a gnome-tastic surprise!

25 Apr
Knowledge of my gnome fetish is spreading –
– which means my gnome collection is growing.
And today is a gnew gnome day! People are apparently on the gnome hunt for me and this one was discovered accidentally and conveniently at a Herberger’s home store. Thanks to Serena for delivering this guy to my gnome home!
Let me introduce you to the gnew gnome :
blue hat. old man mustache. piercing eyes. cutest button nose ever.
What’s that? A baseball?
It’s a MLB team gnome – Minnesota Twins! Not only does the gnome represent and celebrate my life in Dawson – the town that has a gnome park and gnome-decorating contests (which, yes, I’m considering entering) – but it also geographically signifies the state in which I have resided for the past four years – Minnesota! Do you think when I attend a Twins game at the new Target Field this summer I can bring him along without buying a second ticket? Totally going to smuggle him in with my purse. (So excited!)
Maybe this gnew gnome can interest my other gnomes in a friendly game of baseball. He makes gnome number six so they can play three on three. Maybe use some ghost runners. I’ll keep score.

lock-in #1

24 Apr
Reason: First Communion instruction
Attendees : five awesome fourth graders and two pretty cool pastors
The fourth graders came over after school on Friday and got settled in – unloading snacks, ditching sleeping bags, and generally running around. Our schedule for the night was pretty relaxed. We were working our way through the new Augsburg Fortress curriculum, Fed and Forgiven (which I give two thumbs up), along with baking communion bread, eating pizza, watching a few videos, and staying up a bit too late with HSM2.
While it was unfortunate that not all the fourth graders in the class could attend, the small group we had was great. They were a TON of fun as we discussed what Holy Communion means for us and as they got excited about joining the church at the table. Kendall did most of the teaching; I enjoyed my spot at the “school” table with the kids. I learned a lot through the instruction, whether a new way of thinking or many new resources that will serve me well in teaching and in a more practical way than some seminary classes.
Baking the bread was a cool thing for the fourth graders to do. At Grace, we’re wafer people; our body of Christ tastes a bit like cardboard. But next week, on first communion Sunday, we will use the bread that the fourth graders baked last night.

The other highlight of the lock-in for me was listening to the fourth graders recite their memory work. I’m not always a huge fan of memory work from an educational standpoint but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all five of them at once say the Words of Institution and I think they found value in doing it as they learned what the words mean :
[On the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took break, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying “Take and eat. This is my body, given FOR YOU. Do this for remembrance of me.” Again after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks and gave it for all to drink, saying “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed FOR YOU and for all people for the forgiveness of sins. Do this for the remembrance of me.”]

I spy green …

24 Apr

meditation.

24 Apr

[The local pastors have a meditation column in the Dawson paper each week. Last week was my week to contribute so I wrote about one of my favorite events of late – taffy making with some of my favorite kids!]

I made taffy with fourteen third graders. I thought it would be a fun adventure, something a bit out of the ordinary. Have you pulled taffy before? I never had so I put on my brave face and decided we would try it together.

It was sticky. It was messy. It got really noisy. At some points I heard at least five kids calling my name. “I need help!” “Mine is stuck to the table!” There were times when I needed to collect myself or else I risked responding, in true fashion like my own mother, “One person at a time!” [Note: Sorry, Mom. Just a funny anecdote for humor purposes, not really a comment on your temper. I love you.] Over and over, I heard, “I need more butter!” Oh my goodness – the butter. To pull taffy, you have to butter your hands really well, otherwise the taffy sticks. It gets slimy, drippy, and slippery.

Taffy is a lot like life. Life gets sticky. Sometimes, life is a mess. We have five different projects calling for our attention at once. Or five different people – children, spouses, parents, bosses, teachers. Sometimes we want to scream for silence, for relief from what’s going on outside of ourselves. It’s chaotic. There are slippery situations. Just as the taffy can fall to the floor and get stomped into the carpet, so our lives feel like they fall apart at the death of someone we love, the surprise diagnosis, or the knowledge of an affair that comes to light.

When we finished pulling and packaging our taffy, I sent the third graders off with bags of their own taffy and a sheet of paper. It reminded them that when life gets sticky to remember this:

“God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.” (1 John 4:9-11)

God loves us. God loves you and is with you when things get sticky and messy. God asks us to love others when their lives are sticky and icky. God is love. Eat some taffy (or make some and share it!) and be reminded that God is love even (and especially!) when things are sticky and messy and chaotic!

growing up.

24 Apr
A woman at the assisted living facility in Dawson requested a communion visit so after a local pastors’ meeting on Thursday, I made my way to Prairie Meadows, my communion kit in hand. I know I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoy spending time with people at the assisted living/care center in Dawson; this woman is no exception. This particular day she paid me compliment after compliment, telling me that she thought the meditation I wrote for the Dawson paper was so great that she just had to cut it out and save it. For cute. But me feeling good about myself was not the object of the visit. She was so appreciative of the time taken, for communion, and we just had a lovely conversation about how wonderful the people of Grace are.
After our visit, she invited me out to the dining area for coffee. Coffee and bars of course. We joined another woman enjoying her mid-afternoon lunch. (This is turning into a really long story for a small point. Stay with me.) In describing someone else, the other woman we were sitting with said, “She was a teacher when she was growing up.” Not “she was a teacher as an adult.” Not “when she grew up, she taught school” but “she was a teacher when she was growing up.”
Probably not an intentional statement but it struck me. I hope people say that about me – “She was a pastor when she was growing up.” I love the idea of not being a pastor when I’m grown up because I love the idea of not growing up – I’m not ready to be grown up. I realize that responsibilities will still increase, bills grow in number and I’ve been told life will only grow more busy – but I still hope to always be in the process of growing up. I know I still have a lot of growing up to do and it will never be complete – but nor do I want it to be complete. Being a grown-up sounds stuffy … so let’s not go there.

project.

22 Apr

I love it when my office is filled with supplies for a new project. It makes me anticipate the day when the supplies will be put together to make something wonderful! These supplies will be put to work next Friday night at the 5/6 grade lock-in … I’ll keep you posted on the final product!

Police recover Gnome.

22 Apr

life lately.

18 Apr
A. I spent the weekend at the Southwestern Minnesota Synod Assembly. It was my first assembly to attend; it was an educational and tiring experience. Kendall and I left on Friday night for Redwood Falls (a town about 65 miles southeast of Dawson), set up the Luther Seminary informational booth, and then met up with Lori for a delicious, hilarious dinner of repeated and serious conversation. Assembly all day Saturday and most of Sunday, with a candy bar party in the hotel dining area sandwiched between the two days. Our congregation was invited to bring four delegates – that’s who we partied with – the delegates and candy bars. We were a bit rowdy. (This is when I was told by another pastor who attended the “party,” as we talked about seminary and costs, “Well, you’re obviously not married, so how do you support yourself?” Obviously? How am I OBVIOUSLY not married?! My hands were under the table so it was not based on the lack of ring!)
The Church-wide Assembly decision regarding the ordination of homosexual pastors in committed relationships continues to be discussed and addressed in our synod. It was interesting to sit back and listen to the discussion, to the opinions on both sides. Comments were respectful for the most part regarding the decision, about which a resolution was brought forward to return the decision to the next church-wide assembly. The resolution narrowly failed (to which I said a silent “woot”).
B. Friends and I continue to be inseparable. Now onto the fourth viewing of the entire series. (Currently Eddie is Chandler’s creepy roommate. “So when I woke up this morning, I realized he’d stolen all the insoles from my shoes.” Love it.)
C. I planted my window garden – marigolds, chives, oregano, zinnia and geranium. It’s in the experimental stage; my mother is the one with the green thumb, not me. Hopefully something green comes of the planting! I’m excited to water and watch! Thanks to the Gieseke’s for the garden supplies, including trowel and gloves! I’ll keep you updated on the growth!
D. Turns out I’m on top of a latest “faddy food” – cake balls! Click on the link to the Cake Ball Company within the article and it appears I could create these fun little balls of cake and make quite a profit. Place your order now!
E. Monthly quilting with the ladies tomorrow along with Bible study – beginning a series on the lament psalms. Mailings to go out. Internship cluster meeting on Tuesday. Confirmation on Wednesday. Local ministerium meeting on Thursday. First communion lock-in on Friday. Preaching on Sunday. Gearing up for another busy week of ministry. Love it!
F. I want to make these (cute clothespins – already have the washi paper tape) and these (fabric bags made simply from old vintage pillowcases).

bucket list.

18 Apr
There is a congregation couple at Grace that recently took a trip to Italy. As the woman was sharing the experience with our Bible study group, she kept referring to her husband’s bucket list. They went to Pompeii because it was on her husband’s bucket list … it made me think about what would be on my bucket list.

Urban Dictionary defines a bucket list, tactfully as always, like this — “a list of things you think you might need to accomplish because you feel your own mortality closing the door on you; you feel insecure about your life and therefore make a list of things to get busy on.”

I’ve decided to make one. Here’s my start:

Visit South America
Fall in love. Marry. Have babies.
Become a published writer.
Write a blog. Bribe people to follow it.
Grow my own garden.
Take a dance class.
Read the entire Bible.
Plant trees.
Play broomball.
Visit Austrailia.
Learn to play guitar.
Go kayaking.
Host a murder mystery dinner party.
Canoe the Boundary Waters.
Cut down a Christmas tree at a tree farm.
Make my own hummus.
Go on a camping trip.
Paint a room a crazy color.
Own a dog.
Make my own kinder eggs. Temper chocolate.
Take a volun-tourism trip.
Go snow-shoeing.
Watch LOTR extended versions, beginning to end, in one sitting with a friend.
Sleep outside.
Sip coffee for hours at a European cafe.
Visit old Quebec City, Canada.
Purchase and then use far too much a digital SLR camera.

… to be continued.

uni-tasking.

18 Apr

We brag about our abilities to multi-task; here’s a perspective against it that makes me think, “huh. makes sense.”

Taken from [hold this space], a blog written by a religious leader in Australia:

“There was a great article hidden in yesterday’s paper about the fallacies of multi-tasking, particularly as it relates to creative, non-linear work. The article gave all the common sense reasons why multi-tasking is damaging: when we multi-task we ‘do by rote’, disabling our capacity to reflect and change what we do, which is of course the most critical part of double or triple loop learning; things take longer when we multi-task and we lose a sense of accomplishment when a task is finished because our mind groups all current tasks together. The kicker was the line that talked about how we all think we multi-task better than anyone else, but really we’re deluding ourselves… and worse, multi-tasking is addictive, feeding into our desire for constant stimulation.

I’d like to get back in the habit of uni-tasking. I’m going to ask myself, when i begin a task, whether it’s something that’s worth focussing on to the exclusion of all else, and if so i’ll create an environment of singular focus and non-stimulation in order to do that. I think that means I have to not be afraid of being bored. I also suspect it’s going to be much harder than i imagine…”

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →