It has been much too long since I sent a newsletter, but the second year in the M.Div. program is not for the faint of heart! The Thanksgiving holiday will be here soon, and the kids are both looking forward to a week off school and a trip “home” to Indiana.
November is a month of birthdays for our family. On November 7th, Faith finally became a teenager. Our tradition is for the family member to choose a place where they’d like to go out for dinner. Somehow Faith managed to convert the traditional single meal into a form of progressive dinner lasting all day! Starting her day with a pastry from Panera, then coffee from Starbucks, lunch from 
Chick-fil-A, and then dinner at Cracker Barrel. That’s a lot of carbs, folks! Faith is well into the school year now at her new school, Christ Community Lutheran School. She has met the challenge of a new school and catching up from a year of online school. We were so proud of her when received High Honors for the first quarter or her academic year. She continues to be active in the youth group at the Seminary and has started Confirmation classes twice per week at our field congregation, Zion Lutheran Church.
Jill and I are still in disbelief…but Nathan turned 17 on November 13th. After a day at his job, we celebrated in the evening with pizza and homemade ice cream. Nathan continues his work at the Gateway Kartplex in the infield of WWT Raceway in Madison, Illinois. From August through October, Nathan competed in a karting championship held at the Kartplex using rental karts and did really well. He was a consistent contender, regularly qualifying on pole, winning, several times on his way to a second-place finish in the championship. He lost the championship by less than two feet! School is going well for Nathan and, as a family, we’re beginning to turn our attention to college visits and all that will entail. How is that possible?!
The last month has brought a lot of changes for Jill. She started a new job with the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) headquarters here in Saint Louis. She is working on converting their national website to a different platform with a new design. She also is responsible for other matters relating to digital marketing. She loves her job and is excited about the opportunity to work with the LWML and is anxious to see it grow and thrive with another generation. The LWML headquarters is located on campus just across the street from the chapel, so it’s nice to be able to drop in and say hello when I have a break in classes. She still does some ad hoc consulting for the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, but that has necessarily reduced with her new position at the LWML.
And last but not least is me. As I mentioned earlier, this semester has been by far the most challenging yet at the seminary. Check out page four for a more detailed update in the Classroom Corner. Outside the classroom, I have been doing a hospice chaplaincy rotation with Lutheran Senior Services. I spend about four hours a week with patients, reading Scripture, praying with them, and just being a companion. I also began serving at our new fieldwork congregation, Zion Lutheran Church in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Zion began as a grade school in 1869 and eventually became an official congregation of the LCMS in 1896. The congregation is very focused on community engagement and current has a 
coffee shop/café outreach among other ministries. I’ve had the opportunity to serve as liturgist, assist with the Lord’s Supper, and teach one of the adult Bible classes. I will have the opportunity to preach for services in the future as well. This placement has been a tremendous blessing to our whole family. Rev. Mark Femmel is an incredible mentor, and it would be hard to overstate how much I’m learning from him.
In this month where we all pause to give thanks to our God for His many blessings, our family is giving thanks for each of you. Whether family, friend, or a kind supporter we may never meet until heaven comes, you continue to give us the encouragement we need to carry on with the work God has called us to. Thank you…thank you…thank you. May God return to you a measure of the blessings you have shared with us.
May the peace of God be with you. Until next time … in the love of Christ.
— Aaron R. Levenhagen
Click here for Aaron Levenhagen's complete November 2021 newsletter.
