Jill Levenhagen, Author at LUTHERWOMAN

Our 1-year Anniversary!!!

Today is LUTHERWOMAN's one-year anniversary! On September 5th, 2023, myself (Jill) and a team of 20 other women at the time, launched this website and ministry.

Today we have a team of 37 LCMS women working to further our mission of discipling women in the church.

What does that mean?

Jesus asked 12 men to follow Him and called them His disciples. After his 3-year ministry and their "training", He then asked them to go out into the world and MAKE DISCIPLES.

That means that we are all disciples, and we are to participate in God's plan to make disciples.

If I Could Turn Back Time

We can’t change the past, but so many of us spend our present rewinding through those moments that didn’t go right.

We regret a decision or missed opportunity.

Sometimes it is just a regret for a decision we made. We made the decision at the time, and now we wish we would have done something different.

Years ago I got a phone call from a museum in Michigan. They had seen my vintage automobile photos online and wanted me to show them in one of their smaller galleries next to their upcoming Formula One traveling exhibition. The catch…

That Craving You Have For More Of God

This week I was visiting my parents. My niece Michelle lives in the adjoining lot and she came over and we were all sitting in the backyard talking. Michelle loves to garden. Every year she plants and tends and harvests and cans fruits and vegetables. And she just happened to mention her apple trees.

She said that the apple trees they planted 3 years ago are doing well. And then she says, “They’ve been growing lots of apples and Eric (her husband) just knocked them all off this week.” I’m thinking, it’s June, why did he knock off all the growing apples? So I ask her.

She answers, “We were told that you are

Let’s Just Talk About How Our Overweight Body Consumes Us

Because, first of all, we don’t talk about it with anyone. This is a lonely struggle.

Being overweight has been a thing for me since 7th grade. The girls all did a “what do you weigh” in the locker room before gym class and I was maybe 4 pounds higher than those of similar height. It was the beginning.

Do you remember the first moment you felt overweight?

My history with fitness started in the first grade. Any time we would be made to run, my side hurt badly. I gave up on running early on.

Longing For Home

I didn’t plant flowers this year.

I always plant the flowers. In the 20+ years of home ownership, I would wait until May to plant annuals in the ground. Every year. But currently we are renting, and so I am not planting in the ground. Instead I have taken to making my little porch an oasis of flower pots. And I start planting pots in March, as soon as Lowes puts them out!

I love my porch.

But this year...I just wasn't feeling it in March. And April.

The Hopeless And Desperate And Lonely Feeling Of Personal Debt

Late in my twenties I was drowning.

The water. It felt manageable.

Go deeper. I can handle it. It’s fine.

Soon all I could see is water.

Things got rough. Unexpected things started pulling me under.

The water was all around me, on top of me, in me. Who could help? No one was there. There seemed to be no way out.
I was drowning in debt.

Jill Levenhagen