The Bookends By: Linda Reiser Bookends have a purpose in my house and probably yours as well. They provide neatness and a sense of order that allow the books to remain vertical and easily identified. They might be fancy or plain — barely noticeable at times — but they are important in function. Bookends! That’s how I see the “L’s” in LWML. “Lutheran” and “League” are the bookends that keep the words “Women” and “Missionary” upright and at the heart of our name. The words “Women” and “Missionary” are the core of who we are through faith in Jesus, our Lord and Savior. We are women in mission! Throughout our 64-year history, women of the LWML have been committed to encourage and equip people as together we live our lives in faith, support missions, and help our neighbor in need — close to home or around the world. Like books that stand ready on a shelf, we stand ready to “Serve Him with Gladness.” Those bookends — the “L’s” — give us invaluable support that allows us freely to serve, give, and pray for each other as women in an organization that is distinctly Lutheran. We affirm that identity and echo our unity as we speak these words of the LWML Pledge: We consecrate to our Savior our hands to work for Him, our feet to go on His errands, our voice to sing His praises, our lips to proclaim His redeeming love, our silver and our gold to extend His Kingdom, our will to do His will... In my life, my bookends include my parents, my spouse, my grown children, my friends, and my Lord. Through them, the Holy Spirit has provided affirmation, support, respect, prayers, family traditions, a listening ear, a sharing heart, and my religious core. These sound a lot like the support God has provided through my LWML family during the past thirty years! The “L’s” have it! They represent how we function — as a Lutheran = women’s organization. The “in-between’s” are who we are — women in mission of the LWML!