What the Rocky Mountains Have Taught Me

Joining in with the online discussion on the book “On Being A Writer” by Ann Kroeker and Charity Singleton Craig. Today we are working through Chapter 11: Rest.


Can you believe we only have one chapter left to go?

But onto today’s topic for now….REST! Having attended seminary “self-care” is something that was ingrained into every fiber of  my being. Professors continually reminded us of the high percentage of burn out rates for clergy and individuals who work in the church because they don’t care for themselves. They don’t take time to rest! So, self-care is something that I think I am pretty okay at, but I would say it is also something that I could work on too. (Does that make any sense at all?)

I am pretty good at noticing when others need time to rest, but I am not always so good at recognizing it in my self. However I have been blessed by a continuing education experience the last five summers. Every June, I head to the heart of the Rocky Mountains, just outside of Estes Park Colorado to learn but also to spend time in Sabbath and rest. Every morning, we have class but then we have the remainder of the day to simply play or rest or whatever one feels like doing. Every evening, there is a fun event since it is a very family oriented event. One night they even have a square dance caller come in and teach us how to square dance.

There are lots of things that I love about this event, but truly the reason I have come to LOVE it is because it forces me to put down the phone, the computer, etc and simply take in God’s amazing awesome creation. Where we stay, there is no Internet, no computers, no television (unless you count the one in the main lodge—which to be honest, most of us forget about!). I find myself spending my time reading on the porch with the gorgeous backdrop of the Rocky Mountains in front of me. I also find myself listening and taking in the creatures around us. I find myself taking in every sight and sound of God’s creation. I simply find myself taking the time to rest!

I’m telling you it doesn’t get much better than this! 

Yes, sometimes I will drive into town to go to a coffee shop or the grocery store. But what I have found is a lot of times, I will throw my phone in my purse and completely forget about it. It is so healthy and healing for me to take the time to simply be…to be still and know that God is God! And in the magnificent Rockies of Colorado, I cannot help but know that!

When I return home, I immediately find myself turning on the tv or scanning Facebook or whatever. I need to be better about taking what I experience in the Rockies and bringing it home especially in relationship to my writing. I am going to be better about taking time to simply just be..whether that means going for a walk on a cool crisp Fall day or sitting in my backyard listening to the creatures scurrying about or enjoying my beloved prairies where I always feel at peace and like I am standing on holy ground.

I think, Ann and Charity are right….not only do we need to take time away from our words, we need to take time just resting and remembering that even God rested. In Genesis, we read “And on the seventh day, God finished the work he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had done (Genesis 2:2).”

It is important for us to take time away and to rest; to live out Sabbath in our lives. I have come to realize that society isn’t very good at living out Sabbath in our technology fast-paced world! Let’s be examples of living out Sabbath in our lives! And also let’s not forget to play a little too! (Children sure have a lot to teach us when it comes to taking the time to play, don’t they?!?!)

Because when we take the time to rest, I believe God can use our words even more fully. God can take our time away to help us see where our words need work or if our words are exactly what God wants us to share.

What I Have Learned This Summer!

I am linking up for the Five Minute Friday. The FMF is hosted by Kate Motaung on her blog Heading Home. Today’s prompt is “Learn.” Write for five minutes; unedited.

This summer has been a busy summer for me…busier than usual. But throughout the summer, I have continued to learn so much.

I learned that my heart finds so much peace when I take the time to just be and enjoy God’s creation in the Rocky Mountains.

I learned how amazing it is when 30,000 youth and adults gather in a huge stadium in Detroit and declare God’s promises of peace and justice with the world.

This is only a portion of the Gathering!

I learned how sometimes you just have to get out of the boat…and other times you just have to stay. (Thanks for sharing those words FMF Retreat friends!)

I learned how part of my story will always be sharing my family’s struggle with a mental illness. I learned that part of my story will always be that I am a daughter; a daughter of a woman who daily struggles with a mental illness.

I learned that YOU are my people! I was so blessed to meet three of the Five Minute Friday ladies last weekend while I was in Nashville with my sister. You all are my heart!

I learned that I value spending quality time with my sister. It will be a long time before I forget our trip.

I learned that relationships and friendships go far beyond computer screens. They are found in Twitter handles and Voxer messages. They are found in sharing our stories and hearing those two simple words “Me, too!”

I learned that God continually widens the circle to bring more friends into the friendship circle.

I learned that I am never through learning! Life is always teaching us!

What have you learned this summer my friends?

Grace Personified

The suitcase was packed away last night.

It has been a crazy summer of traveling for me..my favorite continuing education event in the heart of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, taking youth to the ELCA National Youth Gathering in Detroit MI,  and topping it all off with a sister’s trip to Nashville.

And in the midst of all of my travel, life has continued on as usual. As many of you know, our mom lives daily with a mental illness and has lived in a nursing home for the last ten plus years. In June, my sister called me to let me know that Mom was once again hospitalized. And since that hospitalization, life has been chaotic and hectic…..a few times this summer in and out of the hospital. Mom just hasn’t been herself. She has been asking to move which isn’t like her at all.

Then last week, we got a phone call saying she just wasn’t budging about the moving. We stuck to our guns because we just didn’t think it would be a good idea for her to move. Yet she still kept asking to move. We finally gave in…and she moved to a new place that specializes in pysch care. Instead of 45 minutes from me, she is now like four hours away from me. My sister and I are trusting this all to God…hoping that she can come back once she gets back on track, but for now she is in the best place for her. Just not so easy to navigate or trust in. Yet I know that this is all in God’s hands! (Not the first time, we have placed Mom in God’s loving care!)

My sister and I had an amazing time last week. But in  the backs of both of our minds, Mom was not far away. I am pretty sure we were both thinking about it just a little all throughout the week.  And then I got to meet a few FMF ladies! None of them knew what was going on…BUT each one of them (And each one of YOU!) is “grace personified.” They reminded me that we are connected beyond computer screens and rather are connected at the heart…heart connections made by God.

In those heart connections, God reminds me; reminds us that I am/we are never alone. I loved these words from my friend Tammy’s post this week: “Always listening, always hearing; Peace He gives us, love endearing; Storms may come, but then are clearing; He is here.”

Trusting in those promises…..
Today and every day.

Dr. Pepper, the Color Green and The Glorious Rocky Mountains!

I am linking up for the Five Minute Friday. The FMF is hosted by Kate Motaung on her blog Heading Home. Today’s prompt is “Favorite.” Write for five minutes; unedited.

I have so many favorites. I LOVE the color green. Just ask my friend Gretchen! 😛 My favorite soda is usually Dr. Pepper. But, my friends and family, you all are my favorites too. But one of my all time favorites is the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

I spent the last ten days in the glorious Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The event is a continuing education event that is held every summer for ten days. I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful this event is. And how it has become one of my favorite things in the world!

First of all, it is held in the midst of some of the most amazing of God’s creation. I can’t help but just take it all in. (Oh my friends I have so many wonderful photos to show all of you!) Secondly, the speakers are always great. But most of all, my favorite is gathering around the campfire each night getting to know new colleagues etc.

It has become one of my all time favorite places because of the scenery, because of the dear people I have met there. It is also my favorite because I truly am able to experience Sabbath there. It is a place where God reminds me constantly to “Be still and know that I am God.”

My friends, you are my favorites too!!! And I have missed you!!!

God sure knows how to show off, doesn’t he?! 🙂

Seeking Peace

Seeking peace….my friends…can be such a difficult thing to do in this crazy busy hustling world. But the truth is that even when we take five minutes with him, God has a way of showing up and showing us peace..of reminding us of the importance of Sabbath in our every day lives.

Just tonight, I found myself at a picnic. In the midst of the picnic, I found myself simply sitting taking in the cool air and was reminded of the beauty of creation as I watched the kids with smiles on their faces playing. Then I came to church to check on our community garden where they were busy building garden boxes. My colleague, her husband, another colleague and another friend were busy working on the boxes when I arrived. My colleagues two year old son was watching and playing outdoors. While my colleague was working with them on the boxes, I was hanging out with Mr. E. As I sat in the box of the pickup and listened to this sweet little boy chat with me. I couldn’t help but think about how being with him was bringing me peace…because it was causing me to pause and just simply sit with him.

Isn’t it funny how God has this way of reminding us of the importance of Sabbath and helping us to seek peace. Some of my favorite places have become places where I truly experience God’s peace. My favorite place in the world…the Bible camp I worked at for approximately seven summers helps me to exhale and take in the beauty of God’s creation. As my car turns onto the gravel road to that holy place, I find myself feeling much lighter. It is a place where I always am at peace.

On Sunday, I will be heading to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains for a continuing education class. This is the fifth summer that I have participated in this event. It is hard to explain but the minute I come around the bends and see the Rocky Mountains staring back at me, my whole body is at peace. It is as if my whole body exhales and peace immediately enters in. Sitting around Lily Lake or on the front porch at Meeker Park Lodge or wherever I might find myself, I don’t have to look far at all to find God’s peace because it is already there staring right back at me.

And as I think about how it is there along, I am reminded that it is in my every day too. I just have to stop and take the time to see it, to feel it and to hear it. God offers an everlasting peace that only God can provide. But we must take the time to seek it, to find it, and to let it enter in. Because when we do, God is right there painting  this beautiful masterpiece…like a golden sunset, or the golden wheat blowing in the fields of the prairies of North Dakota, or right in my own back yard.

And as God paints that beautiful masterpiece, we begin to see the beauty in the midst of the brokenness, the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary and experience the everlasting peace that only God can provide us.

I am linking up with Holly for Testimony Tuesday, Kelly for the RaRa Linkup, Jennifer for Tell His Story and Holley for Coffee for your Heart:



Estes Park, CO

For the last several summers, I have found myself just outside Estes Park CO for the Lutheran Academy of the Rockies. I love this continuing Ed event for what it offers. But my favorite thing about this event is where it is located; in the Rocky Mts of Colorado.

I have walked along the boardwalk and the Big Thompson River in Estes Park. I have indulged in Blue Bell ice cream at the Blue Bell ice cream shop in downtown Estes. I have eaten at Ed’s Cantina. ( If you are reading Pastrix or have heard Nadia Bolz-Weber’s story about 9-11, you know that’s where she was on that horrific day). I have enjoyed the many shops with the tourists of Estes Park. I have experienced the true joy of Estes Park, CO!
(There are so many pictures I could share. Perhaps I will soon!)

Tonight my heart is sad…sad as I watch the walls of the Big Thompson spilling into the streets of downtown Estes Park. Living in the Red River Valley I know all to well how destructive water can be. I’ve done my fair share of slinging sandbags. Tonight I wonder what I can do to help. So I pray…pray for all affected by the rising waters of the Big Thompson river…those in Estes, those in Boulder, etc.

Please join me in prayer!

Community Celebration and Rocky Mountain Travels

I spent the weekend in my hometown; Ashley, North Dakota as they celebrated their 125th. It was a wonderful fun-filled weekend. I reconnected with several of my classmates from the graduating class of 1997. I got to spend lots of quality time with my family. Yesterday I also participated in our community worship service with two female pastors who grew up in Ashley. Pretty cool that three women led the service and even cooler that this community led up little girls to lead in the church. (I’ll try to capture more of the event in coming days!).

After church I bolted home to Fargo-Moorhead to catch a plane to Denver so I could attend the second week of the Lutheran Academy of the Rockies. I made it home with plenty of time to make my flight. Needless to say though Mother Nature had other plans in mind!!! Due to weather at DIA, we sat in the Tarmack for 45 minutes, then another hour and a half delay, a reboard onto the plane followed by an immediate deboarding due to another hour plus delay. Luckily the third time was a charm and we left Fargo at 9:35 pm when we were supposed to originally leave at 5:30 pm. Arrived in Denver at 10:40 pm or so. Made hotel reservations and got to my room around 1 am. Up at 6 am, back to DIA and finally caught my shuttle to Estes. Now loving and taking in the Rocky Mountain air until Thursday (which is today-I wrote this on Tues) when the trek home begins. Luckily I’m driving back with friends!

So that’s a quick update…hopefully will update again soon!

Hiking to Victory and Blessed to Be a Blessing!

Sometimes it seems I dont have much to say but the last ten days have been so full of life and light. Im not even sure I can put it into words! As I drove into the Rocky Mountains, Mount Meeker and Longs Peak stood before me and God’s awesome creation seemed even more unbelievable. Just one big masterpiece; no dividing line at all! Being from the Midwest it took awhile to get used to the elevation etc! But on Monday, I braved it and took a chance. I went hiking with 28 other people. I found myself pushing myself. IT was a 2.8 mile hike in and a 2.8 mile hike back. I was visiting with my companions, getting to know them, etc but at a point, I hit a wall and didnt think I could finish but I found myself continuing to just keep walking… to keep putting one foot in front of the other. My new friends where there with me and kept cheering me on. I honestly dont think I could have done it with out them! I finally made it back and realized what I had done. I couldnt think of my mom and how she has lived her whole life with a mental illness. She just keeps pushing through. What an example she is for me! I am proud I finished the hike and was reminded by my new friends that it was no little task and I should be proud! Wow! What a journey! Along the way I found myself saying IM NOT GOING TO CRY…and I didnt! I just kept moving!

These last ten days will sustain me for awhile! I am sometimes surprised by how God blesses me with wonderful new people in my life. I was so suprised and blessed by each of them. Last night one of the presenters asked the people who have attended who of the new people surprised them the most etc. He said my name and told the speaker about the wonderful conversations we had. I wasnt sure how to respond. God has blessed me to be a blessing and I am so thankful for that gift!

Blogging from the Rockies

Hi friends! Sorry I havent blogged for awhile. I am currently attending a continuing education event in Rocky Mountain National Park. Its been great. No cell service, Internet, etc so nice to be disconnected for a change. Im currently in town at a local coffee shop using their wi fi! I am hear until next Thursday. Enjoying the Rocky Mountain Air. Havent seen any animals YET but am hoping Ill get to see some Elk, or Bear, or something! Well I thought Id make this short. Hope you all are well!