I am Thankful for . . . an #AWBChallenge

I’m participating in the ThanksBlogging #AWBChallenge over at Arkansas Women Bloggers this week.  Follow along and link up!

I have been abundantly blessed and am humbled as I pause to think of ALL I have to be thankful for this season: healthy children, a 20+ year marriage to an incredible husband and provider, the freedom that comes from simply being born in the United States, and of course – the GRACE of a loving God.

Amidst all of those blessings is one more that I am especially thankful for today, on National Philanthropy Day.  I am thankful for my vocation.

Full disclosure: I’m a Christian in the Lutheran tradition.  And Martin Luther had a somewhat unique take on the sacredness of vocation.  I happen to agree with him. (Imagine that!)  In fact, dear ‘ole Marty had this to say:

A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and every one by means of his own work or office must benefit and serve every other, that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, even as all the members of the body serve one another…”

The adoption of my baby brother in 1975 inspired me to become a Social Worker.

Reading The Great Gilly Hopkins in 4th grade affirmed my career aspiration.

Instructors at the University of Arkansas such as Debbie Hall and Glenda House encouraged me along the way.

Eventually I graduated and began working for the Department of Human Services in Benton County where a little boy named Kenny and his impoverished family became my first case.  Eva Taylor, Darlene Vinyard, and Becky Shell shepherded me through those early days.

And now, 18 years later, I’m privileged to work with a dedicated staff and committed volunteers to turn poverty into prosperity for single parent families.  Students like Andrea, Pam, Katy, Meghan, Jeff, Liz, Jacqueline and now Amy have fanned my flame of inspiration through their determination to succeed and their expressions of gratitude along the way.

Today we sent an email out to our supporters to show the results of their investment.

Their success is really the success of this amazing community we live in in Northwest Arkansas.  Happy National Philanthropy Day everyone!

Proud (but not TOO proud) to be Lutheran

As a lifelong, baptized member of the Lutheran church, I was content for nearly 35 years  to accept the faith that was “handed down” to me by my parents and extended family.  And lately, as I dig deeper into what it means to be a Christian in the Lutheran tradition, I am much more than content.  God really knew what he was doing when he created me – a child determined to be a social worker since age 4, and a teen-turned-adult interested in how social justice can be achieved – and allowed me to be born into a family that has been Lutheran for generations.

My church, Good Shepherd Lutheran (corner of Rolling Hills and Old Missouri Rd. in Fayetteville) will be hosting the bishop of our denomination (the ELCA aka the “liberal” Lutherans) on Sunday, November 4th.

Bishop Mark Hanson

Bishop Mark Hanson is an incredibly dynamic preacher, serves on the president’s faith advisory council, and previously served as president of the Lutheran World Federation.  He also released this powerful video as part of the “It Gets Better” campaign.

If you’ve ever thought about joining me for church, November 4th would be a great day to do so.

Consider yourself invited.

Faith Conversations with a 14 Year Old

This week we embarked on a new faith study. Teens and adults are gathering to participate in the series simply titled Animate. It is a video series followed by small group discussions.

The first installment featured Brian McLaren, who described some of the various ways christians understand or imagine God. After the video, we broke into groups. Girls in one group, guys in another.

On the way home, I asked Ethan the same questions we had discussed in our group. How do YOU imagine God? Is your understanding of Him more Kataphatic? Or Apophatic? (these big words were introduced and defined for us in the video, and beautifully illustrated in our Animate Journals.) When it comes to your “camp”- are you more concrete? Or foggy?

Imagine my surprise when Ethan, my most resistant/oppositional child, fell right in line with the way I imagine God, the way I understand Him, and even falling into the same camp.

I commented, “Wow Ethan, I can’t believe that we are just alike in all of those areas,” to which he quickly responded, “Well, you raised me!”

The conversation went on into our more typical exchange. . .

I commented that I had a hard time understanding one of the girls in my class. Like a typical teen, she talks pretty fast! Ethan chimed in, “Yeah, she’s pretty monotone.”

Those of you who know my kid will understand my response: “POT. KETTLE.”

“Hey, I speak a lot more volumtious when I’m with my friends,” Ethan objected.

“That’s not even a word Ethan.” (argument ensues)

“No, you’re trying to make up a new word like ginormous. You’re blending voluptuous and voluminous.”

“Oh,” Ethan said. “Well, it works. It’s volume-to-us.“

Sioux Falls, Summer 2012

Whew!  We’re back home from a quick trip to Sioux Falls, SD and have LOTS of great memories and pictures to show for it! Genna didn’t want to make the long drive, so that left room (though very little of it!) for Gracie’s boyfriend Joseph to tag along.  What a trooper!  All 6′ 3″ of him crammed in the back seat of my Honda CRV for 9 hours, then we put him through the ringer by introducing him to a million new faces.  We also had JUST enough room in the trunk for Ethan’s unicycle.  He proudly displayed his skills for anyone who would watch him all weekend long.  Suffice it to say that the little kids AND the grown up cousins were most impressed!

We started out with a baby shower on Thursday night for Katerina “Katya” Beverly Olson. 

That little girl certainly has her daddy wrapped around her little finger (and apparently the rest of us  too, as she was the reason we drove 1,200+ miles!)  Katya’s aunts Jess and Stephanie threw a lovely shower where we learned the “candy bar game” and had quite a few laughs!  Saw our great aunt Helene and cousin Jane – an added bonus.

Friday morning started with beautiful (not to mention delectable!) fruit, yogurt and granola parfaits on the Nesje patio, followed by a quick road trip to Brandt Lake.  It was 104 degrees but jet skis, tubing and floating in the “old lady chairs” helped us cope with the heat.  My biceps still haven’t recovered though!  While tubing, LaDawn and I hung on for DEAR life while her sister Pam did all she could to throw us off!

I’ve decided that Mark and I need to start the search for a little cabin on the lake so that we can spend every weekend at the lake for 31 years – just like Veryl and Donna Paulsen have!

We ran back into town on Friday night and cleaned up quickly to meet everyone at Grille 26 for dinner.  Afterwards, we sat out on Aunt Pam’s back patio and enjoyed the evening, which was finally cooling off!

An old friend (a boyfriend from 8th grade if you really want to know) saw my post on Facebook that said I would be in Sioux Falls.  He reached out via Facebook and I invited him to come over to join us.  Mike had just become a GRANDPA on the 4th of July and had, in fact, just brought his daughter and her new baby boy home from the hospital that very day.  It was really nice to reconnect with someone who I haven’t seen in at least 18 years.  (He even brought me a Skor candy bar, my favorite candy bar growing up.)

Saturday started out with a trip to the Farmer’s Market near the Falls.  The Farmer’s Market is held under a lovely pavilion and there was a great crowd.  Unfortunately, due to the direction of the wind the experience was spoiled by the not-so-pleasant odor wafting over from John Morrell’s meat packing plant.  P- U!

The city has continued to renovate the Falls Park area and that made for some lovely photo opportunities.  We took the trolley downtown and enjoyed shopping in the shops along Phillips Avenue.  I stopped in Holsen Hus and treated myself to  a Lefse pastry board.  Now I’ll be able to roll lefse with the best of them this November!  We enjoyed lunch (and Jack’s silly faces) at the Cookie Jar.

Saturday evening was Katya’s baptism, the reason for our trip.  Gracie was honored to be one of Katya’s sponsors.  My old piano teacher, Ann Okins, was the organist for the service and I really enjoyed having the chance to visit with her.  Afterwards, we had a good old fashioned Johnson Family picnic at Aunt Pam’s house, complete with chicken from the Keg.  Larry and Jan Anderson joined us and, as always, it was so great to visit with them.  Jan is, hands down, the most positive person I’ve ever known.  Every single sentence she spoke was a heartfelt compliment to someone, an encouraging word, or simply a kind thought.  I need to hang with her more often!  What an incredible example to follow. I’m very bummed that the memory card on my camera was full by this point, because I would have loved to have a photo of Larry and Jan.

Well, that was the the whirlwind weekend!

We’re Going on a Road Trip!

Last weekend, I was hungry for fried chicken.  GOOD fried chicken.  The problem is, that in the 22 years I’ve lived here I really haven’t had any GOOD fried chicken.  So I did what everyone in 2012 does, I asked my Facebook friends for suggestions. The overwhelming majority suggested Monte Ne Chicken, but of course that is too far to go on the spur of the moment.  And of course, my Aunt Pam in S.D. suggested the Keg, which is only 632 miles away(!) and is my favorite chicken(!) and is the reason that no chicken in 22 years of living in the South has measured up!!

Long story short, I settled for a Walmart rotisserie chicken (the leftovers make for excellent chicken salad by the way) last weekend but  . . .  Good things come to those who wait!
I will get my KEG fix this week! (not to mention a Taco John’s fix!)

But the best part of this long drive for a short visit, is meeting this little dolly . . .

We’ll make it to Sioux Falls in time for a baby shower on Thursday evening. Katya will be be baptized on Saturday and Gracie has the honor of being one of the Godmothers.

Looking forward to four days of food, family, friends and fun!