Fancy Thanksgiving?

"Hey, we're having a Fancy Thanksgiving!" That was the lie we were telling our friends Ben and Tara, who were married a month ago today. Since we were not at the real wedding, an idea circulated, "let's have a wedding reception here at LSTC, during our Sunday potluck!" But we wanted a surprise and Fancy Thanksgiving was the ticket. We are known for having some great parties and themes, so Fancy Thanksgiving, although low on our quality of themes, was a realistic lie to be told. So we got to work over the last couple of weeks, mostly just keeping our mouths shut, but some party decorations were bought and a secret facebook event was created, we were off to the races.
And the day came last Sunday, and as I arrived with some potluck foods to offer (eggplant parm and avocado quesadillas), I walked into a decorating frenzy. "Alex you can be our tape guy!" Yes ma'am and I was off hanging up balloons and paper wedding bells, throwing around streamers like I was toilet papering. I was doing it all and having such a good time, and then there was no more time, they were suppose to be there. "Are they coming?" Everyone hid while I went and played lookout, and finally I see some fancy dressed people come around the corner. Here we go! Running down the stairs, were lying in wait when we finally heard voices, and...
"Surprise!!! Happy Marriage to you, Happy Marriage to you... (to the tune Happy Birthday)"

They were completely shocked; never saw it coming! But we did it, we had a wedding reception. We had a sit down dinner with a head table, we had speeches, we had a first dance, bouquet toss, garter toss, a wedding game, we did it all. It was a blast, the quote of the night was, "This was better than some real weddings I have been to." And when it was all said and done we stayed and cleaned up together too, we were a community through and through that night! It was quite amazing to see what we can do when we are unified!

Breathe

In my most stressful moments, I take a moment to breathe. I quite literally stop whatever I'm doing and breathe in deeply and out deeply. A deep sigh. Sometimes I take TWO sighs. It helps. My friend Robert and I decided a few years ago that a sigh is the simplest form of prayer. I think of the passage from Romans when the spirit intercedes for us "with sighs too deep for words."

So this week, this Thanksgiving week, this week-long break from classes.... I'm breathing. I'm taking nice, long, deep, big breaths. I'm filling my body with restful sleep, and hugs from family, and kisses from my goddaughter, and of course, some delicious thanksgiving food.

It's also a good time to enjoy the present and to not stress so much about forms for first call, about papers and projects that will be due when I get back, and so on.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, take a moment to breathe. Just breathe. It's a prayer, I promise.

The Big Offer...well for me, at least

This week I was offered an opportunity to preach at my home congregation. No date was set, and really the idea was just thrown out there in the e-mail, but it’s still a little intimidating for me. I have never preached before. I’ve given campfire talks, which are alright but much less formal, and I’ve given one “talk” at a Sunday evening worship service at Luther College called FOCUS, which was a wonderful experience and probably the closest I’ve come to the pulpit. The idea of reaching excites me. Although I haven’t taken the Preaching class yet at LSTC, I am still learning a lot of things by observation.

I am very fortunate to be able to attend chapel up to four times a week and listen to a variety of ways to interpret and communicate the gospel to others. I am also fortunate to participate in Greek Pericopes with Dr. Edgar Krentz every Monday (that I can make) where we translate the New Testament readings for the week and sometimes take a look at the Septuagint translation of the First Reading as well. At both of these occasions, I challenge myself and ask how I could preach on one of the subjects within the texts? Most of the time, my gut is wrong (yes, even post-appendectomy). Dr. Krentz usually will preface how he would go about that Sunday with, “It is tempting to preach on this…(insert what I was thinking here)…but I wouldn’t for this reason”. Ooops.

I’m looking forward to completing the Preaching class next year so I can get over some of these concerns about how to “properly” preach within the Lutheran church. I’ve heard some scary stories about first sermons and those have me a little nervous, but I am still very excited for my first preaching opportunity coming up soon.

Welcome Home?

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and today after my Greek class I drove from Chicago back to my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.  Tonight as I was driving from my parents house to meet my sister at our local theater for the Breaking Dawn midnight premier, I kept noticing things that were different.  I was surprised  that a road the city had been working on for the past few years finally got finished.  I was shocked that my favorite rock radio station now is a sports radio talk station.  And really, when did the 24 hour donut shop turn into a Cash-for-Gold store? My hometown was suddenly not looking so familiar.  I didn't realize that three months away could makes such a big difference, and I started wondering if I could still call Cleveland "home".   Then, all of the sudden, as I was channel surfing for a new radio station to replace my old fave, I heard a familiar voice.  Before beginning seminary, I was a director of a church, and one of my parishioners is a local DJ.  Hearing his laugh bubble through the speakers of my car reminded me of the last day I saw him.  He said, "Not everyone can do what you're doing.  It seems awfully hard to become a pastor.  But I can tell what God sees in you, and know the work will be worth it." This seminary business is tricky stuff.  Not only do we leave our homes and our families, be we put our old selves behind us in pursuit of loving God's kingdom.  Maybe tonight the change that was the real surprise is that the  change in myself is as noticeable as a donut shop selling wedding rings instead of coffee.   In the surprise of change, there is one thing that remains constant - that God loves and provides for me, like when he reached out to me through a familiar voice wafting through my radio.   It is good to be home.  

The Sanctity of Life

The serenity of unseasonably warm days even as time flows towards Advent and the holiday season can sometimes lull you into a reflective mode, especially when your birthday also dawns on the horizon. As a new week blossomed, I found myself enjoying yet another Sunday at my Ministry in Context congregation with the happy addition of my Bishop and the presence of my family, including my mother. 

Later that evening, as my husband recalled the conversation overheard between my mother and my MIC pastor I phoned to tease her because just like any other Southern woman she tends to brag about the children she has raised, and the grandchildren she has come to spoil. 

I've often spoken of my Mother being one of the personal Trinity in my life: the other two being my Aunt Debra and my Grandmother because all three of these women have made a powerful impact on my life, three women who are Christ-like and Christ-centered in their lives. Their unconditional love which has poured over my wounds and soaked me to the bone is part of what has sustained me throughout. Some may scoff at the term of endearment but I don't believe My Creator is offended.

Without her usual laughter, what she offered was a testimony about my coming into this world. My mother was a single parent and in those days single, unwed women were frowned upon no matter how successful they were. My mother said to me that "God gives you the desires of your heart" and what she wanted, was me.

As my life continues to unravel and spin in many multicolored fabrics, pooling at my feet I am aware that my life is not my own. I am humbled that my Mother has loved me as deeply as God loves all of us, knowing I can never repay her for everything she has done.

Thanks Mom for my birth day.

God's Peace.

Awaiting Advent

I'm not the kind of person who blasts Christmas carols from the radio in November. I'm not even the kind of person to do that on December 18th. There are years when I don't decorate my home or put up a Christmas tree until I absolutely have to. In fact, I really don't get into the Christmas spirit until about December 24th. And when I do finally get into the spirit, I'm in it for about 12 days. Of course, this means that I have to find my own Christmas music, since the radio stations get tired of singing carols on the 26th.

It's almost as if my holiday calendar is off from the rest of society. And, it's not because I'm a grinch or a Scrooge. I just really, really love Advent. I love the waiting, the spooky Advent hymns (O Come, O Come Emmanuel; Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus), and the prayerful yearning for peace, which are so integral to the season. For me, to sing hymns like "O Come, All Ye Faithful" or "Angels We Have Heard on High" in the midst of the Advent season would be like singing "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" during Lent. We can gain a lot from treating Advent like Advent and the Christmas season (Dec. 25 - Jan 6) like Christmas. Even before I grew into true liturgical nerdiness at LSTC, I enjoyed the quiet, prayerful tone of Advent and the boistrous celebration of Christmas, and I love making the most of both.

I can't wait for Advent. I guess you could say I can't wait to start waiting. I hope that in my ministry I will be able to share my love of Advent with the church, as well as my willingness to celebrate Christmas well after Christmas Day.

Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself. I still have a turkey to buy!

Sometimes You Just Need to Build Yourself a Fort

Dr. Kurt Hendel is our Confessions professor and all-around Reformation scholar at LSTC. He is also one of the few people I voluntarily wake up to hear lecture at 8 am. This is one of the trademarks of Dr. Hendel, all his classes are taught at 8 am on Mondays and Tuesdays. And they start precisely at 8 am. This semester I am taking Theology of Luther, a seminar class where we read from Luther’s Works and discuss them. A fantastic course, but definitely one of those “you know you’re in seminary when…” moments. You know you’re in seminary when you voluntarily wake up at 8 am on a Monday to discussion 16th Century German theologians, and you love it!

Another trademark of Dr. Hendel is the famed “Hendel Project.” The major assignment for all of his classes is either a 15-page research paper or a substantive project that engages the course material. The project is a great way to engage your creative side. It can be anything from a piece of art to a photo collage to setting the Small Catechism to music. There is even stories of a beer-brewing project. This semester I decided to go the research paper route. However, halfway through the paper I became kind of bored and this is what resulted:


My classmates whom I was studying with found the whole thing hilarious. But hey, sometimes you just need to build yourself a fort out of Luther’s Works.