Eric Needle

Chaplain Doug Givan has been away at a training conference for two weeks so I will will bring you today’s message in his stead. It’s been over 2 weeks since the time change to Daylight Saving Time and I just got around to changing the old analog clock on my fireplace mantle. Everything is so easy these days, even your cell phone knows how to adjust for Daylight Saving Time! But did you “spring forward”...

Chronic pain is no fun! I see it all the time in caring for patients but it is one thing altogether to deal with chronic pain myself. For about a year now I have had bulging discs in my neck, along with some arthritis. This is causing a real to life “pain in the neck” and in the Levator Scapulae going down from the neck to the shoulder blade. I have written about this before!...

t’s a lovely time of year! Today is the first day of Spring and new life is all around us! The weather is turning for most of us and warmer temperatures are here. I have noticed the robins singing in the morning and bobbing along my yard looking for worms. The other day on a walk I saw the most gorgeous flowers newly blooming and the trees are getting their leaves. In some communities this...

Every year in Lent the Bishop for the ELCA (Lutheran) in Indiana offers a special worship service for all the local pastors. I always try and get the day off so I can attend. I love seeing old friends, worshipping together and getting a chance to talk with my Bishop. In this service oil is blessed for our use in ministry (thus the word “chrism”) and we renew our vows. I always appreciate this as...

Spring is in the air! Warmer temperatures this week and it’s time for the time change! Unless you happen to live in Alaska or Hawaii we have to change time this coming Sunday morning the 13th/14th! We “spring ahead” and most of our electronic clocks do this automatically, but we will go from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. and get one less hour of sleep. When I was Pastor at my church I always got...

A family birthday gathering took place over the weekend. We do what we always do, which is me driving over an hour one way to the east side of town where I grew up. My two brothers, their families, and my Dad still live over that way. Because I am the “odd man” out and live so far away I am the one to do the driving for such events. We talk together some, chips...

The funeral for my neighbor was yesterday (Sunday). While I didn’t know her all that well, I wanted to pay my respects and attend the visitation and service. She was a lovely lady and always very kind to me. Just before she became ill and hospice care began she called me in a “tizzy” because her garage light had gone out. She wanted me to go to the Dollar Store and by a specific type...

Brothers and Sisters in Christ: My beautiful daughter, Emily, will be 25 years of age Wednesday! I can’t hardly believe it and like all of you with your children and grandchildren isn’t it a blessing what God has given us in our children? What a joy to be a part of their lives, to guide and direct, and to love forever and ever. I think our job as parents is to love our kids unconditionally...

Going to the eye doctor is always tough for me. I can never tell which of the two options looks clearer as they test my eyes. I am not sure I can see the bottom letters on the chart and I’d prefer not to have my eyes dilated. But my insurance will cover it so yesterday on my day off I got the full eye care work up. I thank God they no longer use...

It’s the beginning of a new month! Turn those calendar pages and prepare for Groundhog Day, Ash Wednesday (2/10), Valentine’s Day, and President’s Day! The days are getting ever so longer and this “weird-weather-winter” will soon move into Spring. Easter comes early this year, it is on March 27, one week after Spring officially begins. My daughter, Emily, turns 25 on the 17th and I also have a niece and nephew with birthdays this month....

I think it’s the scariest place in the world to be! There is no control and everything seems out of order. You cannot control others and you cannot control where you are, it’s frightening! I, personally, would rather not be there, but I have to be. I would give anything to speed ahead a few years and then be in that place. I could look back and see that everything worked out okay! And now...

I have a question for you today: Are you hard on yourself? More specifically, are you hard on yourself spiritually? I would imagine you answered yes, because I feel like we are all too hard on ourselves spiritually. The “bar of expectation” is set really high and often we feel we never measure up. I’ve been in ministry over 20 years now, served in four congregational settings and 4 different hospitals. I see it all...