Acquired Memories

"The business of life is the acquisition of memories." That's my nominee for the best line from this week's episode of Downton Abbey. Thank you Carson-the-Butler.  I must admit, this week's Downton experience paled after my adventure in millinery before last Sunday's episode. Watching with Texas girlfriends while wearing hand-crafted bands ala Roaring Twenties is only one of the memories I have acquired since I last wrote. Last week's trip to Texas did not happen as anticipated in last week's post:

• It will be remembered for the most boarding passes accumulated on a single journey. Thanks to the polar vortex's visit to Minnesota I got two from Rochester to Chicago, five from Chicago to Texas, and three for the Megabus from Austin to Houston. I kept reminding myself of Louis CK's routine about air travel: Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy (if you haven't heard it, and you can tolerate a little bit of vulgarity, you can watch it here.) Even with all the delays, I got to Austin in 10 hours, had two meals, and passed 22 levels of Candy Crush Saga on my phone and read a book on my Kindle. 
• My wonderful friends Pat and Len met me at the airport shortly after midnight, gave me shelter, and then had to deal with a dog and a skunk episode less than six hours later and other out of town visitors throughout the weekend, along with stray friends I invited over at random times. 
• I had breakfast, and lunch, and wonderful talk time in favorite Austin restaurants with daughter Gracie and son-in-law Tony while waiting for my luggage to catch up with me.
• My first Megabus experience - WiFi, outlets for charging up electronics, cheap seats (all three tickets added up to $25, which is less than a full fare ticket on Greyhound) and only one stop between UT and downtown Houston! I'll definitely try that again. . . and if you ever need a taxi in Houston, be sure to call Fiesta. Fantastic service!!!
• I had a personal encounter with Shelley Gardner, founder and CEO of Stampin' Up! at the Downtown Aquarium before all the other demonstrators arrived followed by an amazing private evening at this wonderful venue. I even petted the stingrays! Then I spent two days learning about my stamping business and hanging out with friends from Illinois and made a new friend from St. Louis who shares my passions for stamping and Christian Education - what are the odds!
• Visited my former church in Austin and was hugged enthusiastically by kids I've been watching grow up for many years, and old and new friends I've been missing. Had a chance to visit with former collegues and an unexpected encounter with someone I've known since I was a young mother. Coffee with Nick and Barb who moved me to Minnesota in September.
• Lunch with my bookclub gal pals at Beth's, with my stamping downline at Melanie's and with my old Brown BagBible study group at Schlotzky's. . . great food, great conversation, lots of old and new memories made and discussed! Breakfast tacos at Rudy's with my accountability group of the past 13 years who I miss every single Saturday morning, and often in-between!
• And the familiar warmth of chatting in the hot tub in the dark with Pat who has been present for pretty much every important moment of my life over the past 30 years.

So, to quote another diva, "but it's the laughter, we will remember, whenever we remember, the way we were." I really nailed that acquisition of memories thing. And I hope my memory holds up because I forgot to take a single picture while I was there . . . but here's a moment at the Aquarium that someone captured and posted to Facebook:

Definitely a week to remember! And one final memory - when it was time to return to Minnesota, I felt like I was coming home, and I treasure that feeling. I feared the trip would trigger a deep sense of loss or doubt about my decision/discernment to come here but I returned with the deep certainty that this is home now, polar vortex and all! 

Heading South. . .

This is what a bubble blown from a child's wand looks like when the temperatures reach sub-zero depths. It freezes instantly. It will shatter like glass. Still, it's really lovely to look at, if you can stand to be outdoors for a few minutes.

A Minneapolis television station highlighted this fun experiment over the Christmas holidays and I've been wanting to try it for myself. Today would be perfect! At 9AM it is a "brisk" -24 degrees outside. Since a person can quickly freeze to death in these temps I believe I'll try it another day.

I will be going out today though; I am driving to Rochester to stay with friends Beth and Niel tonight, just to make sure that nothing interferes with my escape tomorrow! I'm headed for Texas: some work and some play, some family and some friends, and a wonderful opportunity to thaw out.

Here's the ultimate measure of the goodness of the people in my new community. Every single person I told that I was going was delighted for me. Not one person expressed jealousy or mocked me for being a wimp, they just cheered me on. They willingly stepped up to do the small tasks that need doing each week, and wished me well.

Once again my gratitude is overflowing. To have people waiting to welcome me in Texas and people here in Minnesota helping me to feel good about going is a rare privilege. Grace upon grace!

So, wherever you may be on this blustery morning:

• may you be warmed by the sun, the fire, the furnace, 
• may you love the people around you and let them love you back,
• may you wrap yourself in the comforter of happy memories and enjoyable pass-times, and 
• may the warm breath of the Spirit fill you with passion for life itself. 

Hope to see many of you this week!

Merry Christmas

I tried to write a generic Christmas letter this year. It's been a really full year, but it proved hard to condense into a letter. There were some things I wanted to share with everyone and other things I only wanted to share with some people. There were things that would sound like bragging in a Christmas letter but were things some of you wanted to know! And there was so much I had already recorded here that it might have been repetitive.

So, I'm working on cards. If you haven't gotten one yet, you will soon. Or you'll get a New Year's card or a Valentine. And it will be hand-crafted and contain news that interests you - or if you're up on everything, it will be a vehicle for me to tell you how much you mean to me.

I am also doing all the stuff we all do at Christmas. Baking. Shopping. Wrapping. Getting the car serviced. Going to parties. Shipping. Laundry. And in the middle of all of this I have such peace. I've taken my own advice and simplified Christmas. I did the things that mattered to me. I stuck to my budget. I didn't decorate every nook and cranny - only as much as I felt like putting away. I got lots of sleep. I socialized some and acted like a hermit some. And now Christmas Eve has arrived. I will be at church much of today, then sharing a little Christmas Eve feasting with some new friends here before a good night's sleep in preparation for traveling east to see the girls.

I hope that you are joyful this day. I hope that you are warm (at 9am here the temperature has climbed to -9) and that you will see or speak with someone you love today or tomorrow. And I wish you the joy of the child. The hope for the future that would be impossible without God coming to us. We are loved; no matter our circumstances we are loved fiercely and faithfully and unfailingly. Joy to the World, indeed!!!

Yep, It's Cold Enough for Me!

It's a Minnesota conversational staple, "Cold enough for you?" And the answer is yes. Yes it is cold enough for me.

I awoke this morning to the words "bitterly cold" closely followed by "double-digit windchill", as in double-digits BELOW zero.

I just want to stay in bed with a cup of cocoa and a good book. But alas, duty calls. They don't close the schools for cold here, only impassable snow, so I will have to get out the door pretty soon.

If the sun shines I will be ok. Most days it does, even when it's miserably cold. And since I have south facing office windows I am in a little hothouse just perfect for this Texas transplant.

My mind has become a jumble of thoughts along the line of:

• Hot cereal was invented for mornings like this.
• Thank God for my garage.
• I don't care how it looks, it's warm.
• One more cup of coffee and I'll head out.
• Maybe I should bake something.

I have to allow five minutes for "robing" before I go outdoors. None of this dashing to the mailbox with an unzipped jacket and bare head and hands. Nope, I stop the car by the mailbox, leave it running, and hop out while still fully swaddled because I know I won't get swaddled again once I remove all these layers.

The natives are tougher. And they have better gloves.

Scripture references to snow are rare but I take comfort in Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of Psalm 147:

16 He spreads snow like a white fleece, he scatters frost like ashes, 17 He broadcasts hail like birdseed - who can survive his winter? 18 Then he gives the command and it all melts; he breathes on winter - suddenly it's spring!

In the meantime, with another psalmist I will cry out "How long, O Lord, how long?"

I am loving the winter, just not this arctic phase. This week is, indeed, cold enough for me!

Thankful

Hello old friends! I spent Thanksgiving in Arkansas with my mom. A very thankful Thanksgiving this year.

• Thankful for a short break from cold and work.
  
• Thankful for time to spend with this remarkably wise woman.
• Thankful for the birds that populate her bird feeders and bring such joy to watch.
• Thankful for the wonderful tradition of Thanksgiving pies and all the other trimmings.

I was very aware that while Thanksgiving at Mom's was as natural as it could be, returning to Blooming Prairie was going to be a bit strange. It's not just that the weather is going from moderate to cold instead of warm, it has to do with what is waiting for me on the other end. Usually when I leave to go home after Thanksgiving it is to a whirlwind of activity that goes on all month long. While I have some December busy-ness, overall it is not the frenzy I am used to in December. And I am thankful for that, even as I miss some of my Texas December traditions.

That said, I did return to what will probably be the longest day of my entire month. Sunday was filled from early morning on: Sunday School, Program Practice, Worship, Education Board Meeting, Advent Festival,  and Wish Tree Shopping. All of which went well, and were fun to participate in. 

My three-year-old teacher was out with the flu so I got to help the littlest ones practice walking in and out of the sanctuary. While we were doing that, one of our newly confirmed 10th graders was practicing a violin piece he is playing for one of the Christmas services. My little threes were wide-eyed and very curious about this, and sat and listened quietly for an amazing number of minutes.

This is Amy and her miniature donkey 4-H project. She brought him to the Advent Festival and all the kids got their pictures taken with him. It was a very fun way to imagine the Christmas story with the children. Amy is in 7th grade and has a twin brother. They are farm kids and talked knowledgeably about delivering lambs and caring for them in confirmation recently. This is one of the things I am truly enjoying about being up here - seeing how different these kids lives are from the kids I worked with in Austin. Not better. Not worse. Just different. They have different kinds of experiences and sometimes different kinds of dreams. The kids here are probably a little more aware of what life is like for kids in Austin than the reverse. It is just as much fun to be with them as with the others. Guess that means I just love young people in general!

The final event of the day was going with two Senior girls to shop for kids we adopted from the Wish Tree. We spent a fun hour searching Target for just the right combination of gifts. We nailed our budget with $19 to spare, and then went for dinner. It was fun to hear about their friendship. They have lived across the street from each other for their whole lives. They are heading off to different colleges in the fall and can't even imagine life without one another. They are smart, kind, helpful, and sweet girls. They go to school, work, volunteer and teach first grade Sunday School. Amazing.

So, I am thankful. And one more special thing to be thankful for: this Friday I am going to hear the St.Olaf Christmas concert with Emily and Paul, and Paul's family. And I won't have to travel two days to get here. This will be the third time I've seen Emily since I got here. Living in MN has its perks!

Still missing the familiar, but gaining more familiarity here each day. Another blessing to be counted. Keep in touch!

Let It Shine

I've been musing on light this week. It all started last Sunday night when I pulled off the road on my way home from Austin (MN) to try and capture the incredible sunset. I'm not a very good photographer, and while this picture isn't as good as the real thing, you can still tell that it was something pretty special:

It was almost exactly 5pm and it was just breathtaking. I had no trouble believing that God was in heaven and all was right with the world.

This of course was just after the time change weekend and I realized I had been missing the sunsets in my transition from work to home at the end of the day, because I don't always work regular hours that take me home as the sun goes down.

Monday morning I woke with the sun and immediately recognized a change in the quality of the morning light in my bedroom (whose only window faces east). As I lay there thinking about the day ahead, some long untapped memory of lights past sent me flying out of bed to look out the window. And there it was: snow. I had forgotten. When there is snow on the ground, the quality of the light changes. It's reflected upward. Light "goes" in both directions, all directions, and things are suddenly brighter.

Here's the view from my front door. I didn't want to step outside and mess up the pristine perfection of my front yard just yet. It was still snowing at this point but later in the day the skies turned blue and the whole world sparkled.

Tuesday the wind picked up and the snow swirled in a way I couldn't capture photographically (though I even tried to make a video,)

Ironically, Tuesday was in the low teens - very cold - but I was almost hot in my office because of the sunshine streaming in my windows. Can you imagine that sunbeam beating down on me as I worked?  I didn't want to close the blinds because it was so gorgeous outside, so I just sunned myself like a cat for about half of the day. Beautiful warm, buttery, sunshine - on the coldest day since March.

Wednesday brought a few city lights as I traveled to Rochester for a lunch meeting (which included a burger at Newt's, one of my favorite places to eat there.) Thursday featured firelight as I hung out with the Seventh Grade confirmation class in the Fireside room at church and later, a spotlight on human trafficking as I attended a talk by some Franciscan nuns brought to Blooming Prairie by the AAUW.

Earlier this morning I reflected on how it takes darkness to bring the full bloom of my Christmas cactus into the light.

As always I am overcome with awe that the writers of scripture, who had such limited experience of the world, could capture the essence of God so wondrously - I keep thinking of the first verses in the book of John:"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:1-5 (RSV)

• In the Genesis account of creation we hear that God "speaks" light into being with the command "Let there be light." How can this be?
• And in my extremely limited understanding of the Higgs boson, or "God Particle" it seems that the best analogy has to do with light going through prisms or water, and being broken and re-formed.
• I think of the people of the Philippines who will be without electricity, and by extension light, for some time to come. 
• And of Advent arriving in two weeks, and the candles I must buy soon, before they are not to be found.
• And of how brightly the stars shine in the deep darkness of rural Minnesota.

Still missing the city lights and the bright smiles of my dear friends, but settling into life here with a "lighter" heart each passing week.

Homesick Kitchen

Last week I ate an entire jar of Pace medium picante sauce. Put it on eggs, chips, and chicken wrapped in tortillas; I think I even dipped a pretzel or two into its spicy, tomato-y goodness. I just needed a little heat on my tongue. I even lit up like Christmas over Qdoba. (Thank you sister and nieces for indulging me!) Mashed potatoes used to remind me of home. Now they are home. I wonder if they would taste good with picante sauce on them. I'm betting yes!

Last night I held the first Sunday night get-together for the 10th, 11th, and 12th graders of First Lutheran. It was my first new initiative and I have been working toward it for a couple of weeks. I planned to have us cook a meal: Jambalaya as a tip of the hat to New Orleans, because it was All Saints Sunday, and because several of these youth had attended the National Youth Gathering there in 2012. And so I bought enough groceries to make a LOT because on Wednesday night we are going to feed some homeless people at a shelter in Rochester so I figured I would just freeze any leftovers and be ready for that event too.

I also built an entire Jeopardy board using my printer and lots of paper and tape and all the wit and wisdom I could muster.

The picture stinks but there are awesome categories and fun questions.

Saint-ly Cities for $100, Julie:
A: The capitol of Minnesota
Q: What is St. Paul?

I'll take Saint-ly Holidays for $400:
A: Holiday where coffee is served to people still in bed by a young woman wearing candles on her head.
Q: What is Santa Lucia Day?

As you can imagine, I had a ton of fun dreaming it up, and if you are a total nerd like me, you can even play the game here: jeopardylabs.com/play/all-saints-jeopardy2.  Beware of the New Orleans Saints category, most of the questions refer to things that Vikings fans would know.

I also had a really good devotion planned. . .

One kid came. ONE. She was adorable. And we had three great hours of conversation and cooking. I have plenty of Jambalaya left for the hungry people on Wednesday night.

Doesn't this make your mouth water? It's delicious, and very easy, and a perfect recipe to cook with a kitchen full of kids with different skills. But I only had ONE . . .

So I was disappointed, and homesick for Triumphant Love where an evening in the kitchen with "moi" would likely draw a bunch of kids. So when all was chopped and cooked and sampled and the tools washed up and put away, I went home and had a few chips and salsa while I watched a sappy movie on Hallmark.

Then I went to bed. And as is my habit, I prayed for my new young friend. A young friend who was feeling lots of loss on All Saints Sunday. A young friend who at 16 has lost two friends to suicide, and another to a car accident. Whoops! I guess this wasn't about me at all. I guess I was right where I was supposed to be, with a person who loves hanging out in the kitchen, trying out new foods, talking about God, and who needed someone to talk to about the people she was missing. As I prayed for her I realized that there was probably no one else in this town who didn't know at least one of the people she was grieving and so her loss would have been diminished, because everyone else was grieving too. And had 15 kids showed up, she wouldn't have shared so much. . . God had a plan. And my ignorance of the plan probably prepared me perfectly for what was supposed to unfold. I feel so privileged to be useful in this way. So blessed to have God walk with me step-by-step. And so stupid that I miss the point and get all wrapped up in my own plans.

Today we had a skeleton crew at work so we had a little Jambalaya for lunch, and as I shared about last evening I received wonderful words of encouragement to keep at it, and that the kids will come, it will just take time. God blessed me with another little helping of comfort from the kitchen.