news of goodness

Three pieces of good news:

1. My Canon 50D arrived in the mail today. Cam-cam has been slowly fading lately, so I decided it was necessary to get a new one. After manually focusing and missing half the shots I wanted while being home last week, my decision to make the purchase was confirmed. It's one sweet machine! It's finally time to say goodbye to cam-cam. In honor of her 3 years of hard work, here's the best picture she ever took. Mind you, I'm in the picture on the far right, so really Heather Knigge gets all the props for taking it. Six Flags, St. Louis, MO. College mission trip with some wonderful students from St. Matthews!

2. I'm now a published author. I was asked to write for the Concord (Luther Seminary's school newspaper) about my internship experience in relation to the eighth commandment. You can view it here if you'd like to see it.

3. Lastly, a member of our congregation took my computer and did a complete gut job on it. As a result, it's finally working at lightning fast speed. What a great day!

oh what a night!

As you could tell from my last post, it was a rough night. Sleeping on a cot in a room full of strangers is the last place I wanted to be. I have security issues. A door with a lock makes me feel safe. So, it was eyes open all night, worried my things would be taken out from underneath me, literally. I slept for a few hours on the plane. So thankful for a faithful friend who helped me get home from the airport on such short notice. All day, I worked on my identity sermon. What does my identity as "child of God" mean? Did that name tag magically appear on my shirt last night when I felt like punching the American Airlines lady? Did it keep me from crying at the ticket counter? Did that name tag give me the energy to write a sermon with literally no sleep? Did that name tag prevent me from throwing my computer out the window when it shut down for the 10th time in 5 minutes? Did that name tag help get me through a sermon I felt unprepared to give? Yes.

It was tough preaching on this topic. Sometimes it's hard to believe God really loves me enough to call me a child. Parents love kids a lot. God loves me way more than that. If only I believed it a little more often.

all about I

I sat on a plane for 4 hours today. On the ground at MSP.

I could've spent those 4 hours with Kevin.
I didn't expect tropical storms in April in Chicago.
I left my favorite scarf in the gate area.
I missed my connecting flight to LAX.
I slept in Chicago on a cot in the airport.
I was woken up at 4:00 a.m. by an angry security guard.
I missed my 3 worship services & my 11:00 sermon.
I'm home now and have to finish my sermon for 7:00.
American Airlines is getting a letter.

don't make me chang mai thai!

Rise and shine! A slumber party with Pastor Bob! Ok, he was in another room, but it was pretty hilarious to share breakfast with him at the Bergeson's kitchen table. I look forward to hosting (I say that loosely, as it wasn't even my house) people like this in the future when I have a home and a place to put them.

We started off the day with a trip to Luther Sem. Talk about strange. I hadn't been there since leaving for LA, and it was a different feeling to walk around on campus and bump into people. I ran into Kate's mom, a few others, and enjoyed a conversation with Bob, Kevin, and Dave Lose. We spent most of our time talking about the Center for Biblical Preaching, interjecting worship stuff here and there.

Bob's cousin Katie and her husband own Chang Mai Thai a restaurant in Uptown . So, we went there and enjoyed a lunch with the owners! I felt important. I had some wild dish...I can't remember the exact name khau kadekadek or something like that. Delicious. Katie took us on a tour of the eatery, and sent us on our way. We took Bob to the Walker, only to discover the giant spoon was missing the cherry! Apparently it's being refinished, so it looked incomplete. Bob's an architecture fanatic, so we took him to the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. That place is pretty awesome. We're still trying to figure out what the circus umbrella was all about. Any Catholics wanna enlighten me? A trip to Kevin's house in the afternoon wouldn't be complete without a yummy treat. Kev and I made our specialty: banana cream blizzards. Then we kicked Bob out so we could spend some time alone.

My friend from seminary, Mollie, was celebrating her birthday tonight, so we made a surprise visit to Dave & Buster's (an arcade for adults) to wish her a Happy Birthday. It's been fun seeing so many people while being home. And I feel as though this trip came at a good time. Just when I was getting to the point where I wanted to cry every time I thought about going back home, I was reminded of how much I like being here. Sharing breakfast with Kevin, watching his master egg flipping skills, going for a drive together, all such good things.

forecast: windy with sun

It was a beautiful day in Worthington! Windy, but warm. We spent most of the day outside. Presley had preschool, so we got to watch Madison all morning. A mini photo shoot, and a nap, and Presley was back. On the swing set, trampoline, watching Presley and Madison in the Barbie jeep. Entertaining! Presley opened her own beauty shop/tattoo parlor while I was home and did some lovely work on my neck, foot, and wrist. This girl has talent! Our time was cut short at home as we had to get back to the cities to pick up Pastor Bob. That's right, my stalker supervisor flew to MN the weekend I was there! Said he had some 'speaking gig' SURE! :)

On our way rejoicing...just kidding, we stopped in Mankato for supper at Chipotle with my dad and Karishma! KK showed up wearing the exact same color scheme as me. Great minds think alike! When I showed up, the screaming, hugging and laughter filled the patio area. We enjoyed a yummy meal, a photo shoot in the Chipotle parking lot, and lots and lots of hugs. By the time we left the patio was empty. Gee...were we that loud?

A trip through St. Peter, my first taste of Dairy Queen in 8 months, and back to the cities we went! Bob's plane got in an hour late, so I sent Kevin to pick him up at 12:30 a.m. We're all sleeping at Dave and Lynda's because we have an early morning appointment with David Lose at seminary. Nighty night!

2 in 1

Back on a plane. Time to go home. I flew out of LAX over the Pacific and got to see some incredible views of the city. It's hard to picture just how big this place is until you see it from the air. Quite a sight! I never obey the 'no electronic devices' rule. And can you blame me? Look at these views! The plane ride was smooth until we got closer to Chicago. One air pocket in the sky had me gripping my seat for dear life. The girl next to me jumped like I did. We were both scared. I couldn't have been happier to be on the ground. When I went to get off my plane in Chicago, I recognized a guy 3 rows up from me. Francis Chan! Author of Crazy Love. Ever since I began reading his book and watching the DVD's in Growth Group, I've wanted to meet him. There he was. 10 feet away and I froze. I didn't know what to do. So, I grabbed my camera and took a picture of him. He doesn't look too happy about it. Not sure I would either if some strange girl took my picture. I was hoping that once I got off the plane he'd be standing around so I could introduce myself, but no such luck. He was long gone. I'm kicking myself for sitting there like a quiet fool. Grr! Either way, talk about a small world. It totally made my night. Two famous people in one week. Peder & Francis. Lucky me!

Dove and Bijou reunite: I arrived in St. Paul at 11:30 p.m. Kevin was waiting in his car with a bouquet of flowers and a bag of treats for my arrival. He's so sweet. We went back to Dave and Lynda's house and crashed shortly after. Home sweet home. It's good to be back.

Wednesday morning we loaded up Lynda's Subaru and departed for Worthington. Dianne (Lynda's sister), Lynda, Kevin, and I all made the trip. This was their first time to Worthington, so it was pretty exciting. I'm not sure if they were excited about the purse party, or about visiting, but it sure meant a lot to me that they came along for both! I'm preaching on Sunday when I return, so I spent most of the ride trying to write my sermon. Even with earplugs in both ears, it's hard to do. With so much to do at church it's hard to even enjoy these vacations.

Presley called to check on our progress a few times. She and Madison sat in their matching princess chairs in the front door on and off for 40 minutes waiting for us to get there. And I thought I was excited! By the time we arrived, Madison was sleeping, but Presley was as awake as ever! YAY! She climbed up around my neck to hug me and wouldn't let go. Even as I dropped my arms and she hung there like a little monkey! A tour, some purse sorting, and it was time to wake up Madison! I think it took her a few minutes to figure out who I was.

We welcomed Lynda and Dianne to Worthington and headed to mom's for purse party set up. We had TONS of them. The party was scheduled to start at 5, and by 4:30 people were already showing up. Women flooded in the house and grabbed 2-3 purses at a time until they decided which one they wanted. It was great fun to see and catch up with old friends. We sold over half of the purses we bought, but still have a ton left. Let me know if you want one!

Eric picked up Mersaydes so I got to see her as well! All three nieces in one place! I'm one lucky Auntie. Once the flow of purse crazy ladies slowed down, I went outside with the girls. We played with bubbles, jumped on the trampoline, chased eachother around the yard, and had a wonderful time. Back out to Holly and Jason's for a slumber party! Here are some favorites from the day:

Beating Eric for the 900th time at butt wars!3 lovely girls in one picture

Lynda and I relaxing on the patio
Madison doing what she loves best: waving bye-bye.
Millions of bubbles. Bubbles for me.
High, high, high into the sky!Trampoline races

Eric and Kevin doing dirty dancing lifts!

Seeing Mersaydes' two teeth, and her walking feet.

light and dark

My hair is getting lighter, and my skin is getting darker. No matter how hard I try, I can't fight the sun. It's not even 11:00 a.m. and the temperature is already 90 degrees. Yikes! I broke out my fan this morning for the first time in months. It's suppose to reach over 100 sometime today. The great thing is there's no humidity, so it just feels toasty, not awful.

What better day to pick up running again? I took a stupid pill this morning and signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon in October. 26.2 miles. I think I ran 2 this morning and wanted to die. This could be interesting. I'm going to need some awesome new songs on my mp3 player if I hope to keep up the training. Kevin sent me a great little training program that breaks down the appropriate running distances on each day. My two miler didn't make the chart. Good thing he's running it too or I might lose motivation.

Tonight we had the very first learning cluster. 60 people (not quite Jesus' 70) gathered at the Such's house, for food, teaching, singing, worship, and prayer. It rocked. I heard nothing but positivity from those who were there and can't wait to go back next week!

Anyway, now the real marathon begins. 24 hours until I'm home. Bags to pack, two 3 hour meetings to attend, and a sermon to write. Oh dear.

conFIRMing faith

Before leaving for the retreat, I was shocked to watch Bob walk up to me in the parking lot and tell me he had just eaten lunch with Peder Eide. WHAT?! I love Peder Eide. He was less than 50 feet away from me, and I didn't even know it. So, to make up for his lack of cool-supervisorness, he took me up to his office and called Peder. I got to talk to him on the phone!!! He's a super talented Christian Artist who I met in Brookings when he did a concert there. What a thrill to talk with him again on the phone! Ok, enough groupie talk.

What a wonderful experience to go and be part of the confirmation retreat this weekend in Idyllwild, CA. On our way out we stopped at a Wal-mart where the 8 students were broken into two teams. I took one batch and Greg took the other. Our job was to go on a scavenger photo hunt while buying groceries for our meals that we'd prepare. Oh joy. Trying to shop with 8 grabby kids all while trying to stay under our $60 was a challenge. I was constantly saying, "Check the price, we need to get the most for our money." When they weren't looking, I'd put back the name brand bacon and exchange it for one $1.5o cheaper. We had all we needed for our meals. We chose to make spaghetti, french toast, eggs, chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream (guess who influenced this decision?), and beverages. When we went up to pay our total was only $35!! So, we went back and spent $20 on ice cream and dessert. Our scavenger hunt was to read passages out of Proverbs and reenact them for a photo. Here's our rendition of Proverbs 26:11 "As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly." We only got about 15 nasty looks while messing around in Wal-mart. I'm sure youth ministers get that all the time!

Finally, a 6,000 foot climb up and we arrived at our destination. A wonderful little cabin, newly remodeled, which sat on the edge of a babbling brook, and deep in the woods on a mountain in CA. I decided it would be a wonderful place to retire. The most adorable little town square with every artsy-fartsy shop you can imagine. Mine and Hannah's yarn store would fit in perfectly there!

How quickly I'd forgotten what it was like to be in middle school. Clothing, questions, boys, shopping, cheerleading, energy, sports, prank calls, and stench. Without parents around, I'm convinced middle schoolers would never shower! Regardless of their smell, each one of them was so unique and precious in the questions they asked, and concerns they voiced about faith. This retreat provides them a place to ask as many questions as they need. They can choose not to confirm their faith, and that's ok. No parent can make a child do it. Authentic choices rock.

Even though my job was to be a leader, most of my time was spent learning. Even 8th graders have something to teach me. One girl taught us how to make duct tape wallets. Of course my anal/perfectionist tendencies got a little out of hand as I spent an hour carefully cutting and making it, but it turned out sweet. My teacher told me it was good enough to sell. How exciting! Of course we had to make face masks out of all the wasted duct tape. We explored one afternoon and walked through the creek in freezing water, climbed on huge rocks, painted fingernails (the nail pens were a hit), lounged around, and ate. Our general sessions consisted of teachings on the triangle (in, up, and out), I taught in. Try teaching middle schoolers that church is important, and that being surrounded by other believers is critical to their spiritual health. They really seemed to get it. The thing they actually heard: any personal story. Knowing a mistake I made, what I've done in life, and how it helped or hurt me got their attention like no other. Good thing I'm an evangelist (aka story teller), it comes naturally! It blew my mind to hear them talking about the struggles they have with friends. In 8th grade, doing drugs, having sex, cutting themselves, drinking. I never dealt with stuff like that in middle school.

Almost every genre of kid was represented at this retreat: the shy one who only spoke when no one else was around. The kid who hated everything about her parents. The obnoxious kid who always needed attention. The popular one who is already battling with peer pressure, dating, and issues of sex. The question asker. The kid who is blessed with parents who are teaching him to be respectful and hard working.

As I sit here writing this after a long day of travel and kids, my stomach is turning. Too dang much sugar and junk food. Our Mexico mission dinner tonight was complete with strawberry shortcake and chocolate krispie treats. NO MORE SUGAR! I'm heading to bed. Two more days until home.

A few of my favorite quotes from the weekend:

-"I know I look erotic in my glow in the dark footie pajamas." Spoken by an 8th grade young man.

-"What's that thing in the front?" Wondering what a hay bail was when I showed them a picture of a wheat field. I'm from the country and I like it that way.

-"Danielle, can you polish off the ice cream?" She replies, "I will, and I ask God to help me."

car-la-la-la-la

Can we box God in? Is God male or female? How about the Holy Spirit? Is God human like us? I made reference to the Holy Spirit using a feminine pronoun last week in my blog entry. I think it's good to ask questions. I was reminded of this today when Carla came in and asked me about it. Well, we refer to God as a he all the time. We don't know that God is a man. Why do we assume God and the Holy Spirit are male? Are they either? I don't see any harm in saying "she" if we say "he" all the time. Honestly, what's the difference? I'm thankful that the God I believe in doesn't get mad at me for asking questions, for wondering, or for trying to understand God more. And I pray that others around me are exploring God in the same way I am rather than being spoon fed their theology. Thanks to those of you who asked about that. Our brains are meant to be used!

Now it's time for a tribute to Carla! Tomorrow is her last day at Good Shepherd as she accepted a new position at the Torrance school district office. Carla was the first person to help me get acquainted with campus and has helped me almost everyday with random questions and tasks. She is so very gifted with a warm heart and a caring spirit. When someone says, "Thank you" on the phone, she replies, "You're very welcome." Carla rocks. We held a little party for her today in her honor and surprised her with a room full of balloons, a cake, gifts, and a bunch of wild party goers shouting, "SURPRISE!" She had no idea. Part of her present includes a group photo of all of us with her. She will be greatly missed. But, a party was a chance to collect a whole bunch of balloons, and steal Gloria's crown. I kept singing, "There's a new queen in town, everybody's talking 'bout the new queen in town." We joke that I'm going to take over her job when she retires. I think I could handle sitting on a royal throne all day and visiting people! Sounds like fun! I always used to watch Miss America pageants as a little girl and cry at the end because I dreamed of winning the title. Today was as close as I'll ever get, so I had to enjoy it! I took the balloons outside after everyone had left, and let them go. There's something that feels so good about sending a pack of 15 balloons into the air. Standing, watching, until they were high overhead. Good luck balloons, Good luck Carla!

Speaking of luck, specifically bad luck, my camera has just about officially died. The shutter button works occasionally when I try to auto focus, so I sucked it up and ordered a new one. A Canon 50D. I figure it's not worth risking a broken camera when I have a wedding to shoot in May, so I had to order it. It'll be fun to play with the new one, but cam cam has been a great companion for the last three years and it's sad to retire her. Supper tonight with the Luhmann's and the sad news of another violent shooting in Long Beach. 3 people were killed at the hospital when a hospital worker walked in with a gun and shot a man, another outside and then killed himself. Sadly, Linda's sister-in-law (Theresa, who I just celebrated Easter with) was working about 30 feet away in the hospital, and knew all of the men. The one who was shot inside apparently stumbled into the area where she was working before collapsing. I can't get over the number of deaths recently. Is this recession so bad that people need to take their lives over it? What can we do about this?

Last thing, in case you didn't know this, I love Kevin. A lot. It's our 23 month anniversary today, so I sent him a collage of pictures I took holding a sign. Here's one of them so you can know how completely nutso I've gotten over this kid! 5 days until I'm home in his arms! Not that I'm counting or anything. :)

no more shopping!

Well, Holly said I needed to get more purses. We have over 30 people signed up to come to the purse party and only 38 purses, so back down to the fashion district I went. Heather came with to help with the fun and to get some purses for herself! But there was a big problem: they had just gotten raided by the police, so bags were super hard to find. The vendors were on edge, you could tell. They didn't know who to trust, who they could let see their bags. I felt so bad. We just kept saying, "We're not police, we just need to buy like 20 bags!" As if a normal shopper would say something like that. Luckily, one lady let us up into her stash. Again, 10 floors up, but much safer than last time, we found a crap load of LV, Dooney & Burke, and Coach bags. And all of them were super unique and original! We were rushed out by the seller and only ended up getting 9. By the end of the day, we had accumulated 20 purses, 9 pairs of sunglasses, earrings, and Coach key chains! All in all, quite successful. I can't wait to see who shows up for the party and what bags they like best. It seems the entire worship staff took today off after all the hooha of the weekend. Easter was wonderful, just exhausting, so Bob ordered mandatory abiding. Twist my arm, I'll take the day off! :)

everything changes

Easter top 10 countdown

10 frames of wii bowling
9 outfit changes
8 hours at church
7 guitar chords to remember
6 minutes of alone time
5 scoops of ice cream
4 Easter services
3 urban dances
2 palm tree slivers
1 risen Lord Jesus

What a wonderful day. No lie, I'm exhausted, but it was well worth it to spend a morning praising and an afternoon relaxing! 3:45 a.m. This is officially the earliest I've ever gotten up on Easter morning. I was at church by 5, ready to run songs and dancing. We did our urban dance at the 6:00 service, and nailed it. We didn't do it at the 8:00 service because that's more traditional, and let's face it, a rap song has no place in a traditional service. So, by the 9:30 service my nerves had gone back up. Of course, it didn't help that the sanctuary was packed full and people were standing in the back. About 3/4 of the way done and we got to a part in the song where we lift our arms while the word "victorious" is being sung. For whatever reason, I got caught up in the moment, and wanted people to stand up at this point in the dance. So, I said out loud, "C'mon!!" and forgot where I was in the dance. Fortunately, that was the only moment in the song where I took a cue from the dancer in front of me and didn't miss a beat. Talk about a God moment. I have no idea what came over me or what possessed me to say something out loud while dancing, but I did.

I also got to sing the song, "Everything Changes" by Kathryn Scott for all four services with guitar. It was a beautiful song, so it was incredibly meaningful to sing the words and bring the amazing message of the way everything in our lives change when Christ comes. Here are the lyrics:

Mercy to the brokenhearted
Life to those who grieve
Joy to those whose dreams are stolen
Imprisoned souled released

When you come everything changes
When you speak even the darkness hides
When you step into our frailty, Jesus
You restore every broken life
And Everything changes.

Blessing to the poor in spirit
Grace for those in need
Sight to those who live in darkness
Innocence redeemed.

This is the kingdom come.
This is the kingdom.

It was pretty hilarious during the service because I had to change my outfit a total of 9 times during worship for singing, dancing, and the prayers. From my dress, to my capris, to my alb, I never heard the sermon in its entirety because I was always changing clothes during it. Maybe that's what a model feels like when she frantically changes clothes between runway walks.

I decided to be brave today and lead the Easter prayers extemporaneously. About 2 minutes of thought went into what I might want to say before the service, but decided I was going to let the Holy Spirit do the leading rather than premeditating them. One of our prayer ministers came up to me after the first service and said she felt like she had just seen a flower fully bloom. Her affirmation was so kind and increased my confidence to do it again at the next 3 services. I'm not sure why I stress about writing perfect prayers. What's wrong with bobbling through them if they come from the heart? I'd vote nothing.

There's a beautiful tradition at Good Shepherd called the "living cross." A wooden cross wrapped in chicken wire gets set on the patio early on Sunday morning, and people bring flowers from their garden to turn it into something beautiful. Everything around here has gotten so colorful and bright, including the cross. It went from bare and boring, to bright and bold within hours! What a great idea!

The Luhmann's invited me to Chet & Theresa's house for Easter lunch. Theresa filled an Easter basket for me and told me I'd have to find it in the house and that everything is "on limits." We spent an hour looking for our baskets in their huge home, and found them tucked in some pretty sneaky places. Then we enjoyed a wonderful lunch: ribs, ham, potatoes, broccoli salad, fruit, brownies, cake, and ICE CREAM! Long overdue. After lunch, all the kids were forced into the garage. We stood out there for 15 minutes waiting for all the Easter eggs to get hidden in the back yard. All of the eggs were colorful, except one: the GOLDEN egg. This egg had a special surprise inside, so everyone wanted it. When we were set free in the backyard, it was a mad house. Searching, filling bags, hunting. No golden egg. Where could it be? I found myself hunting through the palm plants next to the pool. Those dang things have sharp stickers on them. I poked myself so hard on one that my hand started bleeding. Then I got two splinters in my hand from trying to look through the leaves. All for a stupid golden egg. It seemed silly until all of a sudden I moved back a leaf and saw the shiny little egg. I felt like Willy Wonka. I jumped up and down and freaked out! (Lynda happened to get a picture of the moment). All the other kids groaned that I had found it. Inside: $10! What a day! Bobby (the defending golden egg finder) and I had to take a picture together. They said now I have to come back next year to defend my title! :) We went back in the garage...the eggs were filled again...this time with money, and we went at it one more time. Chet tried holding us in the door until the littlest kid had a few seconds to grab eggs. We forced our way through. One egg got thrown into the middle of the pool and Devin jumped in the pool with his clothes on to get it (it was empty). We spent the afternoon having a wii bowling tournament, sharing birthday cake for Theresa, and taking pictures by the pool! It was a day of overwhelming kindness. I can image it would be easy to not invite a stranger over for family holidays, but the fact that they welcomed me was such a blessing. Theresa and Chet are wonderful grandparents. They go out of their way to make holidays memorable for their kids and grandchildren. I want to be a mom and grandma like that.

Well, I'm running out of steam. My body is on a new early morning schedule it seems, so right now at 9:00 it's saying its time to go to bed. Happy Easter everyone! Good night!