skunk in my bucket

actually, there's not a skunk anywhere near me. especially not in a bucket, let alone my bucket. in fact, i don't think i even own a bucket...

but the smell of skunk currently permeates my office. 

allow me to explain. 

dick heard a his ruckus in garage last night. when he went to get in his pickup and leave this morning, he met the culprit. 

now, i don't care how cute skunks look with their black and white stripes and cute noses. they stink to high heaven and back (which happens to be an antiquated saying i've heard quite often this year).

so poor dick reeks. and i hear his garage is far worse and not likely to smell better any time soon. so when he walked into the church building today, he brought the stink with him. and sadly enough, stinks don't usually just travel with one person, so that when the person leaves the smell leaves. the smell lingers.

so the smell of skunk lingers in my office.

and there are no windows that can be opened at church, so it shall linger for quite some time...

Pictures!!!!!!!

As promised (now that I broke down and bought an SD card reader since my laptop's built-in one decided to stop working last week), here are some pictures:

Bethel Lutheran with Roddy at TeenServe

Crew #58 with Melissa and Granny

Alpine Coaster in Duluth, MN

Carley and I in a paddleboat on a lake in WI

From my old to my new living room...

Mount Carmel 

Sunset on Lake Carlos

Sunrise on July 13

Sunrise on July 16

Most intense slip n slide

My gruesome bug bite (it looked worse in person)

A beaver in Bemidji

ugh

it's amazing how one syllable can sum up your entire mood.

and "ugh" fits me to a t right now. 

allow me to elaborate a bit. this week just never seems to end. it's flown by because i've been so busy, but right now i'm so drained...

i finished monday with over two hours of cleaning. that's right. i cleaned with an arm that had a swollen bug bit approximately the size of my hand...i have a picture to prove it. and if i remember, i'll even post it to gross people out. won't be today, but i may go back and add or edit in the next couple days. 

i'm on antibiotics...boo...first prescription in my life. seriously. mom couldn't think of any. other than glasses or contacts, and those really don't count. so now, in addition to a crazy schedule, i have to remember to take a pill three times a day. easier said than done. 

my tuesday was uber long. i got to the church at 8:45 am. which is pretty good for me since i don't have anything going on until 10:30, which is when the pastor's text study starts. was with them until noon, when i quickly grabbed lunch, talked to my sister kayla, and finalized prep for a bible study at 1:30. did that, ate a snack with them, then retreated back to my batcave, aka my desk. where i proceeded to finalize (which really meant neatly rewriting out my notes) the bible study for wednesday morning. since i was going to be gone for it. then chatted with someone a bit when i was walking out of the church. and left at 6:30 pm. which is a long time to be in a church building without stepping outside once. went home and packed for my overnight trip to come. 

got up wednesday morning, picked up a parishioner, and drove to rochester, mn. which is a good 5.5 hrs away in good traffic. which we did not have. for those of you who don't know, there is about an 8-10 mile stretch on east-bound I-94 into the twin cities that is basically stop and go traffic. not fun. but we made it to the hotel and hopped on a shuttle to go to mayo (i'm healthy but she needed to consult with a surgeon there). so now i can say that i've been to mayo. we ate at famous dave's where they serve way too much food. then i watched some tv before crawling into bed. only to wake up 1.5 hrs later when i got a text message from my baby sister...before crawling back under the covers.

alarm went off at 5:15. i slept until 5:50 (i wasn't going anywhere...) when i woke up again to say a quick bye to the church member (we shared a room) and run out into the rain to get something out of my car. back to bed. woke up, packed my bags, watched some tv waiting for the phone call to pick her up at the clinic. and started the drive back. 

highlight today: ikea! 

she had never been, so we stopped by for the experience. i ate some food and bought some things. it was glorious. then we got back in the car and drove the 4 hrs to bemidji. 

and now i'm sitting in the batcave waiting for a meeting to start. i need to be at a meeting at 7, but i'm so tired and feel as though i'm going to fall asleep before it's over. 

i'm even too tired to get really worked up after reading my internship committee's evaluation of me.

but i can sum it up: i'm too immature, casual and inexperienced to be a parish pastor. oh, and my sermons lack depth (which they define as real-life illustrations) and have not been prepared well enough in advance, and i must admit that they are thinking of my past habits when i started sermon prep on fridays, but the last four months i could generally tell them what my sermon was about on tuesdays...i guess finally learning some discretion about work habits bit me in the behind. again. oh, and another bonus in my committee having the guts to bring up the fact that where i stand in relation to the elca's decision on homosexuality causes them concern. 

but i do have enough fight in me to make one comment: big shocker that you think the 25-year-old is young, casual and lacks experience right now to be an effective parish pastor. even bigger shocker is knowing that my pastoral style would be a great fit for a younger congregation. at least in comparison to them. since most of the congregation, and my committee in particular, are old enough to be grandparents or great-grandparents (seriously, all five are older than my parents, who are already grandparents) and having pastors that have all been on the other side of 30...generally much father down the road on the other side of 30...and as far as my stance in the elca, i would like to point out that this congregation has half the members it did a year ago, and all those who left/are leaving stand exactly where i am. way to kick them (and me) out the door.

oh, and did i happen to mention that my congregation is a known clergy-killer? as in, they drive off their clergy every 5-7 years...and this is the current pastor's 7th year...

so that's my week. and i have to somehow have enough energy to finalize a sermon for sunday in this emotional state...

ugh.

mid-july update

wow. it has been a crazy last couple weeks.

here is one word to describe my life since my last posting: rollercoaster.

i'm not usually one for metaphors, but i really appreciate a good one. every once in a long while.

so, here's the gist:

i last posted on monday, july 5. which is when i went from spending time with family (nice top portion) back to my house in bemidji (major drop). where i started to pack since i would be moving that friday.

during the course of the next three days (kinda steady and level), i went to work, lead a Bible study, packed up stuff in the house, and so on and so forth...

thursday night was able to have a "picnic" (in quotation marks because we ate burger king) in the park with two ladies from church (going up again).

then the whirlwind really began on friday (think spiraling down). i spent all day packing with a few breaks for when i grew tired. but it was nice that from the time the kindem family showed up with their pick-up and to the last time i drove from the house in my car, it was only 2.5 hrs. amazing how quickly you can move, especially when you get help from some in the congregation.

good/bad point: one dreyer boy pointed out that you can tell who in the congregation likes me because you can always tell by looking at those who help you move.

just so everyone knows, only two families were willing/able. so my response was that no one wanted to admit that i was moving because they love me so much.

so there i was in a new place, and i started unpacking a few things. like my dress clothes to prevent major wrinkles. and some kitchen stuff (food and utensils).

then i woke up and packed for a week of camp.

then i dropped off my car at the local mechanic to have them look at something that went wrong.

then was picked up to leave for a week of camp (upward again).

camp was nice (stayed pretty level). was at mount carmel near alexandria, mn. highlights include:
- meeting a fellow intern (who is originally from arizona, went to sem in phoenix, az and berkeley, ca, and is working in wisconsin)
- starting the week off with a tornado warning in the middle of the first supper of the week...also a low point since it was 45 min of being cooped up (silly storm traveled 10 mph)
- meeting miriam's family
- spending time getting to know other campers and staff
- relaxing (lots of naps involved)
- reading
- watching sunrises (that's right, folks - more than one early morning for the girl who hates being up before 8!)
- seeing former interns and their new baby (well, she was born in november, so not "new" per se)

then arrived back in bemidji, picked up my car, and went back to my new place in order to organize a bit more. right now, most of the organization is trying to separate what is mine versus borrowed, and locating items that simply got shoved into boxes/bags while leaving in a hurry. i did not take enough time packing before friday, it seems...

sad fact in my life is that while on the way back from camp, i felt a tickle in my throat. assumed it was simply dehydration. alas, it was more. cause i had a full-blown sore throat the next day. fortunately i didnt have to talk to anyone until later in the evening. helped out with a rejoice and remember service hosted by my church as a way to rejoice and remember cancer patients (current and past). ended with some pie eating.

sunday morning, realized that my throat was not 100% but was at least improved. until i had a coughing spasm in the middle of pastor mark's sermon. fellowship involved eating more pie.

and now, today.

which is truly a manic monday.

cause i woke up to find a huge, swollen, red, warm-to-the-touch bug bite on my forearm. yesterday it was a mere, itchy mosquito bite. or so i thought. but today, i'm thinking that it may be more along the lines of a spider bite...i've never had such an obnoxious bite before in my life!

it was so obnoxious, i even went to the clinic to have it checked out. yup, i went to a doctor. and for those of you who know me, i don't go to see doctors. even when i need shots or physicals, i end up with nurses or pa's.

so it turns out that you have to wait 48 hrs to find out if a bug bite is simply allergic reaction or something else. and considering i just took an allergy pill not long ago, and the bite just seems to be getting itchier, i'm thinking that i will have to fill the prescription for antibiotics. which i'm not really looking forward to doing. but if that will help my arm out, i'll take the first prescribed pills in my life.

if you don't believe that i've managed to get away without prescriptions in 25 years, talk to my mother. i may be wrong, but i'm not remembering a single time i've had my name on a little bottle...

then to top off my day, i just got a phone call to let me know that my cleaning was not up to snuff. so i'll be off this afternoon to go wipe down the oven, fridge and cabinets in the kitchen. pretty sure it won't be up to the standards that the landlords want, but i'll do my best. even with my bum arm.

even more updatisms

this has been an interesting summer. i've been uber busy at times and bored out of my mind at others.

for example, most of the summer is dull as all the kids and their families disappear as soon as the school year ends. and since our vbs is not til august, that means that numerous won't be around at all this summer.

but i have had a few really good experiences.

like a week-long mission trip. i and cory (the two chaperones) took four kids (3 boys and 1 girl) from bemidji to new london, wisconsin. we worked at a workcamp through TeenServe. it was a fantastic experience as we spent several hours each day working on various projects to spruce up homes in the new london area. my crew (one of 59) worked on a two story victorian house, scraping paint, priming and painting the four colors. it was quite the process. but it was a lot of fun to meet the other 5 members of my crew. we were from 6 towns/cities in 4 different states. and we enjoyed meeting our "residents" who were extremely hospitable and friendly: melissa and her mother jean, aka granny.

every evening was spent in worship and listening to a speaker. the band, fourth in the fire, was fantastic and perfect for the teens to get really into the music as it had times for both jumping around and for calming down meditatively. and the speaker, mike guzzardo, was phenomenal.

i really enjoyed the overall experience, even if the latest i woke up on any given day was 6:20 am and if lights out was 10:30 pm.

it was truly one of those mountain-top experiences that re-energizes you for coming back down the mountain to "reality."

sadly enough, whenever i have such experiences, i always seem to fall down cliffs. no gradual return but a steep drop-off.

like finding out sunday morning that the house i've been staying sold. which is great news for the owners of the house. i'm truly happy for them. but i'm also extremely irked that they didn't have the decency to call and tell me that they want me out of the house by the 15th of july. which will happen, but i'm still upset that they didn't tell me. even when i called to let them know that there was some mail at the house for them. no, they called and let the church office know. but since i wasn't there (they knew i was out of state), they were safe in not having to talk to me directly, which they have not done for quite some time. but no one contacted me. and pastor mark had thought they would have done so, so when he was talking to me before the church service yesterday, he assumed i knew. and i did not. which meant that i found out the disturbing news that i would have to be moving out of the house in 5 days. because i found out on july 4, went home for the 4th-5th, and leave for camp on the 10th. which means that i will be moving on friday, july 9. if it works. if it doesn't, then my landlords will just have to wait for me to move on the 17th-18th, which is when i am back from camp. ugh.

but i went back to the family to escape a bit for the holiday. and it was a lot of fun to be around my family once again. i also got a lot more info about what krissa is going through with her injury. from learning where she's still numb (which makes it weird to see your limbs moving despite not feeling them) to seeing her wounds and just how weak she is.

it's amazing how nice it is to just sit around and do nothing with people i love. now if only my spiritual recharge wasn't already emptied as i'm dreading the next couple days of craziness with packing and moving while still going to work...

here is my sermon from yesterday morning (yup, i had to preach the very morning after returning from my mission trip) without a few of the extra stories from the trip that i had included in with the sermon as i preached:

Today’s text has a great message for us all. I love how easy it is to imagine us in a similar situation.

So, picture Jesus standing around a large group of people ready and anxious to get out and do something.

Have you ever been part of an organized volunteer day?

Helped out with the census or some other poll?

Any situation where a group gathers around a focal person before receiving an assignment and being sent in a direction?

I remember times like this. At my college for our community service day the hundreds of volunteers would gather in the chapel before being commissioned out into the community for the day.

At camp, the staff or campers or volunteers would be told which part of the camp to go clean up.

Or, in the case of 6 of us from Bethel this past week, at TeenServe where hundreds gathered at a middle school in New London, Wisconsin to find out which crew we were assigned to.

There are countless other examples. So pick one that you remember and put Jesus in the leader’s role with you as one of the many followers awaiting instructions.

I can picture Jesus meeting with his followers in an open space to give them their instructions before they take off to all the corners. This large gathering is about to receive instructions that are both simple and challenging.

Here is basically what Jesus tells them:

Okay, disciples, here is your task: Today we are going to go out and cover the country. Pair up and start walking.

Don’t take anything with you. No snack packs, no coolers, no luggage, no travelers’ checks. I want you to receive what you need from the people you meet on your journey.

When you get to a town, you will find that there are two types of people.

The first kind will be friendly, hospitable and peace-filled. This is good. Greet them in peace and do great things in this town. Heal the sick, cast out demons, and do whatever else you can to help those in need.

The second kind is going to be closed-off and unapproachable. Greet them in peace, but if they do not respond in peace, don’t stick around to perform good deeds for skeptics. Now, when you are rejected, don’t be offended. Don’t take it personal since they are not really rejecting you, but they are going to be rejecting God.

But, no matter what the people are like, here is the message you are to deliver: The kingdom of God is near.

That is you mission should you choose to accept it.

And 70 chose to accept and went on their ways.

Put yourselves in the followers’ shoes. How would you feel after hearing such a message?

I think I would start panicking. There would be some hyperventilation as I hear that I can’t take anything with but a travel companion.

I admit that I tend to overpack, so taking nothing with is out of my comfort zone. And how can I travel if I’m not even allowed a small carry-on? And why can’t I take anything with? It’s not like I’m going to know anyone on my travels to stay with?

This would be a major leap of faith for me to believe that God will make sure I have what I need. To have faith in the kindness of strangers to provide housing and food.

But that’s not all that I would be worried about. Part two reminds me that there are both good and bad people out there. And that I will meet both types on my travels.

Remember hearing about Sodom? How about Ninevah?

On the one hand, we have Ninevah in Jonah’s story. This would be a good town for a messenger. A town that was so starved to hear anything about God that they are open to a messenger. An unexpected place for repentance.

But then there are Sodoms. Towns so closed in on themselves that no amount of preaching will reach the people. Where no amount of miracles would open their eyes. A town where people will scoff at you and remain skeptical.

But the challenge is that you never know what you’re getting into until you are there. So you greet the people and see what happens. And that is scary to think about. Getting into unknown situations. Cause I would prefer to simply go around a town like Sodom and head straight for the good places.

What really is exciting is the fact that the 70 return with stories of amazing experiences where they did good and were embraced by communities.

Their messages were accompanied by some amazing feats that no normal human being could perform without the help of God. They went out, performed miracles and delivered the message that the Kingdom of God is near.

Our speaker at TeenServe reminded us that Jesus told his followers that they would be able to do great things. In fact, that they will do greater things than even Jesus was able to accomplish. Part of this reason is simply because there are more followers than there are Jesuses. And when each follower has the same Spirit in them as Jesus, a lot of amazing feats will be accomplished.

These 70 are a prime example of just how much more can be done with many hands who follow God’s will.

Think about that. Each follower of Jesus will have the same Spirit dwelling in them. That Spirit that is the force behind miracles is in each of us. Which means that each of us could do greater things if we just open ourselves to that possibility.

We can be just as effective as the 70 if we just let ourselves do the work, trust God and deliver the message that the kingdom of God is near. Which is both challenging and simple at the same time.

God had a message that needed to be delivered right to people’s front doorsteps. And it was delivered by people just like us.

Picture the 70 as mail carriers being dispatched to all the corners of the countryside. They have letters to deliver, no matter what. They were to get their messages to all people, regardless of whether they were peace-filled or not.

Their job was to get the word out and to do good acts for those who greeted them in peace.

Jesus reminds the 70 that their experiences are not about them. Their assignment is not to test their own powers, but instead to do good works so that people would be able to hear and believe the message that the kingdom of God is near. The 70 were prophets, they were messengers of God, vessels that housed God’s spirit and spread the word of God.

Because it was God who was the driving force behind their mission.

My next question when receiving this mission would be: Why this message? What exactly does it mean that the kingdom of God is near?

I admit that I’m not sure. I hate trying to figure out what the kingdom of God is because every single time I think I get it, it slips out of my grasp.

I’m pretty sure it’s not your typical kingdom. I mean, think about it. Kingdoms are effective because you have a visible monarch overseeing everything that happens. And if God is the ruler of the kingdom of God, then the ruler is invisible. Which might mean that the kingdom is invisible. And since our faith in God as ruler is a spiritual issue, then the kingdom of God must be a spiritual issue.

Did everyone get that? It’s a bit of logic for you early in the morning. So let me sum it up: God’s kingdom is not of this world in a typical sense of how we understand kingdoms. God’s kingdom has a spiritual component. Which makes God’s kingdom a a faith issue.

I don’t think that it is just a coincidence that the 70 perform miracles and bring the message at the same time. I think that the miracles are tied into the kingdom of God. Because I think the kingdom of God involves the ultimate healing and restoration that comes with faith. That the kingdom of God will be ushered in when we have faith and let the Spirit of God do its purpose of restoring this world. When we remember that it is never about us, but that it is always about God’s will. We will be part of the kingdom of God when we are able to belong only to one ruler.

What is clear to me, and I hope even clearer for you, is that the kingdom of God is near. Whatever the kingdom may look like, it is near. We just need to be ready for it.

Amen.