graduation...

i'm pretty sure my sisters were thinking of yelling some of these at my graduation...

and now for some pictures!

  

walking out of central lutheran in minneapolis

 

me and my roomie katie 

 

me and harvey

me and my parents kendall and diane 

 

sisters - kayla, krissa, kendra, me, kiana

me with jan and gary coleman 

it is signed... 

the fancy hood i will never wear again 

me and erin 

me and jacob 

me and lindsay 

me and josh

believe it or not, there were other pics taken but right now i either don't have them or they didn't turn out...

it's official!

i'm a soon-to-be graduate and pastor!

i turned in all my finals (the final final was turned in about half an hour ago), which means that i'm done with coursework and just have to wait for the grades to be posted (grades for 3 of 5 for my current classes are already posted) so that i can get a signed diploma.

next step: set up ordination and start date.
the people at my new parish (tri-county ministry in north dakota) kept asking when i would be started.
i think they were excited or something...
but i had to always respond that i was in the midst of finals and had been focusing on schoolwork and hadn't looked that far in advance, and that i had literally just signed the letter of call that day/the day before and had yet to set up ordination, after which i would pick a start date...
so they just have to wait about for me to get a few things lined up...

i went to synod assembly this past weekend and it was fun to be with my fellow first call candidates (technically i already knew a few of them so only 3 were new to me).
it was nice to put faces to names i had heard and who i will be colleagues with in the near future.

oddly enough, i was sitting and eating pizza on pizza friday (cause luther sem's cafeteria always serves pizza on fridays for lunch) with a few fellow students, when one (beau) pointed out that according to luther, ordination is a moot point since a pastor is a pastor as soon as a congregation calls them...
which kinda freaked me out
i mean, a congregation extended a call so i am already a pastor?
i had not even officially said yes (at that point, even though i knew that i was going to), and i was already a pastor?

the i realized that i didn't care about how nerve-wracking it sounds since i'm excited to be a pastor.

wow.
i apologize for jumping around and not having a clear train of thought.
but my thoughts are jumbled, and i guess my writing reflects that...

ministry in media video

for my ministry in media class, we were assigned to put together a video to give to a minnesota without poverty. it could be anything we wanted, but we had to have it related to the coalition or poverty...
i chose to use the experience of leading the discussion guide at a local congregation as my source of inspiration.
if you want to know more about my reflections and experience while talking about "enough for all", check this post from my other blog (the serious one i started for this class).
i'm so proud of my video that i'm choosing to post it here and on my other blog.

here is my project:


Enough for All from Kara Wiechmann on Vimeo.

if you don't see a video, here is another link

Music copyright link:

untitled track (James Blackshaw) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

chaos as a lifestyle

one of the best sayings: when it rains, it pours.

completely appropriate as i sit here watching it rain (again). never seems to stop
[at least it's better than the snow i saw falling last night]

but it is also appropriate since that saying describes life.

my first semester was nowhere near as busy as this one. yes, i was constantly doing coursework, but i was not traveling anywhere near as much as i have been in the last month or so.

april was crazy: preached the first sunday, spent five days driving around and interviewing the following weekend, went to and helped out with my cousin's wedding the next weekend (and battled several inches of snow), and went home for easter break.

so here's a more detail of the downpour i've been experiencing:

the wedding was awesome. my first wedding to lead, and it was a learning experience. my sisters used my camcorder to get the whole service, although i'm never on the screen since i was hiding behind the trellis and pillars and flowers. it was a good, fun, relaxing and utterly enjoyable time with family.
and the snow was fun but not. made everything look pretty since the world was not quite green yet, but horrible on country roads that were not plowed. so it tore up the undercarriage/skid plate on my car.

i got back to st paul sunday evening. at 7, i met with a group to work on our presentation that would take place the next morning.
[and we totally rocked the presentation skit!]

finally got back to my apartment around 9:30 pm.

up early monday morning for class.

and worked on a bible study for my book of revelation class.

then the next day i packed, attended class and drove back with a sem colleague to south dakota through the rain.
arrived in parkston at 10:30 and was told i looked exhausted. cause i was.

note: i spent less than 48 hours in st paul before taking off for almost a week

then on wednesday, when i wanted to sleep in, i was not really able to. i had a big essay to write. then that afternoon was spent easter dress shopping for the neighbor girl.
so we drove up to mitchell where we met mom to go shopping.
and forgot mom's car in mitchell.

so thursday was a trip to mitchell.
otherwise very low-key and included much needed rest and maundy thursday service at salem in parkston

friday was getting my car prepped and ready to go
[dad fixed the skid plate on my car]
and then the drive to omaha to hang with kayla, where we went shopping and ate food and had some bonding time.
we went to good friday services at a local congregation where we were overdressed (we wore dress clothes...who knew that jeans were acceptable?)

saturday involved being lazy, visiting kayla at work, and renting "hereafter" staring matt damon

sunday was church in the morning. we both wore skirts, but it was borderline too cold to wear anything but pants.
then we loaded my car and i took off to spend the rest of the day in parkston.
spent the afternoon and evening with mom, dad, ki, colten, grandparents and neighbors.

monday i tried to sleep in (unfortunately i had a problem the entire week with waking up no later than 8 am) and slowly got ready to drive back to st paul.

and i'm not going anywhere for a few days. my next trip is to the black hills for sister bonding time with kayla and kendra may 6.
this friday, i'm spending time with friend(s) here in the twin cities.
this sunday, i preach at salem english in minneapolis.
i have class, but not much homeworkwise until may 10, which is when i as a graduating senior really need to buckle down and work on final papers [ideally i will be working earlier]
my last final is due may 15, which is mere weeks away...

and in the midst of this, i'm working with first call stuff. talking to a congregation that is interested in calling me and [hopefully] setting up ordination and installation for this summer

forecast for the next month: torrential downpours

fortunately i prefer downpour to the annoying, never-ending mists

seminary update

alright people, i'm getting stressed/nervous/overwhelmed

life is moving quickly.
very quickly.

i am super busy and both loving and hating it.
(mostly lovin' it)

i enjoy not sitting still.
i enjoy running around like a chicken with my head chopped off.
but i do not enjoy the sensation that i may start crying because i have so much to do and little time to do it in
(but if you ask me a week from now, i will only remember the fun adrenaline rush)

here is my plan:
1. homework - post online, read/skim books and articles, complete assignments
2. interview - this weekend: 4 interviews with 4 parishes/congregations in 4 days
3. live - savor every minute i have left at luther

homework gets done and i will pass classes (p is for pastor, after all).
then i will graduate at the end of may.
then i will hopefully be ordained this summer and start working for the Church

interviews will be done and i may or may not receive a call to be someone's pastor before the summer starts. hopefully at least one congregation i interview with will be the ideal place for me to do ministry with the skills God gave me.
i did a mapquest search to see the approx amount of miles i will be traveling from thursday morning to monday morning: 1118.33 miles
that's spending 19 hrs 42 mins in my car...(not counting the stops for gas, bathroom, food, sleep)

this is the time to live life to its fullest (yeah, i know it's cliche).
i may cry at some point, but i'm hoping it will be tears of joy and not tears of frustration or sorrow.
as someone pointed out to me today, there are only about 6 weeks left to the school year (breathe, kara, breathe).
and as i've been pointing out to friends here, i only know of 2-3 weekends i am going to be sleeping in my apt from now until the end of may (breathe...).
i'm excited for the coming trips, but so much travel wears me down.

but if God can bring me to it, God will see me through it.

(prayers are not only accepted but encouraged)

snow day!!!!!!!!

i was trying to remember the last time i had a snow day. i know it was in college.

at least, i think i recall one day where classes were cancelled at augie...

for the first time since i started at luther in 2007, i have a snow day!!!!!!!!!

it was announced last night via email (3 of them sent at 9:48, 9:58 and 10:10 pm) and the luther website. and for those who missed the official notices, it was all over facebook as me and my schoolmates went crazy over the fact that we have no school today...so if anyone didn't know by 11pm, it was not for a lack of news spreading like wildfire

want/need proof that i have no classes today?

new blog

for those of you who don't know (or just have been unobservant), i'm in seminary. i take classes and have assignments. and i started a new blog for one class about ministry and media.

http://karastheology.wordpress.com/

while this one is all about nonsense (with a splash of profound thoughts), the other will be profound thoughts (with a splash of nonsense)

while a majority of the posts will be required for coursework (thoughts on reading and theology as well as seeing "glimpses of grace" in God-moments), i believe that i will continue both blogs to provide balance in my life

hope you enjoy!

2.11.2011 aka post #150 aka tgif

is it bad that i've been waiting anxiously for today to be february 11, 2011 just so i can see the date in numeral form as the title of my post?

i hope not.

but maybe since i was also really excited for 2.1.2011.

i prefer to think that i am simply enjoying the small things in life.

like seeing 2.11.2011 on the top of my post.

hehehe

i bet you're wondering, does kara have anything profound to share today in the wee hours of the morning?

answer: prolly not.

so here is just a smattering of thoughts i've been having lately:

i really need to clean and organize my room. i've been searching for a missing netflix movie that should be somewhere in the chaos. at least i have some motivation since i really want to return it so i can get the next awesome movie in my queue. which if i remember correctly is about werewolves...

(side note: queue is a ridiculous word. who thought that doubling up "ue" should make a sound? it's kinda like putting a w on either side of a k. oh wait, that's how you spell awkward, which is an awkward word to spell. and if you delete the "rd" it becomes a palindrome. like noon. or hannah.)

i know a lot of people getting married in the next six months. seriously. i know of 10 weddings for family and friends (not that i'm going to all of them).

it's supposed to be above freezing this weekend. yay!

i graduate in less than four months...AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i bet you are thinking to yourself, was that a scream of pure excitement or of terror?

answer: yes
(that is a reference to a professor who avoided choosing between two options when both applied)

in less than two weeks i will know what part of the country i will be assigned to...(and hopefully move this summer with a call to be a pastor...)

i love my course schedule for my final semester of classes. that's right, folks. i loves me my days off. (believe it or not, i use correct grammar with spelling and punctuation when i write papers and am actually quite adept at it) currently i have wednesdays and fridays off and only one class on tuesdays. how cool is that?

answer: really cool.

i'm super excited for individual courses within the semester, not just the schedule where i have class three days of the week

for example, i have an education leadership course about ministry and media. there are four assignments: have a facebook profile (where i must post status updates once a week and upload at least one photo...so basically i pass that assignment), have a blog and post two times a week (current dilemma: use this blog or create a new one that will be more ministry and theology-focused...), create a powerpoint presentation (easy peasy lemon sqeezy), and create a movie. the movie will be the most challenging piece, but should be interesting. especially since we have to create our project for a specific intention: educating about minnesota without poverty. that's right. then we'll be giving our projects to the organization to use as they so choose. daunting but it makes it more exciting to be doing something that may actually be useful outside of the seminary walls.

because of this media class, i've been spending a lot of time locating good websites and blogs to link to since that's part of the assignment. pretty sure the blogs i tend to read won't cut it...each blog is supposed to include links that remind us of our readings or else "glimpses of grace" and i'm not sure the prof would necessarily enjoy my warped sense of humor...

my poor google reader is going to be overwhelmed for the next few weeks (or years if i keep this up without deleting blogs from the newsfeed...)

also, i have a course on worship and the lutheran confessions. it sounds scary. but who wouldn't want to learn about luther's theology from a former taize monk? especially since the class starts with worship in the form of evening prayers with taize-style songs?

answer: no one (at least this should be the answer)

those two are the elective courses. of course, i also have required ones like: holy spirit and the triune God, exercises in biblical theology, and ethics. and i'll have another elective later in the semester about the book of revelation.

best. final. semester. ever.

(at least, unless/until i go back for another degree...)

finals week

i really need to learn about time management skills, which i hear are intended for people who lack them...

but the challenge is that finals week happens the last week before a break. which is when i would much rather be with friends i won't see for a few weeks.

take this most recent week. i've already written about 30 pages for class. and i have another 30 to type up this weekend. but i still am being intentional about spending time with people. partly to avoid homework, partly cause i'm gonna miss em this coming month.

today is the best example. i have a massive final tomorrow. is it done? no. do i care? yes but no. i care because i want to be done and i want to get a good grade. i don't care because i'm choosing to spend the day with friends.

i had brunch with jess. then got my hair did (so i can be all savvy and look mature over break). then had coffee with kelli. taking a break from friends to think about school (or blog...). then i'm off to eat pizza with joel and melissa. then i'll come back and (hopefully) feel pressured/inspired to work on my final...

but i'm not worried or stressing out. cause i know that it'll get done when it gets done. then i will be able to enjoy my month off knowing that i worked and played hard during finals week so i can rest.

of course, my time off will be interrupted by my approval interview, but i'll deal with that when it arrives...

let the multitasking commence (again...)

so i've been without a personal computer for a week. it was rough but also educational.

rough:
1. no computer to sit on my lap while watching tv, reading books for class, writing papers. i had to go to the computer lab.
2. no hulu. cause my wii internet is not hulu-friendly.
3. checking email via wii. fun but not fun. fun because it's a wii. not fun because i could only check one email at a time and it was slow.
4. typing papers in the computer lab.
5. seeing my hdmi hookup to my tv look forlorn...
6. spending hours in the computer lab finishing up assignment paperwork.
7. not knowing what info i lost between the last back-up and the crash...

educational:
1. bringing back memories of freshman year of college which was the last year without a computer
2. realizing that there are poor unfortunate souls who don't multitask. which was rough for me (see rough #1) since i love to have multiple browser tabs open at once. prefer to have multiple activities going on at once. but for the last week, i was forced to slow down.
3. breathing space. i was disconnected from the world. technically, i had my cell phone where people could reach me. but it was not the same. i logged off for a short time.
4. realizing that my computer is not my life. no matter how much i like technology. i can live without (at least for a short time...)

but i'm now reconnected to the world.
with a brand-new computer recently purchased and started up (so exciting to see the screen that tells you that it's starting up for the first time...)

hope this one lasts more than two years...

craptastic

just as an update since my monday morning duldrums: life is not better

for some reason, life is against me this week.

monday afternoon: computer decides to be unfriendly and uncooperative as a way to let me know that i really should learn to be nicer to it instead of continually tossing it in and out of bags...

monday evening: computer reboots and i work on a paper til 1 am (due in class at 8)

tuesday morning: computer dead. lights turn on the keyboard but no whirs suggesting processing or thinking. cold, snowy and a bit icy. signs that winter has arrived and may stay around for a few months.

tuesday afternoon: out and about grocery shopping (and browsing computer selections with hopes of finding a cheap one to be a "throwaway computer") when check engine light comes on.

tuesday evening: spend hours in the small computer lab on the less than high quality computers. first time in years i spend more than 30 min on a computer that is not my own laptop. projects: assignment for class and paperwork for assignment.

wednesday morning: complete paperwork for assignment on computer. try to submit but fails (busy day for churchwide's server). cold morning. december greets us with a wind chill in the single digits. and a bit of sun to deceive us.

wednesday afternoon: forgot assignment and run back to apt. late for class. find out churchwide's server not happy. not a shock since today is the day hundreds of people are going to try to submit their rlp.

wednesday at 5:17 i submit my rlp successfully! rejoice! this means i officially submitted my name and information (bio info, ministry skills and interests) so that i can someday (hopefully this coming summer) be ordained as a pastor in the elca

tomorrow: appointment to have vehicle checked. plan to buy new computer and possibly get old fixed. hopefully get data off the old one even if it will be otherwise unusable (i really want my notes from the last few weeks of class. everything else is replaceable)

terminology defined:

- assignment: 1) homework due in class 2) process through which pastors receive a new call to a congregation 3) formal name for the "draft" of new pastors into the elca who are then assigned to regions and synods where they receive new calls

- rlp: formally the "rostered leader profile" that is the main piece of information submitted to the elca churchwide office for pastors seeking a new call through the assignment process

- submit: trickly little button through which the form is sent to churchwide instead of as an email attachment

internship is over!

3 months after i left my internship site, i finally can say that i'm done!

here is a quick rundown of why it's taken three months:
- submitting evaluations and signature pages. took a while to actually get all of em sent to the synod. which finally happened just this week.
- panel review to discuss and make sure that internship was a "success" and does not need to be repeated. happened a bit late since we're pushing time deadlines, but it's over and done in time to continue with the rest of the steps for ordination...

silly columbus day

seriously. i went to the post office this morning. woke up early so i would have enough time to walk to st anthony village, which is mere feet from the campus of luther seminary, so that i could mail a postcard.

but failed when the doors were locked because today just so happens to be a holiday. columbus day. really?

i count that as my exercise from the day.

of course i feel bad since the postcard really should have been mailed last week to my cousin reanna, who's doing a school project with her class trying to gather postcards from across the world. and at the rate i'm going, she's going to get at least one postcard from overseas before mine even gets in the mail. which it would have been today if it weren't columbus day. grr.

but i really shouldn't be complaining. i mean, columbus did crash into an island and "discovered" the continent that i call home.

but maybe i should be complaining. cause if i attended a public school, i'd probably have the day off. but no...i have class today.

don't get me wrong, i enjoy today's class. chuch organization. sounds boring to just hear the name, but it's really nice to have a class that discusses the nitty gritty of church work. like basics on how committees and councils operate (well, how they ideally work), what are different types of budgets, and where to look for some additional resources when trying to (slowly) bring about change that happens directly as a result of leadership and organization.

plus i have a small group meeting for pastoral care. where we try out different methods to discuss feelings and needs and try to find a peace of mind that comes from knowing what's bothering you and why.

speaking of my small group, it's time to meet so off i go!