Naomi Dunavan
Naomi Dunavan is a Herald columnist and writes her 'In the Spirit' column for Saturday's Faith and Religion section.Contact
Articles
IN THE SPIRIT: Their circle is unbroken 
Last Sunday, after morning Mass and lunch, 10 women returned to the peaceful sanctuary of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in East Grand Forks. They wore identical cross pendants and placed their chairs upfront in a semi-circle. Natalie Mack Wavra no longer joins them, but because of her, this circle of faith, family and friendship will forever be unbroken. In quietness, the prayers began.
RELATED CONTENTIN THE SPIRIT: New book on faith, motherhood makes impact
It was a decade long labor of love that sometimes required burning the midnight oil. And now, Barbara Lea Goetz’s book is impacting people. A grandmother from Harvey, N.D., purchased 18 copies to give to all the mothers in her family including her great granddaughters. Others are buying them five and nine copies at a time. Released the end of September, “Adventures in Faith & Motherhood” is in its second printing.
RELATED CONTENTIN THE SPIRIT: Send your voice around the world via virtual choir on Christmas Eve
In 1999, Pastor Tim Lucas started a Bible class in a 150-year-old church in Morristown, N.J. Twelve people attended and I’m told Pastor Tim brewed bad coffee. In 2007, this group of Christians launched as an official church body and 1,000 worshippers attended Easter services.
RELATED CONTENTAreavoices: God blesses those who bless others
At Thanksgiving time we thank God for all things – faith, family, friends, bountiful gardens and crops, a warm home, good health, a job. The list is endless. I wonder, though, how many of us thank God not only for how He blesses us, but for how He uses us to bless others? The people of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Grand Forks, are both blessing others and thanking God for the opportunity to do so.
RELATED CONTENTIN THE SPIRIT: Comedian will bring humor, faith to Riverside Christian School’s fundraiser Tuesday
Most lads don’t grow up to become comedians so this is where Bob Stromberg differs. Comedy has been his life since 1975 when he and his wife, Judy, returned from mission work in Africa. He decided to give comedy a try — for three years. “It sounded like a good number. If we could survive, it might actually work,” Bob said.
RELATED CONTENTIN THE SPIRIT: We shall gather at the farmyard, the beautiful, beautiful farmyard
Beginning with a potluck supper at 5:30 p.m. sharp on Sunday, Mark and DeeAnn will host a huge old fashioned country gospel music festival on the farm which is about 30 minutes out of Grand Forks. Directions in a minute!
RELATED CONTENTIN THE SPIRIT BLOG: He'll be home for Christmas
Christmas is coming and so is Seth Custer, home from Greenville, S.C., where he is a music professor at Bob Jones University. And of course, the East Grand Forks native is bringing his saxophones with him.
RELATED CONTENTFlickertail Holler to play Dec. 17 in Grand Forks
Starlit Lorentzen was fascinated by the fiddle her mother had hanging on a living room wall. “When I was 5, I would knock it off to play with it — to pluck it,” Starlit said. “There was a desk there. I’d get on a chair and climb on the desk and whack at it until I got it off. I never did break it. I kept telling my mom I wanted to play it, but she thought I was too young. They figured it was just a phase.”
RELATED CONTENTFacing pain that won't go away
September is National Chronic Pain Month
After camping and fishing with friends, Shana Hayes was driving back to her home in Puyallup, Wash., when her car hit ice and tumbled down a 500-foot hill. It was 1992, and she was 21.
During the plummet, Shana’s right wrist was sprained and she was badly bruised, but miraculously, she escaped serious injury.
What she did suffer as a result of the sprain altered her life forever.
It was named Bible Baptist Church for a reason
When the Rev. Mike Custer came to our towns, he was fresh out of seminary and had just spoken his wedding vows to Grace Silcox in Bible Baptist Church.
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IN THE SPIRIT: A ‘bonus family’ for John Reitmeier
Crookston man finds his biological family at age 60
Anyone who knows John Reitmeier knows he’s never lost for words. Otherwise known as the Cool Site Pick of the Day guy for 1310 KNOX radio, Reitmeier has quick and witty comebacks for everything, stemming from many years in radio.
But on the evening of April 13, John was somewhat subdued as we neared a white house with a full-width front porch situated on a flower laden street in Charles Town. When John spoke it was softly. As our car pulled into the driveway, a man and his wife came down from the porch to welcome John. Over the past few months they had spoken on the phone several times and now, John, 60, and Michael Terry, 63, were meeting for the first time.
IN THE SPIRIT: Church body vows to wipe our malaria
For what’s believed to be the first time in the history of an individual church denomination, a vow has been made to wipe out a devastating disease within a certain time period. The church body: United Methodist. The disease: malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. The time period: three years. Christened, “Imagine No Malaria,” this mission project has been wholeheartedly embraced by Thief River Falls United Methodist Church, which just last weekend exceeded $10,000 on its way to its total pledge of $20,000.
RELATED CONTENTIN THE SPIRIT: Redemption story with charming, awkward, tearful parts
Sometimes we go looking for a story and sometimes the story finds us. Such is the case with Andy and Jon Erwin, Birmingham, Ala., brothers who grew up playing with cameras in the studio where their dad was a television and radio broadcaster.
RELATED CONTENTIN THE SPIRIT: Happy birthday, George and Abe
My love for this country took root at an early age. It began at home and blossomed in elementary school. What stands out more than all else are the lifelike portraits of Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln which hung on a wall in the first grade room. Back then I knew, by the stories I learned, that these men were to be revered.
RELATED CONTENTIN THE SPIRIT: An around-the-world rosary
Over the years some of his U.S. Army paraphernalia, like uniforms and boots, have disappeared. But for more than four decades, Jeff Bakke has hung on to something “pretty special to me,” he said.
RELATED CONTENTIN THE SPIRIT: There is an angel among us; walk in faith not in fear
There are some things one never gets over, so it’s easy to disavow the phrase, “time heals all wounds.”
RELATED CONTENTIN THE SPIRIT: Filling a different sort of bag at Sandbag Central
Last February, Jodie and Bruce Storhaug, Grand Forks, planned a trip to the Twin Cities. While he attended an optometry conference, she would visit her sister. Jodie learned that during her time there, her sister and her nephew’s hockey team would take part in a Feed My Starving Children MobilePack event. Jodie was invited to join them.
RELATED CONTENTEnvisioning Bethlehem's scene from our hayloft
Dad has been gone for 22 years, and the barn even longer than that. But sometimes I still see him milking, and sometimes I still smell the hay. Sweet clover, I believe.
RELATED CONTENTStepping into another world helps us understand
When a man from Africa saw the Ethiopian hut he almost broke down and cried.
RELATED CONTENTFootball, faith do go together
The most avid football fan in the world I am not! But when the Rev. Troy Troftgruben mentioned the name Tony Dungy, Tony’s face appeared right before my mind’s eye.
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