In my thoughts and prayers...

There are two very special women who are in my thoughts and prayers today.

J. is a friend and fellow seminarian. We are both pastoral care and counselling students and so it is in the context of those classes that I got to know her. Last year during my pastoral counselling practicum, J. treated me as an equal even though her wisdom far surpasses mine. Just over a year ago her cancer reoccurred and she spent the year in intensive treatment. In November she asked me to worship lead a chapel in which we celebrated J.'s amazing recovery and God's faithfulness. Her scans were clear and we praised God, all the while acknowledging the toll this had taken on J. body. Yesterday I heard the news that the cancer that had started in her breast years ago and was in her liver last year is now suspected to be in her brain. We are all awaiting the results of further tests in utter disbelief. How can this happen to such a beautiful woman who has already been through so much, and has so much to offer in ministry? I am in awe of how J. maintains a hopeful attitude in the midst of yet another uncertainty.
~
The summer before coming to seminary I had the opportunity to work with MCC, and more specifically with Wilma Derksen. As you may or may not know, Wilma is the mother of Candace Derksen who was murdered in Winnipeg in 1984. 23 years later a suspect was arrested and charged, and the trial is currently in progress. I can't even imagine what Wilma and her family are going through, though Wilma allows us a glimpse into her world through her public blog:My Lemonade (Click on "Bitter Sweet")
~
Two extraordinary women who I feel blessed to know. Two women who I am keeping in my thoughts and prayers these days.

There was a time when the thought of such hardship would have devastated me, and I would have said, "How can you allow this to happen, God?" But I've noticed a shift. Though the thought of what these two women are going through saddens me, I am not given over to despair. Pain is a reality of living in this broken world and where at one time I would have asked, "How could God do this?" my prayer is now, "God, weep with us and bring about your Kingdom soon." I think my understanding of healing and wholeness has also broadened.

I've included here the words to the song we sang to close the chapel service last November:

We will walk with God, my brothers, we will walk with God.
We will walk with God, my sisters, we will walk with God.
We will go rejoicing till the kingdom has come.
We will go rejoicing till the kingdom has come.

Skype is second best...

This being an auntie from a distance thing is hard.

Change of pace...

I think I just survived my most intense seminary experience to date. Interterm consisted of 3 weeks of very LONG days. It felt like the last week of the semester, for a full 3 weeks. And for me, my body goes into crunch-mode meaning I need very few hours of sleep per night and am relatively productive during the day (or wee hours of the morning, as the case may be). I did more reading and writing than I care to think about. The journal I turned in was 90 pages long, single spaced! Before you get too impressed, I'll let you know that the majority of that was quotes and excerpts from my readings. But there were times when I thought my hand was just going to detach from my wrist from all the typing. And my back is in revolt - no more sitting! I'm so glad that this school doesn't have the module system. I don't think I'd survive. Fortunately, I won't ever have to do an interterm class ever again!

After finishing my final exam this morning and turning in my assignments, I needed a change of pace so this afternoon I jumped on the Steiner and did some snow removal on campus. This was my first time snow blowing and, as you can probably imagine, I was in my element!





I didn't realize that Carrie was videoing me:


I was pointing in the video to try and get Carrie to take a picture of the decal:

Anabaptist immersion...

I can't believe that a whole week has elapsed since my last post. Time is flying! I just finished week two of my three week intensive course, Anabaptist History and Theology. I'm really enjoying the professor and what I'm learning; I'm not so much enjoying the amount of work that this class is. I spend 8:30-11:30 in class each morning, and then I spend the rest of my day, usually until midnight or later, reading and journalling. We have 100-150 pages of reading daily, and then we have to summarize and reflect on each article or chapter we've read. It's amounting to A LOT of work. I think my journal is nearing 50 pages already (single spaced!). But if there's one benefit, I shouldn't have to spend a ton of time studying for the final exam after engaging with the material at this level. We also have to do a series of 3 projects (sermon outlines, Sunday school lessons, etc.), for which I've chosen to do a series of three spiritual retreats based on Anabaptist themes. Retreat day 1 focuses on prayer and the Spirit (inner Word, as the Anabaptists referred to it), day 2 focuses on worship and the Lord's Supper, and day 3 focuses on discipleship. So that's what I'm up to these days, reading, writing, and more reading.

11 step program for those thinking of having kids...

I came across this on Facebook and thought it was too good not to share. Now whenever people ask me why I don't have kids, I'll have an answer for them - I haven't passed the 11 step program yet.

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

That's more like it...

This was what we arrived back to on Monday - above freezing temps and greenish grass in January.


And today we're enjoying the beautiful lake effect snow. 6 inches and counting! This is more like the January I know - though it's still fairly mild, only -5C out there. Two things about lake effect snow - the flakes coming down are usually huge and fluffy, and the snow is very intermittent - one second the sun is shining and the next there's a whiteout, and then it's back to sun again. I managed to catch a sunshine moment for these pictures.


So glad I don't have to go anywhere off campus today.

Christmas 2010

1400 miles . 24+ hours behind the wheel . nearly perfect roads the entire way . home for Christmas (and for the last time from Indiana)

First order of the holiday, getting a Christmas tree.

Niki, Nathan, dad and I went Christmas tree hunting just north of town.


Found the perfect one!


Christmas with the family, starring who else but Levi!
Sporting his new outfit from auntie Alicia.

There's that smile!

So much fun rocking him to sleep.

Hanging with the guys.

Not so sure about this whole gifts business - maybe next year.

Classic Levi stare-down.

Cutest nephew ever!

Mommy and Levi.

Nap time.

On our way to the family gathering.

Grandpa and grandma having fun with their grandson.

Christmas shoes.

I had him in the Moby wrap one afternoon - apparently it's a good place to nap.

Four generations - Levi reached the point of no return.

Oma and Levi.


Andrew and Nathan's afternoon of snowmobiling ended with towing a machine to the shop.

It's great to have an uncle with a shop, and great to have a brother and father with shop privileges.

Andrew's coveralls were just a tad too big.

I worked on rotating tires while Andrew and dad worked on the brakes.


Everyone was home for Christmas this year. It had been a couple of years since we were all together for Christmas.

A moose, bidding me farewell.

Carrie and I were delayed one day coming back because of road closures in North Dakota and Minnesota. The roads opened on Sunday so we started our trek back to Indiana for the last time. The roads weren't too bad, except for a 70 mile stretch in Minnesota where the highway was icy and snow packed and the average speed was 40 miles/hour. We saw 3 fresh rollovers and 2 other vehicles in the ditch within 30 miles of each other. Made for some tense driving. We arrived back in Indiana at 1:30am Monday with enough time for a few hours of sleep before starting class at 8:30.
And this is what I arrived back to in Indiana. What happened to the snow? Isn't it supposed to be January? +1C here yesterday.