daily inspiration(s)

pink oranges. cause pink is the new orange. at least, that's what their sticker said...

groceries and more...

yesterday and today i ventured out to various stores. 


yesterday in particular i did grocery-store-hopping.


this very challenging activity involves visiting three different local grocery stores plus superwalmart (and i did venture into the grocery portion) with a layover at target (not a supertarget so therefore it is not a grocery store) and a final pitstop at a liquor store.


bought a lot of food. primarily fruits and dairy products. and frozen pizza. and veggies. 


and some beer and self-rising flour so that i could make beer bread. which was pretty tasty. 


today i went specifically to herbergers for their community day. and bought a new necklace and some wall decor (cause it is too fancy to call a wall hanging) to spruce up a very blank wall. 


now if only i could get the stupid thing to hang straight...

tubing and music

today was the first sunday in lent. which meant that right before one of our services, i get called upon to quickly switch our powerpoint and worship order to replace the "alleluia" with the lenten verse.

then after church, for which i looked awesome, i ran back home. ate food and got dressed all in black for my band concert.

concert went well.

then went shopping briefly. herbergers where i bought a new pair of glove/mittens. you know, the ones that are gloves with fingertips cut off and the option of folding over the rest for it to be transformed into a mitten.

of course, i picked the print fits most with the hat i purchased a while back.

and while there, i picked out (but am waiting until saturday to purchase) some really neat wall hangings/pictures.

then i went back home to change and back some apple crisp for the highlight of the day: potluck followed by tubing at the local ski area, buena vista.

and had an amazing time.

when i got there, britta said that we were going to be tubing buddies and that she was going to show me the ropes since i had never gone tubing before.

and i was in a great mood. everyone was so jovial and having fun.

tubing was basically like going down a waterslide on an innertube, which i have done several times.

only colder. at night. outdoors. in february.

but i wore my new boots that kept my feet warm as my face froze. i swear i got windburn from sliding so fast and having ice spray coming at me.

some of the trips down were solo. some of the routes were smooth. others ridiculously bumpy.

other trips were as a group of two, three, four, 12, or 18...in other words, it varied.

some highlights:
- duo with bri. way fast and dizzying. the guy helping to steady the tubes decided to push us and help us spin. so we screamed and got a bit dizzy.
- a solo on the track meant for groups. of course, i was told to tuck my legs in, which meant i could spin faster. and had to wait a few seconds at the bottom to let the world straighten out.
- duo with britta. her last ride of the night and we flew down the slope.
- racing the boys. and i always won. even if they took a running start and i barely got pushed off.
- joking with the workers. the guys were nice and seemed to enjoy bantering with people.
- finding out that my crisp was all eaten up when i went to retrieve my pan

but now that the fun is over, i'm sore and going to be in pain tomorrow.

but it was so worth it

splurge

i admit that i did not have such a good week. at least, i can honestly say that i've had better weeks. cause this was one of the more depressing and i struggled to function due to both rational and irrational anger, frustration and extreme dislike (cause i refuse to hate)...


to put it bluntly, i was not in a very good mood (due to many and various reasons too numerous to count...)


but fortunately, God has blessed me with some amazing friends and family that were willing to listen to me rant and rave and purge myself of most of my horrid emotions


that and some intentional time with bible in hand and a lot of praying


yesterday morning i took off for a quick trip to st paul. 


cause i really had to get out of bemidji. 


i think that this is partly due to the fact that the entire town of bemidji has become the bubble i live and breathe in. much like how the campus at both augustana college and luther seminary became bubbles from which i had to regularly escape, whether to go shopping or eat out or go to a movie or whatever


the other part was that i needed to be around peers.


peers who i do not feel are constantly watching me, judging my abilities, and being overly observant over what i wear or how i act. 


and it was fantastic. 


en route, i stopped by an outlet mall and perused a few stores in search of clothing since i guess my wardrobe needs some revamping. 


at least according to some in my congregation. and because i don't want to offend or fight over my right to wear clothes that the rest of my generation wears (because i'm a pastor now), i bought several new sweaters and shirts. 


i was bitter about that for quite some time, but God is giving me a second chance to approach this slight change with grace and a better attitude. 


for example, i love to shop. so i went shopping. i like having new clothes and not always wearing the same old things in my closet, so i went shopping. so i'm currently on a shopper's high


exciting highlights of my shopping spree: 
- 6 sweaters
- 2 long-sleeve shirts
- 2 tees
- new skirt
- two new tables at ikea (matching side table and coffee table)
- new wine stopper
- 12 bottles of wine (now i just need to have a party so i can drink it...)
- heart-shaped cake pan
- frying pan
- small glass candle plates (you know what i mean, the simple ones to put pillar candles on)
- clothes for my niece who just doesn't stop growing 


and of course, my trip to the twin cities was not just about the shopping. 


it was really all about my friends. 


cause i missed them and wanted to see them.


so i met up with mandi b (who went to ikea and the mall of america with me), katie e (who let me crash at her place, fed me pizza and banana pancakes and took me to trader joe's where i bought a lot of wine), and michelle (who hosted a movie night at her apartment where i also saw rachel, a friend from my camp days). as well as meeting a few new people.


so great to be able to share our stories and experiences since we have not seen each other since last summer (katie, mandi), last semester (michelle) or for a couple years (rachel). 


i have missed not having friends right next door. four hours is not really all that far, but is still too far to see each other that often.


and today i left st paul for another adventure en route to bemidji.


i stopped by cabela's where i bought some new boots. cause i hear that bemidji gets snow (nothing like stating the obvious as there is some on the ground and its only february and there can easily be snow in april since i live so far north in the tundra). and before someone lets me know that i should have bought snowboots last october, i did have some boots. i just bought some new ones. awesome ones that are supposed to keep my feet warm in -32 degrees fahrenheit. 


then i met up in baxter (which can easily be confused with its neighbor brainerd since they are essentially one town) with josh, a friend from my freshman year of college and the last two years at sem. who is on internship only 2 hours away yet we have not met up all that often due to our busy schedules. we chatted as we went shopping. and found some success in ice scrapers on clearance. cause we both know that winter is not over. 


so as i get ready to sign off for the evening, i am finally at peace. God is amazing and is definitely guiding me into some tough situations that will make me stronger. i just am scared of what will come if i struggled to handle this one


i hope that i will be able to update about how the band concert and the tubing (which will be a first time for me) go tomorrow

irksome irritations

i have decided that it is irritating that blogs have the most recent posts at the top of the list.

when i'm reading more than one post, i really want them to be in chronological order with the oldest first

instead of having to scroll down to read the post, then scroll up to read its following post, scroll down to read it, scroll up to get the next one, and so on and so forth...

so why isn't there an option to be able to rearrange the posts when reading?

crazy weekend

so here's the latest episode in "the life and times of kara the intern"


my original saturday plans were to be as follows:
1. be a bum until after eating lunch. this involves sleeping in, staying in my pjs, watching tv, reading books, etc
2. after lunch, work a bit on my sermon. reading, rereading, writing notes, reading, rereading. you get the picture, i hope
3. check on a dog (food and water)
4. study break in the form of a bluegrass concert. 
5. finish sermon
6. sleep and be awesome in the morning when i preach at the two sunday services


here was my real saturday:
1. sleeping in (sadly enough after a week of getting up before 6:30, sleeping in was being awake before 7:30)
2. reading a book (great start to my day of being a bum)
3. getting a phone call at 10 asking if i had gotten any of the messages left yesterday. (which i didn't. and they had left four.) house was going to be shown at 2:30 that afternoon.
4. spent three hours cleaning the house. cause i hadn't been living in it all week
5. shoveled the driveway. which i hadn't done despite the fact that it had snowed 6 days earlier. because i hadn't been living in the house all week.
6. driving north of town to make sure a dog had food and water. 
7. going shopping. picked up the groceries i was originally going to pick up after church on sunday. this was because i had to be out of the house. and had nowhere to go.
8. coming back to the house for a very short stint of working on my sermon. and got nothing accomplished cause i was in no frame of mind for such an activity.
9. going to the concert. cause i had paid $14 for the ticket. loving the concert. good bands (woodpicks from thief river falls and the main feature, junior sitz and the ramblers choice from virginia). highlight: louise telling me that i should meet her grandson. that is the second grandma connection this year...
10. leaving at intermission to work on my sermon
11. coming back and getting nothing done except be frustrated by writers block. 
12. going to bed at 11:30.


and this morning:
1. up at 5:30. seriously. wide awake and completely alert. which is not typical for me in the morning. 
2. started writing my sermon at 5:35. handwritten, of course
3. got to church a little before 8 so i could type and print off my sermon. 
4. had more interruptions than i could have expected. but managed to get everything done and ready for the service at 9
5. shocked people with my insight. some of my favorite compliments: "i normally get distracted, but i paid attention to your whole sermon", "your personality showed through", "your best so far"
6. ate out lunch with friends from church. i heart roy and laurie. 
7. came back to my house for a short while. watched 'the greatest game ever played'
8. went to a valentine's party with some ladies from church. found out that they are the 'lutheran nuns'. and are crazy fun. love to laugh and tell stories.
9. came back home to watch movies and veg out. since i didn't get to do that yesterday


but as a special treat for y'all, i decided to post my spectacular sermon:

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our souls be pleasing to you, O Lord, our rock and redeemer.

What was your mountaintop experience? The time when everything was clear. When you really felt the presence of God.

I have to admit that I really like being on the top of a mountain looking all around at God’s good creation. There have been several places where I have truly seen and felt God.

I remember one hike in particular. Bear Butte in western South Dakota. I was volunteering with a Bible camp and that week I was out on day camp. It was a sunny day and my friend Ruben and I decided to take this hike. We were told to schedule at least 3 hours to make it to the top and back. Of course, we didn’t have three hours, so we hustled. And it took us just over 2 hours. But what was really interesting was the fact that this was a sacred mountain for the Lakota. So there were several places along the trail where the people had tied ribbons or strips of fabric. These were their prayers. So our entire hike was lined with prayers. And when we reached the summit, we were rewarded with a great view.

Looking back, I remember those prayers. I remember thinking that it was such a neat idea to have the bright colors lining the trail. But I myself did not think to pray.

Unlike Jesus in our text, who spent 8 days in prayer.

I have to be honest. I have never struggled so much with a text like today’s. It humbles me as I try to figure out what message or life lessons I should be learning.

Because I don’t think this text is really about prayer. Yes, prayer is vital. It is necessary. And the transformations, the transfiguration takes place in the midst of prayer. But I don’t think that prayer is the focus of today’s text.

And I don’t think the focus is on the presence of Moses and Elijah. Yes, this is a significant piece in and of itself. I mean, how often do you get to meet two of the greatest men from the Bible?

You have Moses, the one who was selected despite his hesitation to lead the chosen people out from slavery in Egypt after God heard their groaning and prayers. The one who lead them for decades. The one who inspired Passover.

And Elijah, one of the greatest prophets. A prophet who was able to prove that his God, the God of Israel was the true God. The one able to control the rain and to bring fire to drenched altars. A prophet who didn’t really die but was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. The one who the Jews to this day set an extra place for at the Passover seder.

Two great figures in the Jewish culture. Two that Peter and the others were excited to see.

But I don’t think the focus is on them.

Today, the message I keep hearing is the fact that this Transfiguration on the mountaintop is a life-changing experience.

The Transfiguration is the time and place where the onlookers really got to see the divine glory of God in the human person of Jesus. When they saw the divine shining through the human. This is the opposite off the Incarnation. This is the opposite of the little baby born in a manger. Christmas is the time when we rejoice that God came down to earth and was human, became one of us. But today, on the mountain, we get to see the divine glory in that human being. Jesus is brought up, as opposed to God coming down.

So what does that glory of God look like?

According to Luke, Jesus’ face was changed and his clothes were a dazzling white. I have no idea what would happen to someone’s face, but we have all heard that people can shine, that their faces and eyes can light up, and that when this happens, they look differently.

But I can picture a dazzling white.

I think of a layer of white snow that reflects the sun. And it hurts to look at such a brightness.

So I can imagine that the disciples struggled a bit to look directly at Jesus.

This shining was like Moses in Exodus. Moses was able to be so close to God, that when he came back, he was glowing. His face radiated the glory of God.

The Israelite people couldn’t handle the glare, so Moses covered his face with a veil. I compare this to us reaching for sunglasses or shades when we cannot handle the brightness.

But Jesus doesn’t put on a veil. He doesn’t shield his followers from the glory of God. They get the full experience of seeing the divine in their leader, a fellow human being who is the chosen and blessed Son of God.

They get to see Jesus at his highest before the path to suffering, the cross and death. For today, he is truly the light.

So what does all this mean?

I’m not positive, but I think that it involves being able to see the glory of God in this existence. We can see God’s light all around us: in the sun and stars, but also in the clouds and rain. On mountains and prairies. In every human face.

Because God is a part of each of us.

There is no shielding our eyes. Jesus does not give us a veil, but Paul suggests that he takes it off of our eyes so that we are able to see the glory.

And so we can look into the human, the mundane, the earthly to see how God might be shining. How God might be transforming what is dark or boring into something glorious.

The past few weeks we have been celebrating the light. Epiphany is all about the clarity and eye-opening experiences. Like the transfiguration today. We see the light that is in the person of Jesus Christ.

But that light has a counterpart. We cannot handle only living in the light. We cannot live our lives only on a mountain top. Eventually we all come back down and reenter the darker parts of life.

The season of Lent is close. Ash Wednesday is in three days. On that day we will be reminded of our humanness and the fact that we are all ashes and dust.

But for today, we have the pinnacle of light. Today Jesus shines and blinds us with the glory of God. The glory that is able to shine in the midst of the darkest hours. In the midst of suffering and sorrow and pain and death.

But God is able to transform all that darkness through Jesus.

So we shouldn’t be afraid of the darkness that threatens to consume us. God is able to put the glory of God in the earthly, the mundane, the human.

So today let’s leave worship with our eyes open to see the divine glory of God.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

soccer mom

i was a soccer mom. a glorified taxi driver.

for a week.

monday morning i had zero kids. monday evening i had four.

until this afternoon when i handed them off to another person.

i'm back to being a single person without kids.

after being a single "mom" for four kids (kindergarten through high school junior).

getting them to school. picking them up from basketball, speech, taekwando. feeding them.

i enjoyed being around people at night. i miss my sisters and fellow dormmates for that reason (among other reasons).

and the kids were good. didn't kill each other. didn't get lost or run away.

which i consider to be a success.

cookbook extravaganza

so here's the story:

i won a raffle!!!!!

i went to the habitat for humanity spaghetti dinner. and bought some raffle tickets.

then i perused the options. they had several different things you could opt for. this raffle was set up so that you put tickets into canisters next to options you wanted to try to win.

i selected a few different ones.

and i ended up winning a couple new cookbooks, nail belt (so i can be a totally awesome construction worker), keychains, calendars, and shower caddy.

i'm pretty excited.

then after picking up my winnings, i decided to stop by pamida, where i found a few cookbooks on clearance.

and i'm excited to have a few new cookbooks.

i guess now i just need to pick out some recipes and become the bestest chef ever

long days continued

and i write again after another long day (i hope you got the idea that i've had a lot of long days this week)

and today was a fantastic day!

began with quilting. i love the ladies who quilt thursday mornings. so enjoyable to chat and do good work.

then i left halfway through quilting to report to the seniors center that is the hub for delivering meals on wheels. and i had a blast driving around with roy and bringing food to people in the community.

after that i ate at the seniors center with some of the others who delivered meals. and no, i was not the youngest there. someone brought their grandson (or perhaps great-grandson).

then i had a brief meeting to get a schedule for next week when i will be acting as a "soccer mom" for four kids. and found out that i would be getting kids up no later than 6:30 am each day. uff da

and i ran home to finish cleaning my house. everything organized except my bedroom.

bell choir practice went well. two songs for this sunday. and one really challenging piece that is likely to be played for easter. and definitely for the concert this summer

then drove home and got ready for the women's circle that met at my house from 8-10 pm.

which was an awesome time. i loved getting to talk with the five women who showed up. sharing life stories and reflections upon how the Holy Spirit is active

so after a 13-hour (technically turned out to be a little more than 13 hours) workday, i sat down on my couch to relax.

and checked my messages to hear that i won a raffle (proceeds to help habitat for humanity). which is awesome. so i guess i need to head over to the habitat for humanity office to claim my prize.

i can't remember the last time i won a raffle, so i'm pretty stoked about this!

such a great day. and tomorrow is my day off. awesome!

long days cont

wednesdays are always long days at church. start with staff meeting. move on to a bible study. theoretically have a few hours in the afternoon. then the real fun begins with kids club, confirmation, youth group.

today's bible study looked at wisdom. the wise solomon. wisdom in proverbs. you get the picture.

then ate lunch.

then ran a couple errands. bank and target. deposit checks and pick up a few necessities. like ice melt. and a few non-necessities. like a new wii game.

then reported back to the church to finalize some things for the evening.

then met with some parents.

then ate some spaghetti.

then talked about baptism with my 5th and 6th graders.

then sang some songs.

then helped to lead confirmation.

then did some yoga with a few women from church.

then came home to clean up my house a bit.

final checklist:
- front room? presentable
- dining table? presentable
- kitchen? close to clean
- bathroom? tomorrow will have make sure to wipe all surfaces

well, technically today since it's already thursday

this wednesday was a good day. long but good

long days

today was a long day with constant running.

and i loved it!

the day began with me waking early. ridiculously early, in fact. 7:30 to be precise. usually i would struggle to wake up when my alarms start going off after 8 am. but for some reason, i was wide awake this morning and unable to go back to sleep.

so i bummed around, putting some clothes away, opening up one of my fake presents that contained my non-christmas decorations, checking email (something i only ever do after i either get to work or get back from the day's activities).

then around 9 i left for blackduck and the pastor's conference there. had a good time.

i've begun to really appreciate the worship services that start the monthly conference meetings. only time each month i get to worship as opposed to working. cause leading worship every week is my job.

the guest speaker talked about the significance of sharing stories since her current ministry is getting to know youth who do not usually darken (or perhaps lighten) the doors of churches.

then we had french dip sandwiches. and delicious potato salad.

then a few remained to talk about douglas john hall's "the cross in our context" as a pre-lenten discussion. theology of the cross is such a good topic. i am beginning more and more to fully appreciate the wonder that God is able to suffer with us. and i love being reminded of the mystery of God.

after the discussion ended around 3, i headed back to my house for a short layover before heading to the habitat for humanity's spaghetti dinner. where i ate way too much spaghetti. but found the desserts for those who were unable to have the extra sense to always know where the sweets are located. perhaps the fact that that the orange drink was located next to the deserts. and i had the orange drink since i'm a little kid.

but the exciting thing during the trip while chatting with my sister is that i began pushing buttons in my car. the other day, friday to be precise, the dashboard lights for some reason stopped working. which was the second time since moving to bemidji that i've been driving a car where i cannot see the speedometer at night. first was dad's sable back in september. and now mom's forester. and of course, it happens the exact week i have no time to get to an auto mechanic. and next week is not any better.

but the lights turned on! for some reason turning the fog light on worked. who would have guessed that a fog light would be the solution to all my problems?

then i went to the church where i sat in on part of a meeting. worship and music committee to be precise. and ended up chatting with a few people afterwards. then i retreated back home.

and now i need to finish up my awesome bible studies. cause tomorrow is wednesday and a very long day complete with an adult bible study, meeting with parents whose kid will be getting baptized in a couple weeks, 5th/6th grade activity/bible study, and confirmation.

and i might end the night with a wee bit o yoga/pilates with ladies at the church who decided to start up some new activities. two times a week for yoga. and every other thursday there will be a new circle.

first meeting is at my house. which reminds me...i need to clean...