Hej is Hitched!

I went back to Minnesota this weekend for the lovely Heidi Elizabeth Johnson's wedding. It was a glorious celebration. Everything had been prepared with great thought and great heart. I went to Gustavus with her, worked at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp with her and we even attended Luther seminary together. The wedding was filled with friends from back in the day and it was so great to reconnect.

Hej and her hubby, John.

Hej was one of those radiant, calm, enjoying-every-moment bride. It was so fun to watch her soak in her big day.

We each drank our beverages out of these mason jars. The wedding was outside at an orchard in Stillwater, with beautiful, worn barns and lots of colorful gardens spread around the property.
The wedding celebration concluded with a square dance. So super fun, and so super hot. The whole day was fantastic. Congrats Hej!

Vintage Baby.

I am taking a Photo Editing class right now and just learned how to vintage hand-tint my pictures. I'll tell you what...not all pictures should be vintage hand-tinted! Rory and I do not look very good washed out with rosie cheeks! But Sonna does. So I'll share this picture from two winters ago.

A Reading Rainbow book recommendation

I just finished a book I began late last night. That's the sign of a good, good read. I'm sure many of you have read this one, but if any of you have not, I highly recommend this is quick, fast paced story that offers so much to chew on.

It's all about hell and heaven and the conversations that might lead from one to the other. There is so much to take away from this book, but my favorite is a new image of what hell might be like. Lewis writes of how quarrelsome everyone is:

"As soon as anyone arrives he settles in some street. Before he's been there twenty-four hours he quarrels with his neighbour. Before the week is over he's quarrelled so badly that he decides to move. Very likely he finds the next street empty because all the people there have quarrelled with their neighbours- and moved. If so he settles in. If by chance the street is full, he goes further. But even if he stays it makes no odds. He's sure to have another quarrel pretty soon and then he'll move on again. Finally he'll move right out to the edge of the town and build a new house. You see, it's easy here. You've only got to think a house and there it is. That's how the town keeps growing leaving more and more empty streets." (Lewis, 10)

I've always thought of hell as 'apart from God' but this offers such a visual of what existence would be like without the relational tools God has give us such as forgiveness, reconciliation, patience, honesty and kindness. Without these gifts, we are only left with our selfish demands and trying to live with everyone else's selfish demands. In our own lives we see our own and everyone else's selfish demands everyday, but thank God for the ability to work things out, for honesty and truthful communication, and that God created us to be relational beings, set up in communities so that we must learn how to use these God-instructed gifts.

Another Auction Surprise...

I wrote LaVonne (the generous friend who purchased the quilt for me) a thank you today and told her the following story as a part of my thank you. It was fun to write out this memory.

When I was in 5th grade we had a huge family reunion out in Colorado. One of my great uncles built a special building for this family reunion, complete with a stage and sound system, sleeping quarters and a kitchen with three ovens to feed all of us.

As a part of raising funds for the next family reunion, everyone brought collected items of my great grandma Anderson’s to be auctioned off to other family members. My mom had put an old, paper-thin apron of great grandma’s in the auction without my knowledge. I was playing Vanna White and when they handed me the apron to display for the bidders and I was horrified. I didn’t want the apron to be auctioned off. I loved that apron.

So from that stage I was silently lipping to my mom that I wanted the apron. She could see I was sad, but sort of communicated that it was too late and she was sorry. When the bidding started my mom tried to keep up with the bids, but her cousin Chuck kept increasing the bid so that she had to drop out. The apron was sold and cousin Chuck spent A LOT of money on that thing.

I walked the apron to him and when I got there he pushed it back into my hands and told me he bought it for me. And I absolutely fell apart. I actually remember this moment as pretty awkward because I couldn’t even tell him thank you. I was just overwhelmingly humbled and grateful and relieved.

There is something about a free gift that is so hard to comprehend. Our nature wants to earn it, to be sure we've contributed something, to repay them later. But truly accepting a free gift...it might just take me an eternity to figure out what this is really all about.

The last day of summer camp.

Our summer staff left this afternoon, and camp is officially over. Nebraska school's start early, and though it feels crazy to be done before August we have been at this since mid-May and I am exhausted. Saying goodbye to the staff today was a really powerful moment. I grew a lot this summer, was empowered and humbled, and have a lot to reflect on. A good challenging job is a good thing though. Feeling growth and character development isn't always the best feeling in the world, but at least I know I'm living my life and definitely still in process. Here are some shots of our closing worship today.