a finished quilt for a 100th post.

26 Mar
This is my 100th post on my internship blog!  Woot!  (“woot” has become one of my favorite written interjections of late.  I woot a lot.)  What better subject for this monumental post than to share a finished quilt with you!
In the past five months or so, this nine-patch has been started, then put away for a few weeks.  Pulled out then put away.  It’s been a sporadic journey but the journey is finally complete!
I’m trying to not dwell on the things that aren’t perfect and the lessons I learned in the process of – what I would consider to be – my first “real” quilt.  There are many aspects/steps that I can improve upon in my future quilting adventures.  I consider it my first “real” quilt because the top was much more time-consuming/intense than previous strips of fabric or simple square, and because it’s finished with a real binding.  While mistakes are many, I’m still pretty darn proud of the result!  
I fell in love with the hand-sewing of the binding, the final step in the quilt construction.  I loved being able to cuddle up under the work-in-progress while sewing away with my needle and brown thread.  
I spent a lot of quality time with the quilt yesterday after my coworkers sent me home for the day.  There may have been a minor Lindsay-almost-blacked-out episode in the office and they thought it best for me to rest for the day.  After hours of successful napping, I took the day as my opportunity to rest up while quilting.  I seem to be fine now; cause of episode unknown.  
The one last step to take in this quilt’s beginning is to wash it.  I love washing a quilt for the first time, pulling it out of the dryer, and feeling the difference – how the quilt becomes a quilt.  It’s no longer just three layers sewn together; it feels different.  Like the back, the batting, and the eclectic top have always belonged together.  
To a completed quilt – woot!
To the 100th posting on my blog – woot!

wooden people.

24 Mar

Pastor Lori was ordained last Saturday – ordained as a legit pastor.  Woot!  She can now “legally” wear a stole and preside over communion.  It was a wonderful service and a great honor that Lori asked me to assist at the service.  Lori’s ordaination called for gifts and we at Grace put much time and much effort into these gifts.  The time and effort included Kendall and I shopping at Dueber’s (classic downtown Dawson everything-you-can-imagine store) for theological and ministry-related gifts.   (An angel puzzle, law enforcement kit, bug spray, nail polish for the liturgical season, you know.  The like.)  The time and effort went to the extreme with the making of a mission: impossible-themed video, telling Lori that she would need to come to Grace to receive her gifts and save the Christian church.  Right.  (But if she or any of her IM forces should be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow knowledge of her existence.  Naturally.)

Lori came for lunch today to claim her gifts.  One of the gifts were these wooden people – colored to be the staff at Grace, so that when Lori needed to practice a sermon or bounce ideas off of someone, we would always be there for her in her ministry (and for another reason that would take too long to explain here).
Here we are with Lori and our wooden look-a-likes.  From left to right: Keith, custodian; Chris, choir director/organist; Lori (holding the wooden Jesus and cow); Emily, membership care; Pastor Kendall; Tammy, youth; Pastor Lindsay; Karen, administrative extraordinaire.

Easter approaches.

24 Mar
It’s hard to believe that I preached my last Lenten sermon tonight.  It was our last Lenten dinner and last opportunity to sing Holden Evening Village.  Crazy to think that six weeks have flown by so quickly.  I completely dated myself (in the young way) in my sermon tonight; who knew that choose-your-own-adventure books were a relatively new development to an older congregation?  While I realize we travel towards the joy of Easter and the empty tomb (playdough artwork below by a confirmand), I enjoy lent.  I think I might miss it a little bit; my Wednesday evenings may feel a bit empty.  
C. is a pretty faithful lenten dinner and service attendee with his younger sister and parents.  Tonight, during the beginning of the service when we welcome those around us, C. reached past both his parents to shake my hand.  Then he said, in his darling four year old dialect, “Pastor Lindsay, I have something to show you.”  New shoes.  C. got new shoes.  They’re pretty cool.
As Lent comes to a close and we usher in holy week with Palm Sunday this coming weekend, it’s definitely time for an egg hunt – an egg hunt as part of an EGG-stravaganza.  Today, after confirmation, I bribed a few seventh and eighth graders to stick around with cookies and chips.  They helped me fill and then hide 60 dozen eggs.  Let me do the math for you – 720 eggs.  I think the EGG-citement went to my head when I planned this event for Sunday schoolers; what was I thinking?  There soon was no hiding space for this many eggs so the hallway floors of our three-story education wing are peppered with eggs.  It’s going to be chaotic and EGG-cellent!  
Even Jesus is getting into the egg hunt spirit — 

floody, floody?

19 Mar

God said to Noah, “There’s going to be a floody, floody.”

God said to Noah, “There’s going to be a floody, floody.”
“Get those animals” *clap* “out of the muddy, muddy,”
children of the Lord.
The waters are rising as I encountered my first detour due to the lakes that have appeared in fields and overtaken roads.  I ran across more than a few of these barricades on my way south to Marshall today.  It’s crazy to drive out of Dawson and see the water standing where there never were any lakes or rivers previously.  There are many closed roads and many more places where the water is growing dangerously close to the roads.
There is a river that runs through the south of Dawson and though I have no pictures to share, the river has swelled immensely in the past days.  This is nothing new to Dawson and houses in the dangerous flood plain have since been moved but it seems a few houses/many basements are still threatened.  I’m still not sure that I know what a sump pump is but many conversations have centered around the machine of late.  Hopes are that the chilly day today has perhaps helped slow the growing river.  
Hopefully we can fast forward to the last verse of the song soon –
The sun came out and dried up the landy, landy.
The sun came out and dried up the landy, landy.
Everything was *clap* fine and dandy,
children of the Lord.

strengths.

17 Mar
My supervisor and I went over our six month evaluations of my internship in the course of the last two days.  Under “Strengths” my supervisor wrote the following, among other good things —

“She also provides sumptuous treats to spoil us during our staff meetings.”

Today it was a strawberry rhubarb jam tart.  Yum.

hoedown.

15 Mar
I received a facebook message last week from a seminary friend named Katie. In the message, Katie told me that she had written hoedown lyrics about me … Who’s Line is it Anyways? style. How great is this?! Start stomping your feet and sing along —

I’m gonna be a pastor, I knew it all my life

Worked and read and theologized, even had some strife

Now it’s time for internship, far away from home.
Sadly it’s in Dawson, and my neighbor is a gnome.

It’s been froggy here.

14 Mar

The fog has rolled in around Dawson nearly every day for the past week.  Combine the fog with the rain and the melting snow and it’s been a bit miserable in terms of vitamin D.  Worries of flooding have surfaced.  Maybe this will be my first opportunity to sandbag?  We’ll hope for not but the spring will tell.

weekend update.

14 Mar
On SNL, they have a weekend update.  Here’s mine:
  • I drove to the Cities to meet up with friends.  Highlight numero uno: Art Scraps with Sara.  
  • Board games, birthdays, and balls!  We gathered at my college roommate’s abode to celebrate her birthday and the birthday of another college friend.  Carcassonne and Settlers were the games.  The balls were cake.
  • A sleepover with my college roommate.  While her husband fell asleep early, we stayed awake until 3am, catching up on work, families, and everything in between.  It reminded me of our years at Luther and oh, how I miss that.
  • A wonderful afternoon reconnecting with a friend over coffee and the vegetarian #6 sandwich at Jimmy John’s.  He’s teaching me – the daughter of a beef cattle farmer – the ways of vegetarianism.  
  • I felt in my element today at church.  We used Marty Haugen’s Now the Feast and Celebration at the first service (Love it.  It reminds me of when I played flute at East every other Sunday.) and sang an offertory song at the second service that I have began to love.  Confirmation between services was a lot of fun as we all got involved in the retelling of the Jacob-and-Esau saga.  The conversation turned often to sex; I think they like to see me squirm.  I planned and led the care center service followed by a few hospital visits.  Phew.  It was a long day and a good day.

Reason #141.

14 Mar
Reason #141 why I love St.Paul, MN : Art Scraps.
My friend, Sara, discovered this gem of a shop on the corner of St.Clair and Pascal in St.Paul.  
It. is. an. art. thrift. store.
As in people can bring in things that they have too many of, things that they don’t use, things that have potential as an art project.  It’s like a Goodwill for art supplies and factory overstock.  It’s non-profit and runs on donations.  And it is the best store.  Ever.
Sara will vouch for me – I got a little excited when I first started exploring the possibilities.  I wanted to buy 20 purple cardboard boxes not because I knew exactly what I would use them for but because they were only ten cents a piece.  (I actually bought 22.)  I wanted to buy a roll of shiny blue metallic foil not because I knew what I would do with it but because it was cool.  Oh my, and the stacks of paper, sold by the inch.  The barrels of old trophies, doll heads, and wine corks.  I could have stayed a lot longer than Sara’s lunch break allowed us to stay.
So I went back the next morning.  I was only in St.Paul for the weekend and I needed more purple boxes.  And a few more yards of that silver twist-tie ribbon.  Maybe just to browse a bit more to see if I could think of a use for a bucket of bottle caps.  (Negative.)  And to think that the inventory fluctuates constantly as people bring in more and more art scraps.  I will definitely become a frequent shopper … and it makes me feel so hippie cool doing it.  

A typical week.

14 Mar
The joke amongst pastors is that many people in the general public are under the impression that we only work one hour per week – leading worship on Sunday mornings.  I’ve had a few people ask me lately what a typical week looks like for me as an intern.  Well, let me tell you —
Sundays: I arrive at church by 7:30 and prepare for my role in the two services we have each Sunday, 8:30 and 10:45.  Between services, either Pastor Kendall or I lead confirmation class.  Typically, the pastor who is not preaching is planning and leading the lesson with the 7th – 9th graders.  Once a month after the second service, I plan mentor meetings, which pair confirmands with an adult other than a parent for guided conversation/activity centered on faith.  Once every so often, I also am in charge of leading an afternoon service at the care center in Dawson.  Monthly SNL (Sunday Night Live) events are reasons to play mini-golf, go to a movie, or hang out with 5 – 12th graders.
Mondays: The first thing I typically do on Monday morning is find my desk.  Due to the previous week and the chaos of Sunday morning, it’s usually in need of much attention.  Every third Monday is Do-Day which translates to Lindsay hanging out with the quilting ladies.  I then plan and prepare for the weekly Monday afternoon women’s Bible study.    

Tuesdays: Staff meetings normally fill this morning.  It’s not unusual for staff meetings to last until 1pm.  I kinda love staff meetings … which feels like a strange thing to say … but laughter and coffee are always present.  The only thing that kind of frustrates me about staff is that I tend to leave with a longer to-do list than when I came!  
Wednesdays: Wednesdays consist of the preparation and then teaching my third grade release time class at 2pm and confirmation at 3:30.  (Again, Kendall and I switch off teaching.)  In the evening, there are meetings, meetings, meetings.  Some Wednesday nights only have one but there have also been nights of four.  Currently during Lent, we also have Lenten dinner and the Holden service at 7pm.
Thursdays:  Two Thursdays a month are partially reserved for either local ministerium meetings (the gathering of local clergy in Dawson – ELCA and other) and conference meetings (the gathering of all ELCA pastors in the conference).  Thursday is also the day that my supervisor and I have scheduled to check-in and catch-up.  (The seminary requires supervisors/interns to meet for one hour a week to discuss non-calendar/programatic items.  We try to make this happen but sometimes the week runs away from us …) 
That is a typical week … but what week is truly typical?  Whenever there isn’t something on the calendar, as listed above, feel free to add any/all of the following: sermon preparation/writing (at least eight hours, please), hospital visits, shut-in visits, additional worship services, the occasional funeral, more Bible studies, worship planning, dreaming about Easter eggs hunts containing 60 dozen eggs, additional event planning, reading, playing baseball in the hallway, etc.
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