First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck

Pastor Leanne’s Message: “Tinkering”

My father was a great tinkerer. Every time he started a project, he was drawn away by curiosity (or perhaps he like tinkering more then work) and he would be found completely sidetracked – occupied with the smallest detail like the bend of wood, or the turn of a screw. It drove my mom crazy – she was not a tinkerer. She could look at a project and construct a plan in four seconds flat. She had hyper-focus. She started, she finished and she moved on to the next project.

I am more like my mom – I am capable of hyper focusing (how else could I write a 350 page dissertation) I get impatient with tinkerers, although I have come to realize that we all process information differently… some tinkerers are very creative.

Since having Cancer, I have learned that doctors can be very educated tinkerers. I am sure it is due to the kind of cancer I have – there is no tumor to be excised, no site at which radiation can be aimed. So, next steps for treatment are always shifting. One drug makes an enzyme go up, so they change it, but then white bloods cells go up. Platelets are good, then they are not, and in every situation, my very fine and exceptionally trained medical team respond to restore the balance in my body. It could be maddening. It could be frightening. But I am aware that their tinkering saved my life, so I’ll take it. I am in good hands.

I am in good hands. But not just medical hands. As I read scripture, I am assured that God is not tinkering with his people. Everything God does in scripture is detailed, precise, powerful and perfect. Isaiah 40:28-31 tells us:

28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Sometimes, we wonder what God is up to. Recently a lyft driver was describing to me his son’s malady, and he kept saying, “God has a reason. God has a reason.” While I would not challenge the comfort he found in the belief, that isn’t how I see it at all. I believe God MAKES a reason for all things in God’s unscrupulous wisdom and his plans are never guesses. They are perfect. They are reliable, trustworthy and full of kindness and ultimate meaning. God does not tinker with anything – especially not us. He knows what he will make of todays challenges and adjustments. God is always good. Jeremiah 29 tells us:

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Leanne

2026 SCHOLARSHIPS

The Scholarship Committee of First Presbyterian Church is pleased to announce the availability of a limited number of scholarships for our church community.

To be eligible for consideration to receive a scholarship,

a student must be an active member of First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck

or must have been an active participant in the

life of First Presbyterian Church of Bismarck for at least three years.

The awards are given for students at any level of study beyond high school.

Four years is the maximum for receiving scholarships: these need not be consecutive years. Graduate students may apply for scholarships,

providing they are within the four year maximum.

The deadline to apply is Friday, May 15, 2026

ARE YOU WILLING TO HELP?

We encourage you to continue to love your neighbor well at this time. Hebrews 13:16 challenges us to “dowhat is good and to share, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”Thank you for being the Church.

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Click here to download the 2026 Scholarship Application

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August 2, 2026
10:00AM service

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from Sunday, July 19, 2026
10:00AM service
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