Santa Day in Rolette, North Dakota

December 6th will be Santa Day here in Rolette.  Nobody around here is exactly sure how it got started, but I have a suspicion that since it is on the Feast of Saint Nicholas, and since most of the people around here are of Northern European and Scandinavian heritage, I'm willing to bet the Norwegian custom of celebrating the arrival of Sinterklas on or near the feast of Saint Nicholas has something to do with it.  Last year Santa Day was on December 7th, which is also Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, so it didn't feel so festive.  This year Anna and I have a vested interest!  We have joined a little community band that will be playing Christmas Carols for the festival.  We will play to get the crowd excited before Santa arrives, and we will play "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" as Santa comes on the scene.  It should be great fun.  Along with playing in the band Anna has arranged to rent a table to sell Fair Trade chocolate and coffee, and will share her table with a local horticulturist who will be selling Christmas centerpieces.  All in all this is shaping up to be a much better Santa Day than last year.  Maybe after it is over I will post some pictures so you can see how we did.  Until then enjoy the thoughts of Thanksgiving and Advent as you celebrate with your family and friends.  God bless you all.  Don

A day in North Dakota

I have not written on this blog in a while.  Here it is June 28, 2014.  Tomorrow is our 12th anniversary, and we are spending it celebrating with the church tomorrow.  We celebrate 125 years tomorrow as a church.  I have only been part of this church since October 1. 

 This is all taken at a wildlife refuge.  It was a beautiful day and we had a picnic lunch.  We actually ate in Cando, ND.

I was having fun taking pictures of anything and everything.

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 It looks like a huge body of water, and it is here, and it is located right here in North Dakota. Hard to imagine that North Dakota has so much water. 

We spent the day in Luckey, Ohio.  We were not sure if we would cross paths with Randy for quite a while, and so wanted to see his church and his stomping grounds.  Turns out we are going to get to not only see Randy again but spend the night in his spacious house called the "parsonage."  We will spend the night in Luckey, on our way to Terre Haute, to stay with family.  Luckey is the first leg of our journey to Rolette, North Dakota.  Don and I are excited.  

We have sold our house.  We sign the papers on Monday and Gwen signs them on Sept. 27, and the house is hers.  I have loved this house.  We have spent much of our time improving this house to that point that we were able to sell it very fast when the time came.  

Don starts his new call October 1, working for Mountain View Ministry, which comprises Rolette, Overly, and Dunseith:  Valle, Willow Creek, Peace and St. Sylvan Episcopalian.  I will add pictures when I get them. 

God be with us and all who are in ministry.  

New York

A few days before actual vacation was to start, Don and I decided to venture up to New York State just to say we had been there.  On June 27 we started out and went from Jamestown, New York, traveled to Dunkirk, New York, where my camera died and so had to rely on cell phone and post cards to remember this place by, and then finally on into Erie, to the same beach where last year we locked our keys in the car and had to call for help.  I should say, I locked the keys in the car, but we redeemed ourselves this time and parked the car with success and walked the beach, talking and dreaming and just enjoying the sounds of the water.   It was a great day and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing new and different things, but especially since we could now both add New York on our list of states we have visited. 

Anniversary

There are many different kinds of anniversaries; the beginning of new job, the anniversary of a death or divorce, and then there is the wedding anniversary.  Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary, our 9th year together and we march on to our 10th anniversary next year. 

I have been divorced, once through childhood and then in adulthood.  Obviously the childhood divorce was when my parents split up and divorced.  That was a painful and chaotic time in our lives.  Then I was divorced as an adult, 15 years ago in September, I believe.  The anniversary date escapes me, I use to know it.  I have been married now 9 years tomorrow, June 29.  While this is a happy and joyous time for me, my sister's divorce is final today.  It gives me pause to think on this.  I remember what it was like when my divorce was final, all the emotions involved, and I am sure this is true for my sister.  While there is relief that it is over, it also feels a little like a death.  You once cared for a person only to not care, how do you turn it off?  There is so much anger and sadness involved and then comes the roller coaster ride, the grief machine.   

God never stops caring.  His love is continuous and final.  No matter what we do, no matter who we are, no matter how bad we feel about ourselves, God loves us and as my husband always says, "God loves you and there's not a doggone thing you can do about it."   This gives me comfort beyond belief.  God loves me no matter what and there is not a thing I can do about it.   Our time here on earth is so short.  There are many life-lessons in the meantime that I am learning.  My trust grows every day.  I have given up worry for Lent, but my Lent continues into the quiet time of summer and will continue to grow into the busy time of Advent.  There are many good things happening in my life right now, I hold onto the good times.  I thank God for giving me what I need.  I needed a job, and now I have it at our church part time.  We need a vacation, a time for renewal of strength and energy, a time for us to be together, and our church has given us 10 days' time.   I have everything I need.  I have food in the refrigerator, I have furniture to sit upon, I have clothes to wear, a car to get us to and fro, enough money for gas, and a husband who loves me.  I have what I need, thank you God for everything. 

Thank you Donald for 9 years of wedded bliss, for 9 years of happiness, for 9 years of loving me, being patient with me, and for wanting to be with me and see the world together.  I love you much my husband.  I could not have asked for a better partner in life.  Thank you God for giving me my husband and thank you for loving me. 
Posted by Anna

Family

Father's Day is coming and it makes me miss my family, except I am sadly estranged from mine.  I come from a family of divorce, and so much time was wasted with anger and selfishness.  You never really know the other person's story until years later.  I wish I had paid more attention growing up.  Why is it that we finally come to some understanding in our older years.  Why is it when we are younger we are self-absorbed and only see our side of things.  Circumstances are never what they seem to be, only what young eyes see and want to hear.  I never appreciated my father as much as I do now.  He is all I have left of my family as my siblings and I are no longer in contact and my mother has Alzheimer's and does not know who I am, so this Father's Day is somehow strangely sad and yet not sad.  I thank God for what I have, and I thank God for my father.  I love you Dad!
Posted by Anna

Pentecost

Acts 2:  When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

What is the work of the Holy Spirit?  Lutherans believe that we come to faith, remain in the faith, and live our lives of faith by the power of the Holy Spirit.  In his explanation in the third article of the Apostles Creed, Martin Luther taught..."the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common true faith."  

Today is Pentecost.  Happy Birthday to all churches, today is a celebration.  Last night we had a Pentecost vigil at our church, a first.  We had a service and then walked around the neighborhood and blessed those businesses.  It was different and I rather enjoyed it.  So today we wear the colors of Pentecost; reds and red oranges.  Don and I decorated the church up for a party with balloons and streamers and candles.  Happy birthday!