Whew!

Anna and I just got back Saturday night from a lightning fast trip to Seattle. We went so that I could conduct the Service of Remembrance for Anna's Aunt Phyllis, so it was more like a business trip than anything else. We flew into Seattle Thursday night, having left Dundee after Anna was finished with her workday, and left Seattle Saturday afternoon, less than 48 hours after we arrived. I'm sorry I didn't have time to visit with everyone while we were there, but I had promised my supervisor that I would be back in time to be in the two pulpits I was scheduled for on Sunday morning.

It wasn't all business, though. Anna had a great chance to get caught up with her cousins, and I had time to visit with Andrew over breakfast at University Village, near the University of Washington. I must say that travelling by mass transit in the Seattle area is pretty good! I was able to get from where we were staying in Edmonds to the UW campus in just under an hour, and I didn't have the stress of fighting traffic or looking for a place to park. We ate at a little place called Specialty Cafe and Bakery in the U Village, and we were the only people silly enough to be there during the 7 o'clock hour on a Friday. I was grateful for the chance to get caught up with my son, and just sorry that I didn't have enough time or transportation options to visit with Daniel in Bellingham. Thanks to the Metro Transit web site and Andrew's lap top computer, along with the UW campus-wide wireless Internet access, I was able to figure out how to get back to Edmonds as well.

Anna and I also decided that while we had a little free time in Edmonds we would take advantage of the fact that we were within walking distance of the Edmonds to Kingston ferry landing. We walked aboard the Walla Walla to Kingston where we had lunch at the Drifter and poked around some of the little shops in downtown Kingston, then boarded the Spokane for our return trip to Edmonds. We still had enough time to cruise downtown Edmonds for a bit, and we checked out the artist gallery where Anna's cousin sells custom jewelry. There are lots of artists that display their stuff there, and many things to choose from. Anna's cousin Bonnie creates jewelry using mostly fossils and semi-precious stones set in silver, and it is really nice stuff.

The service itself was an opportunity to preach Christ and the hope of Christ's promise of eternal life to those who have lost touch with their faith. Many people that attended the service have no church affiliation, so I took it as an opportunity to invite the Holy Spirit into the room to get to work. Most of the people in attendance thanked me for the service, even the ones who don't go to church, so I'm hopeful that the Holy Spirit was able to work on them. I think some seeds were sown, now hopefully the soil is good enough to get them to grow.

Saturday morning came with an opportunity to visit with Anna's friend Phyllis and her husband Roger, and have lunch at Anthony's in Des Moines. The restaurant was just as good as I remember it, and it was good to eat some fresh salt water fish again. Here in Minnesota the salt water fish isn't worth the purchase, but the Walleye is good. Anthony's serves Alaskan True Cod and it was very good, as was the clam chowder. The visit with Roger and Phyllis was too short, as was the whole trip, but they faithfully took us to the airport, where we boarded our plane for the uneventful flight home. The nice thing about the return trip was that the seat next to Anna and me was empty, so we had a little room to spread out. When we returned, it was a quick hug to my cousin Kathy, thanks to her husband John who did the car-sitting for us, and then back to Dundee. After two worship services Sunday morning we slept for a bit Sunday afternoon, but woke up just in time to see the end of the Vikings game where they beat the Packers for the first time under Childress.

Yesterday was another quick trip to the Twin Cities for Anna's doctor's appointments and a chance for me to visit the seminary to pick up the new Pastoral Care book. It was fun to chat with people there, and Mary in the bookstore insisted on imprinting my name on my new book, so now it is obvious who it belongs to. With everything that has been going on in our parish lately, I'm sure I will get a lot of use out of this book. We got home before dinner time last night, so we got a good chance to get some good sleep before getting things back to normal today. The only thing not normal about today is the weather. The forecast is calling for freezing rain followed by snow. I have a few places to go today, so driving will be no fun. Yes, I'll be careful!
Blogged by Don

Musings

You can tell there is a change in the air. We have two very warm days this week, rather unusual. The last remnants of Indian summer hanging on a bit. We have had beautiful sunsets and sunrises. What I have noticed about living on the prairie are the colors. Where we live, we are surrounded by corn and soy bean fields, not much color there. But there are trees that grow in groves around the farm houses and buildings that have turned bright yellows and reds. What is most amazing is the color that the grasses of the prairie turn. They become a golden yellow to almost red, and with the wind, it is almost like seeing feathers floating all in one direction. The starlings fly together and create ribbons of birds all along the sky, flying in and out like music, it almost does look like ribbons in the sky. We do not see as many geese anymore, suppose they have all gone down south. We still see the hawks, the pheasants and starlings, and every now and again the pelicans. Isn't God wonderful to have created all of this? What people I have talked to have lived here so long, they don't notice it anymore but as a newcomer to a strange land, I find it rather awe inspiring. My time down here has taken turns and twists, wondering why I am down here and thanking God for bringing me here. I know the time will go fast, it is already the first week of November.

I don't look forward to what is to come. The biting cold, the wind and snow. One person has already told me she hoped that we would see a blizzard and be part of it. I did not say anything, but I fervently hope we do not and at the same time, I have never seen a blizzard, there is a tiny part of me that wonders what they are like. This winter will come soon enough. It means the land will go to sleep in whiteness, what does it mean for the people who live out here? One thing I know that is popular out here is snowmobiling and ice fishing, especially ice fishing. I look forward to seeing tiny houses dot the lakes.

I have gotten ahead of myself here. Winter is not here yet, it is just around the corner. Which brings me to what has gone on around here. We have had 4 deaths, 4 funerals, and Don and I are heading to Seattle this weekend for a memorial, a remembrance service for my aunt who died the end of September. This was the only time we had to get there. I look forward to seeing cousins and visiting and yet this is a bittersweet visit. My aunt was very special to me. She taught me so much. She cared for me like her own daughter. She showed me what love and forgiveness is. We laughed, we cried, we loved, we got mad and we made up. I miss her a great deal. We use to talk for hours about God, politics, people, antiques, art, everything. I will miss talking to her by phone, I will miss seeing her and hearing her laughter. She has gone home to be with her father in heaven, for that I am happy. She had a lot of questions of God before she died, I know that she is asking him questions now of all the things she ever wanted to know and no one could answer for her down on the earth. She is having fun. As this weekend gets closer, I find myself remembering all the good times, all the fun we had. In honor of you Aunt Phyllis I write this, for you there will always be a warm spot and laughter in my heart. Thank you!
Blogged by Anna

Caught in the Act

Serving my internship in a multi-point parish means that I am responsible for leading worship somewhere every Sunday. There are five congregations and four leaders, two of which are ordained and two of which are seminary students. I, of course, fall into the latter category. This means that in order for me to serve communion, I have a letter from the bishop of the Southwestern Minnesota Synod that gives me authorization for certain Sundays to serve in this capacity. Of course, nobody said this would be easy! When I served communion for Reformation Sunday and All Saints Sunday at Immanuel Lutheran in rural Fulda it seemed like there were hundreds of people in worship those days! There weren't, although turnout was a little larger than usual because they are festival Sundays, but when I am dispensing bread to the whole congregation, it seemed like they just kept coming for a very long time! Chalk it up to something else I will get used to as I live into my pastoral role. Thank God for worship assistants! Blogged by
Don

The European Conspiracy

Okay, I have to finally get caught up on what has been going on around here. I have finally recovered from the shock of my life. You see, I have discovered that there has been a conspiracy going on under my own roof! My dear, sweet, loving wife has been harboring a secret for oh, I really don't know how long, but she was involved in a foreign conspiracy! She has been collaborating with a European couple in a plot to, well, I may as well tell you straight out, she and this European couple have been plotting to MESS WITH MY MIND!!!!

Well, you see, its like this; Anna and Doug, my sister and her husband who live in Germany, apparently collaborated with my wife, Anna, to surprise me for my birthday. The plot was perfectly executed on Saturday, October 25th. I had just gotten home from assisting at a funeral and I was pretty tired, so I lay down in the TV room to watch something mindless. As I was drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness, I was pretty sure Anna was on the sofa and I was laying on the floor, when I heard a strumming sound coming from my guitar in the dining room. I thought to myself, "That's strange, Jasper has never bothered my guitar before. I hope he stops because I don't feel like getting up to stop him." Just then, a figure strolled into the TV room, and once I realized it was my sister Anna from Germany, all I could blurt out was "WOW!!" I think I may have said, "What are you doing here?!" About the next forty minutes or so is just a blur, because I was recovering from shock and just said "wow" a lot. Anna and Doug confessed that they had been plotting this little side excursion for quite a while, with the full collaboration of my wife, and even my cousin in Eden Prairie was in on the plot. Yes, I am the victim of a full-blown European-American conspiracy. However, it is humbling to realize that people love you so much that they would go to this much trouble to show you. I am humbled and grateful.

This little plot meant that the celebration of my 50th birthday started a week earlier than I had anticipated, and Anna (my wife) went all out. She had ordered a cake, purchased decorations, and, while I was showing Anna and Doug around the area, (I don't exactly remember what we were doing, but I think it was while we were antique shopping in Fulda) Anna got the whole house decorated for a party. When we returned home there was a banner, the table was covered with a colorful tablecloth, balloons, a centerpiece, a cake, and a delicious roast dinner all prepared in my honor. I can only say now that I truly appreciate and I am deeply humbled and grateful for my wife, and my sister and her husband for all they have done for me. We partied all evening on Reformation Sunday, but I don't think we mentioned Martin Luther once. Of course, I had mentioned him quite a bit at church that morning, so he was well remembered.

Thanks to these lovely people, I now have a cuckoo clock hanging in the living room, and a little bit of Germany sings to me on the half hour. It is a beautiful clock, and every half hour I get a little reminder of how much my family loves me. I am truly blessed.

Now, one of the side benefits of having my sister and my wife in the same place is that they both like to take pictures. So now I have some fresh pictures I can share with you about things around here.


Along with antique shopping in Fulda, we showed Anna and Doug the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, about a 40 minute drive from here. In these pictures you can see that they have an interactive exhibit that includes dressing up in hats. You can also see that the conspirators are quite happy with themselves, and are even willing to get a nearby buffalo involved in their shenanigans! What fun! Blogged by Don