The Glow in the Snow

It's officially the first day of winter, and it's not kidding around. I'm writing this between 8:30 and 9am on Sunday the 21st, and it is currently -11 Fahrenheit outside. I have no idea what that is in Celsius, but believe me, it's just plain bitter cold. On top of the cold temperature, the wind is blowing at about 30 miles per hour, which makes the wind chill about -40. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has issued a "no travel" advisory, so we have canceled church services throughout the parish. It feels weird to have a Sunday morning with no church, but I am finding out that this is one of the realities of rural ministry. Sometimes God gives you a day off, even if you don't want one. My sermon is all ready, I have an awesome children's message prepared, but no place to take them, so they will wait. It may be three years before I get to preach this sermon, if the lectionary is followed accurately.

Part of the reason for the no travel advisory is that we got a whole lot of snow yesterday. It snowed hard through the night and all the way through the morning and into the afternoon, finally stopping around 3pm. Since there is a lot of wind, the snow is blowing around, reducing visibility and making driving hazardous. I went to Fulda for a Men's Bible Breakfast yesterday morning, and since there was so much snow I was concerned for the safety of the men of our parish, and my intent was to send anyone home who showed up. As it turns out, I was the only idiot that ventured out that way, and a little later one of the other men from the parish came in because he usually has breakfast with his uncle at this same restaurant on Saturday morning, so he and his uncle sat with me and we had a nice chat, mostly about how to shop for a bargain on a tractor.

This morning, after all the snow and the wind, I looked outside and noticed that most of our lawn Christmas decorations are getting buried in snow. While Jesus is the reason for the season of Christmas, in our front yard he is now the "glow in the snow." The lights around the front steps are hardly visible anymore, and our Rudolf on a pole is having a shorter and shorter flight. We are fortunate, however, because one of the men of First Lutheran lives here in town and has a small front loader. He has come by faithfully after each snow storm and plowed our driveway so we can get out. It is really nice that he performs this service, because I have shoveled the driveway in the past, and it is quite laborious. I am grateful for his plowing. The result of his plowing, though, is that we are getting some impressive mounds of snow in the front yard! This being the first day of winter, I am curious how big the snow piles will be by February! I used to try to keep the sidewalk clear between the parsonage and the church, but after this last snow storm there is now a huge pile of snow on the sidewalk, so I will be walking in the street until the spring thaw. Since we live in Dundee, that is not a problem. My chances of being hit by a car are slim to none. I was just trying to keep the walk clear for my own benefit anyway, but now, forget it! We're supposed to get more snow on Tuesday. I can hardly wait! I wonder if our Nativity Set will be completely buried by then. I'll keep you posted. Blogged by Don

Winter has begun

The temperature is below 0 believe it or not. One would think that it would warm up when it snows but not here, it just gets colder. This first picture of Joseph and Mary was taken last week, you can see how much it snowed just today.




We got back from visiting Kathy and John's and we noticed the electricity had gone off but not sure of the length of time. The cats looked sheepish, like they knew a secret and they were not telling us. They were glad to see us nonetheless and eagerly awaited a fresh bowl of wet food.

We spent the weekend with the Jarvis clan helping to decorate for their Christmas season. It was fun and it was great catching up with what was going on with each of us. John just got himself a job with his old company, and so is traveling a bit in his capacity as sales person. He is now selling what he has invented, so he is seeing another spectrum. The girls are doing well as is Kathy. We attended a concert at their church Sunday night and it was fun, the music was great, and their was plenty of participation from the audience. But we had to say good-bye the next day and make our way back home to our kitties so that they could eat once again and keep their humans close to hand.

Today it snowed, the heavens opened up. Our front step is no longer visible. Yes we are settling into winter on the prairie. Blogged by Anna

Long Time, No "C"

You see, I have been very busy with parish business lately. I have been to Wilmar, to the Junior High Youth Gathering, and I have been all over the parish, looking after people in need, and doing my best my best at being a pastor for these people. I also had to fill-in for Pastor Mark when he was needed suddenly to see a parishioner in a Sioux Falls hospital after he was found to have a heart aneurysm, and I have been up to Slayton to visit a man who has been a long time member of First Lutheran, but is now living in a nursing home twenty miles away and is feeling a little lonely. That, along with writing and giving sermons and leading worship have kept me pretty well involved in parish work.

In the meantime, there have been things that have been lots of fun. For instance, ( Notice, that is the first "c" in this whole post, hence the title. I figured one whole paragraph was long enough.) at the Junior High Youth Gathering some of the kids decided to have their hair dyed at the play beauty salon. Of course, none of them wanted a "normal" hair color, no, Kenny went with pink and Rachel went with purple with gold glitter. Perfect. There was also a rock band that the kids had the good sense not to enjoy, and some very good speakers that the kids had the good sense to listen to. All in all, I was impressed with the theological interest of these Jr. Hi kids, and impressed that their questions were both pertinent and thought provoking. I think when I was a kid in Jr. Hi, my interest was pretty much limited to music and trying not to get beat up by the school bullies. I wonder which of these young theologians will hear the call of the Holy Spirit to go to seminary?

For Thanksgiving I had two services to do, one on Sunday the 23rd and on on Wednesday the 26th. Both were fun, and both involved other pastors besides me. The one on Sunday was at First Lutheran, and was co-led by Pastor Mark and me. He had me preach so that he could have an opportunity to listen to me. The one on Wednesday the 26th was in Heron Lake at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and was an ecumenical service with Father Andrew Olson representing the Catholics, Dan Brewer representing the United Methodist Church of Heron Lake, and yours truly representing Evangelical Lutheran Church. It was fun, and Father Andrew was a gracious host, and a funny guy. Dan was fun, too, although Dan is kind of a quiet guy, and it takes a while for him to warm up to a situation and say something candid and funny. But once he gets going he's a riot. The service itself was fun, and afterward the Methodist women hosted the coffee hour with delicious goodies. It's a good thing I'm only here for a year, this area is trying to make me fat!

Now it's Advent, and things are not slowing down. As a matter of fact, things are picking up by a lot. Tomorrow night I have two mid-week Advent services, and for the next two weeks Anna and I will be singing in the Advent musical at two different churches. It will be fun, but it will also be busy. On Christmas Eve I will also have two churches to preach in, and after that, on December 28th I have two churches, plus Anna and I are hosting a holiday open house here at the parsonage. Feel free to drop by if you're in the area. It should be fun. In the meantime, as time allows, there is always calling on people to see how they are doing, checking up on the family across the street, where it appears that both adults have lost their jobs and are sliding into a depression that is affecting their son and dog negatively, and their is the couple down the street that are suffering with health issues. She needs a liver transplant and he is suffering from cancer. Still, in all of this, God remains faithful and just, gracious and merciful, and abounding in steadfast love. I hope you have a beautiful Christmas season. Enjoy Advent, keep your candles burning in anticipation of the coming Messiah, and stay close to those you love and cherish the time you have together. God be with you. Blogged by Don