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a baby visit.

9 Nov
I arrived home from LaCrosse on Tuesday at the exact perfect time to greet seminary friend, Kari, her husband, Chris … and their baby, Markus!
Kari, Chris & co. live in Washington state and have been on a whirwind midwest tour for the past week visiting family and friends.  I was lucky enough to be their last stop before they headed for the airport and home to the west coast.  
We ate dinner, cooed a lot with the baby, and caught up on all things life. 
It was lovely.
And Markus is absolutely darling.  Absolutely darling.  And a flirt.  He knows he’s cute.  How can you look at this and not agree?

theological high.

9 Nov

[A politically correct title?  Likely not.  Oh well.]
Fall theological conference for pastors, baby!
Paige and I left Owatonna Sunday afternoon bound for Rochester where we would meet up with jD.  Not due to arrive to pick up the missing third of the triple threat, Paige and I stopped for lunch.  Here.  It’s kind of a classy place; a place that most of the people in the area know about and have been.  I’m fairly certain we walked in and lowered the average age of restaurant guests by about 40 years.  It was the Sunday-after-church-older crowd.  We stopped for chocolates at the chocolate shoppe across the street and then were off again, ready and poised for more adventures.
Once we were three in the car, we began discussing how we wished the car ride was longer.  I was looking forward to going off with friends but I just wasn’t sure that I was prepared for a two-day conference with stodgy pastors.  Alas, we arrived, checked into our hotel rooms and took a deep breath as we entered the reception area and cash-bar-with-the-bishop before dinner and the official start of the conference.  
To recap: We enjoyed the journey.  We were uncertain of the actual conference and reason for travel.  Would it be enjoyable or just boring as all get out?  These fears were real.
It turned out our uncertainties were not actualized.  Hooray!  While there certainly are some stodgy pastors [you can’t tell me everyone at a dentist convention is full of fun either], I met some awesome colleagues.  Both nights we were there included pastor hang out sessions in various hotel rooms.  It felt comfortable to be with other pastors who understand, who can also take off their ‘pastor hat,’ and who can have a good time.  One particular pastor – who shall remain nameless – made his way into my heart with his rebellious side and cursing mouth.  We’re just people, people.
I got to see dear Karen of Stillwater – the one who now works on the synod staff – and she invited Paige and I to the secret seventh floor appetizer parties.  I met other first call friends and had lunch with the bishop.  It was, however, eventually time to leave.  jD, Paige, and I piled back into Sprocket, bound for Chinese food before leaving LaCrosse.  The resulting restaurant find was not overly pleasant and none of us were brave enough to try the number five.  
There is a price to pay for the crazy faith-filled fun of clergy.  Hot tea is now my best friend as I nurse a sore throat and icky nose deal.  Lack of sleep and that darn sleep-number bed that would not cooperate I will blame.  [We tried to figure out our sleep number but the remotes were too advanced for our kind.]  I will conclude, however, that fall theological conference ranked quite high in my book.  It was a high I needed and a renewal that came at the right time.  I feel – at least a little – rejuvenated for ministry back in the grove.  

week one.

3 Nov
Be thankful on paper, week the first.
I sent out two thank you notes yesterday addressed to three people.  [It’s almost like a riddle!]
One thank you was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. jD and Lauren and the second to Ms. Paige.  The thank you notes were simplicity at its finest and said only the following:

I am fairly certain that first call would be miserable without you.  Thank you for being my friend(s)!

True story.  I think that sums it up.
My first call as a single pastor in rural Minnesota would be incredibly lonely, filled with despair, and miserable without these three friends [exaggeration noted] who were wonderfully already in place when I arrived to Austin.   But seriously, if I didn’t have these colleagues in the form of such wonderful friends, things would be so incredibly different.  We can call each other at any point to discuss certain situations, possible sermon topics, and the unique aspects of our congregations.  They’re up for coffee dates, afternoon lunches, and television viewing on Sunday evenings.  We can be brutally honest with each other, say naughty words [except for Paige. she doesn’t swear.], and simply be ourselves without our pastor hats on.  We go to pumpkin patches, synod functions, and might polar plunge.  We’re that cool.
And for that and for them I am so incredibly thankful.

It’s time.

1 Nov

Last year I participated in this thankful blogging effort with my DB [Dancing Banana] friend, Jen at After the Chapel and lots of other awesome thankful bloggers through Rachel at No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane.  It’s time again!  Here’s the gist of it:
On each Wednesday of the month in November, I will write a thank you note to a person for whom I am thankful and put that baby in the mailbox..
On each Thursday of the month, I will write a blog post about the person to whom I wrote.
Ta da!  Thankfulness!  
You don’t have to have a blog to participate either.  This November [and really, all year long] be thankful for the people in your lives!
Check out who I wrote to last year here, here, here, and here.

a church home of many.

30 Oct
After worship this morning, I was Stillwater-bound.  My small group of ninth graders at Trinity were being confirmed and I was to be a part of it as their leader.  I stepped in to be the small group leader to four ladies in their last year of confirmation and it was only in those eight months that we meant on Wednesday nights.  They are gifted, amazing, and super polite gals.  It was fun to see them again and play a part in this affirmation of baptism.
One of my small group gals, Emma, was chosen to share her faith statement.  Yup.  I teared up.
One of the best parts of attending the service was to catch up the staff members with whom I worked for two and a half years.  Pastor Dan – the senior pastor – is ever the kind man with so many words of wisdom; it comforted me to speak with him oh-so-briefly about first call as he compared it to his in southwest Minnesota.  Musician Phil always greets me with a hug.  Youth guy, Cory, sat next to me and we cracked jokes the whole way through; I caught up with his very pregnant wife and stood in the parking lot talking about church, life, and cakepops. 
The years I spent at Trinity were invaluable to my journey in ministry.  It’s fun to return, see friends, and think about the person I was and how I’ve grown since then.  It’s one of my church homes and today, it was fun to go home even if ever so briefly.

pumpkins & pesto.

30 Oct
Paige, jD, and Lauren came over to the parsonage for the first time since the first night I moved in.  It was a chance for them to see the house without a first floor filled with boxes and to meet Miss Mabel.  Paige came over early so we could take a short trip down to Farmer John’s Pumpkin Patch.  I love pumpkin patch farms and the romanticism of the red wagons, white picket fences, and decorated barns.

jD wrestled Mabel [I’m uncertain there was a clear victor], we learned the ninja game, and there was much laughter.  We watched a couple episodes of Modern Family, ate pie, and did interior decorating counsel for Lindsay’s bedroom.  Unfortunately, it was a church night so the night ended all too soon.  Many of us still had sermons to complete … ugh.

super fun.

22 Oct
Forgetting the sermon, the newspaper column, and care center service that looms in my Sunday, I had a super amount of fun today.  
Miss Sarah from St.Paul came to visit Paige, Lauren, jD and I.  We had lunch in Owatonna, caught up on everything, and then played ridiculous games at the beautiful people Starbucks.  A little teapot homonym action and some Spot It!
Super fun.
Krissy texted me this photo of her baby, Gavin.

He’s a gnome.  
Super fun.  [and super cute.]
I arrived home and the sermon flowed better than I could have hoped.
Super … convenient?
I baked an apple cheesecake dessert for my cottage meeting that is hosted at the parsonage tomorrow.
Super tasty.  [or so I hope.]
Now I’m finishing up the sermon, tidying up the kitchen, and will be heading to bed for an early morning.
Super sleepy.  [goodnight.]

five years.

16 Oct
Joe, Amanda, Kara and I drove to the state to the south on Saturday for Luther College’s homecoming.  We missed the king and queen of Norway by a day or so in Decorah but we did manage to see and hug many college friends.  We arrived in our favorite Iowa city just in time for lunch at Magpie Coffeehouse, ice cream at the Whippy Dip, and continued onto campus to shop in the bookstore, wander the sidewalks, and tour the new buildings that have been built since our time as students.  Since it was our five year reunion, we also had a dinner that evening, complete with people Bingo, pizza, and needing to pull ourselves away by 9pm because this girl had to preach the next day.
We reminisced and I decided – almost to the point of a few tears – that I miss Luther.  I miss college.  We talked about how when we were students we thought our lives were busy and stressful.  I’d love to go back to the days when I had to work a few hours on the grounds crew [driving the gators, picking up garbage, watering pots, and watching Jeopardy with the old men staffers on break], eat every meal with friends, and do ridiculous things in addition to writing papers.  
Luther is simply a magical place.  A happy place.  A place of green space on the library lawn and thinking about the years I spent in various dorm rooms with awesome roommates.  It was so fun to return and remember. To check in with people I haven’t seen for years and be with other people who hold Luther in their hearts.  And to learn that Luther just recently installed a wind turbine that will cover one-third of the campus’ energy costs.  Luther is pretty awesome like that.  
A homecoming photo tour:
To help you understand the wonder that is the Whippy Dip – a peanut butter cup tornado with mainly pb cups.

Awesome bookstore book.

My freshman year room – Brandt 2nd West!

reasons why –

11 Oct
– I love my job:
I spent two and a half hours at a care center, first yelling into the ear of a man who was hard of hearing while I attempted to give him communion in a public space.   [This was after we cleared up the fact that I was not the pastor’s wife but indeed the pastor.]  Second, visiting with a woman who, in the middle of a story, pointed to her television and asked, “Did you see my head of Christ?”  Why, yes, I did notice the statue of Jesus’ head that lights up on top of your tv.
Before I went to the care center, I spent close to two hours at a downtown Owatonna eating establishment with Paige, jD, and new friend, Amanda the intern.  I so appreciate the opportunities to check in and ask, “What would you do with this?” and “What are you doing for a children’s sermon this week?”
I now have a giant easel pad of paper on a giant easel in my office.  Marilyn fetched the easel for me – she thought it was necessary.  I stole the paper from her office.  Operation: Internet has begun and it requires a large visual.  [I’m listing every internet possibility and writing down details/crossing them off as I make phone calls.  After phone calls.]  It was finally realized that if I want internet, I need to start with the yellow pages and do it myself.  [Even though most of the research has been done; it just can’t seem to be organized.  Color me frustrated.]  The easel pad and a flower pot of new Crayola markers will help.
I spent yesterday morning quilting with the women of Red Oak Grove.  I do love a good quilting morning.
I can build a website/blog and it’s considered work.  I plan confirmation and it’s considered work.  I can call Karen from Stillwater at the synod office and it’s considered work.  A lot of mornings, I just stand in Marilyn’s office and talk.  I think that has its place too.

father & fruity friends.

3 Oct
This post is about two things that begin with the letter D – Dancing Bananas and Dad.
Today is my d-day.  Seven years ago my dad died.  It’s an evening that I can play over and over in my head, nearly minute by minute.  It feels like it was yesterday … and yet it feels like longer than seven years.  It can’t be described.
This date is burned in my head.  I mark it each year with a ritual of sorts.  I watch Back to the Future.  You well know by my consistent referencing that this is my favorite movie.  It happens to be a movie I grew up watching with my dad.  He liked it too.  [But not as much as The Shawshank Redemption.  That was his favorite and I’ll admit that I’ve never seen it.  Shame, I know.  *throw tomatoes here*]  And so Marty McFly and I spend some time together every October 3rd simply for ritual’s sake.  Today will be no exception.
Now for the fruity friends.  You also well know that the Dancing Bananas are the six of my closest friends.  Jenni, Kay, Kim, Krissy, Allison, and Lynn are my besties from high school and still we remain close.  We email regularly and it’s not uncommon for me to get a phone call a week from a few of them too.  There are emails going around today – emails in which they send me virtual hugs and share their favorite memories of my dad.  Here are a few of the memories that have been shared –

  • One Halloween in high school, I baked pumpkin cookies to take to my friends.  I ended up running late that morning and so my dad took to frosting them for me as I rushed to make it out the door in time.  Not only did he add the orange frosting, but he wrote my friends’ names in black frosting, one on each cookie.  [He had the neatest handwriting.]  He even put Mrs.Hoimt’s name on one cookie – my high school language arts teacher who had also been his teacher.  [And people wonder why I do weird things.  It’s in my blood.]
  • It was not uncommon when we drove past golf courses that my dad would lay on the horn just as people teed off.  How convenient that Highway 51 to Stoughton cuts right through Coachman’s 18 holes.
  • My dad was a farmer and pretty notorious for wearing work boots and shorts.  This made for amazing tan lines in the summer.  It often looked like he had white socks on when really, he was barefoot.
  • Krissy mentioned how my dad would often encourage us to do the things that my mom would ultimately disapprove of; she listed no specific examples but I can see this being true.  He was a trouble maker.
  • My dad was always willing to drive a bunch of high school girls to concerts, including Ricky Martin in Milwaukee.  We were crazy and I’m sure he knew this when he said yes to my plea; therefore, by default, he was also crazy for accepting such a task.  [I remember holding signs in the car and lots of screaming.  Oh my.]
The Bananas are so sweet and full of love to help me remember this day and hold me [virtually] through it.  My dad was always sweet and full of love too.  Be sweet and tell your family and your friends that you love them, folks.  Do it.
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