A New Chapter

I'm going to be a mother-in-law! Wow!! On Saturday evening, David had Michael (his roommate) text him and Callie, asking them to go to the chapel and get some flowers and a note that he, Michael, had left there for his fiancee. Of course, they were for Callie. Unfortunately, Callie said, "Oh, David, you go get them - I still have to change and we're already late for our get-together with the parents at Minerva's.." David tried a couple of gambits, but they failed utterly and he found himself at the chapel - alone. Finally inspiration struck, and he texted Callie that he had accidentally locked himself in a room whille searching for the flowers. When she arrived to rescue him, he was sitting on the chapel steps with the flowers, the note and the ring. She knew then, of course. I'd arranged the blue hydrangea and yellow daisies (Callie's favorite colors - and mine - and her mother's) in some semblance of order, and though the hydrangea was still somewhat wilted on account of being left without water because its stem was shorter than those of the daisies, Callie found them beautiful. She cried over the note and loved the ring - "It's exactly exactly exactly what I wanted!"

Meanwhile, Pete and I and Callie's parents, Jon and Laurie Berg, were sitting at Minerva's wondering why it was taking them even longer to get engaged than we had imagined. We were about to call them when David called and said they were on their way. We enjoyed appetizers, champagne, dessert and the play-by-play of the whole affair. Michelle and Britta stopped by to give hugs; when Callie went back to her dorm, she and her roommate Mandy (who also happens to be the above-mentioned Michael's fiancee) knocked on a number of doors to share the good news, resulting in quite a bit of screaming and further news spreading.

Yesterday at Augustana's cafeteria, we settled on September 1 as the date (probably) and the Draxton Wedding Barn as the location. The Bergs and the Draxtons have been very close friends for years and when the Draxons had cleaned out a hundred years' worth of manure and were having a celebration of their Century Farm in May of 2003, Jane, the oldest Berg daughter (of four - no sons) asked, "Couldn't I have my wedding reception in this barn?" The Bergs and Draxtons spent the summer renovating the barn and each of the daughters has been married there.

At the Browns' for the Super Bowl, the rest of the Stadems screamed and hugged and welcomed Callie with sufficient enthusiasm. She's excited to have "little" brothers and a multitude of new cousins. Grandpa Stadem will officiate, as Callie doesn't know the current pastor of her church very well. And so we enter a new chapter - adding grown members to the family! God bless us, every one!

A Beautiful Funeral

Pete often says that he wishes we had to go to a funeral every week, because of the perspective on life it provides. Saturday morning was such a funeral, as we mourned the death of Dona Chambers. I remember Dona from my earliest days, as she and Don were good friends of my parents. They went out dancing every Friday or Saturday night for years. The two families, along with the Carlsons and Larsons, also gathered most Memorial Days, Labor Days and New Year's Days, at our house or the Chambers mansion in Svea. With seven children, they needed every square foot of their four-bedroom, two-story older home next to the parsonage and across the street from the church. Ever since Don's retirement, Dona has spent over half the year in Yuma, AZ, even after Don's sudden death seven years ago of a massive heart attack. Her son Dave and his family have helped her keep up the big house, which will now be sold.

Dona loved to dance the night away with friends or family, at home or away, at a ballroom or a wedding. This summer two grandchildren got married, and none of the family members could keep up with her on the dance floor at the receptions. She also had a big 80th birthday party in July and everyone was home for the celebration (she has a son in AZ and daughters in WA, AK, and FL). After those events, she finally went to the doctor to investigate the pain she'd had while eating for months. Stomach cancer would kill her, but first she had months of treatment, staying at a care center, relief from pain, and then her final hospital stay of twelve days. I visited her several times but never really had the chance to talk about important things. However, Carol (a daughter) did, and shared at the funeral Dona's firm hope of heaven and that she was ready to go home.

Pastor Joyce Graue, filling in for our pastor on maternity leave, had visited Dona throughout her illness and also supported the family. Her gospel message filled us with appreciation for the Lord and His gifts, mercy and love. She quoted Scripture throughout the service and at the graveside and communicated her great faith in the promises of God's Word. She wanted "Lord of the Dance" sung during the sermon; since David was home, I asked him to sing those verses and have the congregation join on the chorus. His rich bass voice perfectly complemented the words of the verses:

"I danced on a Friday when the world was black;
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back"

and

"I am the life that'll never, never die
And I'll live in you if you live in me."

I sang "One Day at a Time," requested by Dona, at Don's funeral. When I suggested a repeat to the family, they concurred, so Camy Wenberg and I sang it as a duet. After tearing and choking up during Carol's remembrance speech, I was concerned that we would have a hard time getting through our songs (Camy also sang "Amazing Grace" movingly) without breaking down, but the Lord carried us through and we had no problems with that. The daughters also wanted the hymns to be more upbeat, so I played "Soon and Very Soon" with gusto and the congregation followed my lead. As the funeral home directors brought the casket down the aisle, the sound man played "In the Mood" from a CD. The celebration has begun!

Enjoying Exercise

I'd fallen out of the habit of regular exercise since my friends and I quit gathering every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for "Fitness Forte," an aerobics video. We got our hearts pumping for over three years, but a combination of changed schedules eliminated that possibility. I lift weights at the YMCA twice a week, walking for 15-30 minutes to warm up and get some exercise, but that doesn't seem enough to stay healthy and keep thin (well, OK, relatively thin!).

I purchased Wii Fit Plus with Christmas money and am thoroughly enjoying it! I march with a drum majorette; run and jump through an obstacle course, when not getting bonked or slipping to my death; box the Wii punching bag; step up, down and side-to-side in rhythm; perform Kung Fu positions, and even flap my wings with a chicken to land on targets instead of falling into the ocean.

The program also calculates my Wii Fit age, based on my balance, Body Mass Index, and even thinking games. I've been younger than my true age so far. Altogether a positive purchase, the one problem being that I stay downstairs longer than I should, enjoying my exercise!

Saint and Sinner

I was overwhelmed with the sense of my own sinfulness yesterday. First, our substitute pastor allowed a good long time for "reflection" during the Confession of Sins, so I had ample time to remember that I hadn't prayed with the praise team before worship began. I want to do that, but more often than not I forget. What does that say about my focus on the Lord? Nothing good!

Next, we sang "Lord, Have Mercy" with its verse lines "Jesus, I've forgotten the words that You have spoken" and "I have built an altar where I worship things of men," which spoke to me more than usual. I bustle about, doing good things for the most part, but am I helping people know You better? Not often. Am I truly sacrificing? Not often.

The scriptures were about the call of God and coming to Jesus, so I decided to sing "Come to Jesus" for the offering. It's a difficult song which I hadn't sung since before losing my voice, so I was praying that God would bring me through it. It's also a very emotional song and I usually cry when rehearsing it. The verse about "Don't be afraid to crawl and remember when we walk, sometimes we fall, so fall on Jesus" hit me hard, and then the next verse was "if your sky is dark and pours the rain, cry to Jesus" and I cried and sang because the Chambers family was there and Dona has just been put on hospice and everything is hard. I was able to sing while crying, and quit by the next verse.

While at the communion rail, I was struck by the necessity for communion - our ongoing sinfulness, our ongoing stubbornness, our ongoing need of a Savior. I am the chief of sinners - I have everything, yet am discontent; I know Jesus, yet forget Him; I believe His kingdom has come, yet live according to this world's rules so very often. Lord, I believe - help my unbelief!

During the last song, I completely messed up - not once, but twice - playing and singing the verse when the chorus was called for, and vice versa. My praise team will forgive me, for which I am so thankful, and the congregation will too. But it's just another example - in this case, not deliberate sin, of course, but it still hurt the worship flow and the comfort level of the congregation - of our continually missing the mark. Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Give and it will be given...

On Sunday, November 20, our church treasurer informed the congregation that we were far behind budget, and in order to finish the year in the black, the offering per Sunday for the rest of the year would have to be double what it had been so far. We've ended in the red for the last several years, so there wasn't a lot of hope in his voice.

That noon the men served a Potato Topper, the women contributed to a Bake Sale, and the entire congregation provided beautiful items for a Silent Auction to benefit a family who lives across the street from the church. The father has been in a wheelchair for years and the mother was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. The event was a great success, and almost $6000 was raised, including a matching gift from Thrivent.

That evening the Luther League met to package boxes for Operation Christmas Child, using almost $500 that had been donated at the Halloween gathering at the Gatewoods' farm. When Andrew came home, he thought they had packed about 30 boxes, but Pastor Mary informed us the following Sunday that it was 60 boxes!

The offerings grew each Sunday, until our entire deficit was erased and a surplus generated before Christmas Eve. What a blessing! I need to remember that Jesus wasn't kidding when He said, "Give and it will be given to you - pressed down, shaken together and running over!" The congregation went ahead and gave generously to those less fortunate, and in return were blessed to overflowing. Will I do the same?

Well-Prepared

Yesterday we sang for the Senior Citizens Christmas party at First Covenant Church in Willmar. We have never been so well-prepared. Why? For one thing, half the songs were from the Compline service that we already sang with the Stadem clan, so they were prepared three weeks ago and just had to remain polished by occasional practice. Most of the others were from years past, so we already knew them and just had to divvy up the parts for the smaller family size. Also, I've made a "To Do Before a Program" list and looked at it several times during the week.

Much of the improvement, however, was due to the simple fact that we are a smaller family now. On Thursday night, while I practiced one song with Sarah, Pete had Andrew and Philip pack up their program clothes. One song! It used to take up to an hour to pack up everyone's clothes, because not only were there three times as many clothes, but it was impossible to do two at a time, much less seven at a time, without losing half or more to play or foolishness or food. Of course we'd try anyway.

While there are aspects of the full house that I miss, getting ready for a program is not one of them.

Driving Lessons

Yesterday Sarah drove in the Cities for the first time. She's enrolled in a softball batting clinic run by the fast-pitch softball program at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Pete and I both brought her down so we could spend some time together during the clinic. Sunday afternoon is a great time for the first exposure, though I'm always amazed by the amount of traffic even then. She even got to experience about two minutes of stop-and-go traffic getting onto I-94 East from I-394; I have no idea what could have caused that, as the Vikings lost another game on the road yesterday. Why can't we have Tim Tebow??

Anyway, Pete was talking the whole time as Sarah made her way through the city; he is so good at training by talking through things, and he is so observant of every little detail, both what she is doing right and wrong, and everything that's going on around the car. Sarah learned a great deal in those forty-five minutes, and experienced success as well.

Pete was telling about a friend who can't talk people through things - he has to show them. So when he was teaching his youngest daughter to drive, he wouldn't tell her what to do - he'd grab the steering wheel. After the umpteenth time of this, and promising his daughter he would never take the wheel again, they left their home and within a mile, he had grabbed the wheel again! They turned around and went home, and her mother taught the daughter to drive! It was hilarious the way Pete recounted what his friend had told him....

Joel and Daniel took turns driving the Jones' new car from Phoenix; they reached Liberal, KS on Friday night, stayed with David in Sioux Falls on Saturday night, and came home yesterday. Today Joel will bring it to its rightful owners, but last night on his way home from Willmar he had a scare when a deer jumped out from the treeless ditch. For some reason he had a premonition and was telling himself, "I know there will be a deer," and looking around carefully, but it was so sudden that after braking and honking, he swerved around the deer and barely missed it. Thanks, Lord, for safety for Joel and the deer - and the new car!!