more times than not we blame that on the local water quality rather than poor parts.I’ll bet that most of the toilets that found themselves near the curb were there because the bathroom they had called home had been remodeled. Once the discarded toilet makes it to the curb, its fate is sealed. Not even the savviest of junk collectors will pick up a discarded toilet. Sure, the occasional prankster will come by under the cover of darkness and pick up the tossed-out toilet only to further humiliate the porcelain throne by setting it on somebody’s front step as a joke.In the end, for the toilet, at least, the saying "One man’s junk is another man’s treasure" doesn’t apply.

Stubbe Construction assumes nameMINNESOTA SECRETARY OF STATECERTIFICATE OF ASSUMED NAMEMinnesota Statutes Chapter 333The filing of an assumed name does not provide a user with exclusive rights to that name. The filing is required for consumer protection in order to enable consumers to be able to identify the true owner of a business.1. State the exact assumed name under which the business is or will be conducted: Stubbe Construction2. State the address of the principal place of business. 411 S Steen St Steen MN 561733. List the name and complete street address of all persons conducting business under the above Assumed Name or if the business is a corporation, provide the legal corporate name and registered office address of the corporation. Lucas Stubbe 411 S Steen St Steen MN 561734. I certify that I am authorized to sign this certificate and I further certify that I understand that by signing this certificate, I am subject to the penalties of perjury as set forth in Minnesota Statutes section 609.48 as if I had signed this certificate under oath. /s/ Lucas Stubbe 3/22/06 Lucas Stubbe – owner Date Lucas Stubbe 712-470-2495Contact Person Daytime Phone Number(4-20, 4-27)

Like clockwork, as the flowers fill the yards, auction sale bills fill the pages of our local papers.Auctioneers must recognize the Midwesterner’s need to be outside after the long cold winter. Once the weather warms to nearly enjoyable temperatures, auctioneers begin to advertise the treasures they have to sell.The first day David and I moved into our home in Hills, the sound of a microphone could be heard in the distance. My mother, a lifelong auction junkie, recognized the sound and demanded we break from the hauling of boxes to follow the audio clues to potential treasures.We all obliged — after all, it was a hot September afternoon, and usually where there is an auction, there is a lunch cart of some sort. My father, my brother and I quickly browsed the boxes lining a side street in town, filled a delicious hamburger with garden-fresh fixin’s and returned to emptying the moving truck.Conversely, my husband and mother stayed behind. In David’s defense, he was witnessing his first auction sale and seemed a bit mesmerized by the process. My mother needed to be there to coach him as to the "rules" of the sale.The rules aren’t that tricky, but they are important. Rule No. 1: What you see is what you buy, without any guarantees. Lamps may not work, a table may never sit level, a box of dinnerware might be full of cracks — or, on the other side, a jewelry box might hold an antique diamond ring, a painting might be worth hundreds of dollars. My mother and I have sorted through more boxes of junk in search of potential treasures than I care to remember.Rule No. 2: Never show your true interests. No matter how perfect an item might be, you can’t let the other auction-goers know that you want it. You must play it cool.Rule No. 3: Help the auctioneers. If they are having trouble getting a bid, throw up your hand and bid a buck. Later, when there is something you want, they will remember the favor.Hours passed before my mother and David returned from the auction. When they did, they had a suburban full of stuff and apparently had several additional loads to haul back from the auction.I could see the excitement in David’s eyes. He liked auctions. We took another break while he told me all about the bidding and the prizes he had won.Yes, that is one of the joys of auctions. With traditional shopping, you go to the store that sells the item you need, you pay the posted price and then it is yours. You take it home with you with no questions asked. At an auction, you find things you need. It is rare that they have the exact item you seek, but as you roam the aisles of stuff, you find what you need. Then you must be patient enough for that area to be on the auction block – sometimes you have to wait for hours, the whole time keeping an eye on the prize.When the bidding starts, the game begins. Only one person will have the winning bid, only one will win. That thrill is so much better than shopping!Another charming aspect at an auction is the auctioneers themselves. Having spent my share of hours being held prisoner in karaoke bars, I understand the necessity for people with microphones to actually be entertaining. And usually auctioneers come through, especially in Hills.The Keith Elbers-Clark Ahders team is hilarious. Sometimes, while I listen to them trying to get bidders interested in yet another exercise bike, or a box of old books, I think the world should give them a radio show.A few weeks ago when bidding was slow on an old toolbox, Ahders said, "There is enough in there to overhaul an ant farm."Quick quips like that are not only frequent, but get better with time.This Saturday the men of Elbers Auction Service will haul out a street full of treasures at the same time the Beaver Creek auctioneer will take to his microphone. The weathermen are calling for a clear sky and perfect temperatures, so take a short walk to see what all the fuss is about. Although you won’t get guarantees while you are there, I can guarantee you will get a good meal and a few hearty laughs.Story ideas or comments can be emailed to Lexi Moore at lexim@star-herald.com or called in at 962-3561.

Services for Alice Baker Behr will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 28, at American Reformed Church with the Rev. Dave Sikkema officiating. Burial will follow at Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 27, at Hartquist Funeral Home Engebretson Chapel in Luverne, with the family present from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.Alice Baker Behr, 96, Hills, formerly of Luverne, died Tuesday, April 25, 2006, at Tuff Memorial Nursing Home in Hills.Alice Klein was born to Peter and Gertie (Harmsen) Klein on Feb. 27, 1910, in Rock Valley, Iowa. Early in Alice’s childhood her mother died from the war flu. Her father worked as a building contractor in Sioux Center, Iowa, where Alice began working as a hired hand at age 12. She married Lewis Baker on Feb. 11, 1932, in Valley Springs, S.D. They farmed in the area until 1964 when they moved to Luverne. Mr. Baker died on April 17, 1974.She married Peter Behr on Dec. 6, 1977. After his death on Feb. 27, 1980, after a battle with cancer, Mrs. Behr remained living in Steen before returning to Luverne in 1989. In July 2002 she became a resident of the Tuff Memorial Home in Hills.Mrs. Behr was a charter member of the American Reformed Church in Luverne. She was the congregation’s oldest member. She was a homemaker and tended many plants and flowers. She enjoyed crafts, making afghans and scrapbooking.She is survived by one son, Gerrit (Evelyn) Baker, Alexandria, two daughters, Gertie Ann Van Batavia, Alexandria, and Carol (Fred) Cook, Luverne; 10 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; 3 great-great-grandchildren; and one brother, Arthur Klein, Sioux Center.She was preceded in death by her parents; her husbands, Lewis Baker and Peter Behr; her daughter Jeanne and her husband Kenny Broesder; a son-in-law, Ben Van Batavia; one brother, Cornelius Baker, her sister Anna Soodsma; and a granddaughter, Melanie Cook.A tree will be planted in her memory by Hospice of Sioux Valley Luverne Hospital.Hartquist Funeral Home Engebretson Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Hills-Beaver Creek School BoardMinutes4-10-06The Hills-Beaver Creek School Board met for its semimonthly meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the library in Hills. Board members present were Leuthold, DeBoer, Harnack, Boeve, Esselink, Fransman and Baker. Superintendent Deragisch and Principal Holthaus were also in attendance. The meeting was called to order by Chairman Esselink. Visitors to the meeting were recognized by the chairman. The only visitor was Lexi Moore of The Crescent. Motion by Harnack, second by Leuthold, and carried to approve the agenda with the addition of 6.4 Resignation of cheerleading coach, resignation of bus driver, and resignation of teacher. Patriot Pride: Theater students for the dinner theater performance Aaron Esselink for 3rd team All Area Worthington Globe Choir students for Superior rating in large group contest Volunteers at the elementary school Standard and Poor’s top 22 schools in AcademicsElementary report was given by Mr. Holthaus.High School report was presented by Superintendent Deragisch.The minutes of the last meeting were approved as sent out.Motion by Boeve, second by Fransman, and carried to approve the bills. Motion by Baker, second by Boeve, and carried to approve MSHSL membership for the 2006-2007 school year. Motion by Leuthold, second by Fransman, and carried to accept with regrets the resignation of Starla Scholten as cheerleading coach.Motion by Fransman, second by Harnack, and carried to accept the resignation of Michael Blank as bus driver. Motion by Boeve, second by Baker, and carried to accept the resignation of Rachelle McGill as high school teacher. All resignations were accepted with regrets and thanks to each employee for their years of service.Legislative update was given by Chairman Esselink.Updates were given by Mr. Holthaus and Superintendent Deragisch about the MCA II testing schedule. Superintendent Deragisch reported on high school college credit classes to be offered in the 2006-2007 school year. Mr. Deragisch gave an update on the district’s health insurance. Dates to Remember: April 21 Prom April 24 School Board meeting 7:30 p.m.Agenda items for next meeting: policiesMeeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m. Lloyd DeBoer, Clerk(4-27)

10 years ago (1996)"Matt Ebert successfully defended his state speech title. Going into the state speech tournament, H-BC junior Matt Ebert didn’t want to think too much about last year’s meet. He wanted his focus to be on the matter at hand — winning the "Great Speeches" category at the 1996 Minnesota State Speech competition.Ebert easily made it through the two preliminary rounds with the best score of all contestants and added a successful final round performance to capture another state title."25 years ago (1981)"For the second time in a 4-day time span the H-BC 4x800 meter relay team shattered their school record. Their time of 10:29.4 broke the record they set on Saturday by 38 seconds! The relay team was made up of Joan Olson (2:37.4), Sheri Hawes (2:45), Danette Hadler (2:32.9) and Brenda Goehle (2:32.0)."50 years ago (1956)"Not to be outdone, Hills service stations are taking part in the gas war which has been raging in the area for some time. Presently, you can fill your tank for 26.9 cents per gallon, the cheapest we’ve seen gas for many years. Ethyl gas is now 29.9 cents per gallon."75 years ago (1931)"The newly organized Luverne National Bank opened for business in the former First and Farmers National Bank building last Monday with the old Hills boy, A.A. Anderson, as cashier and managing officer. All your Hills friends are wishing you all kinds of success, Andy." 100 years ago (1906)"The farmers between here and Lester have secured sufficient contributions from the business men of Hills to aid them to build the telephone line from E.C. Dahl’s place to Hills, which adds another farmers’ line to the list."