Fiction Prompts #4: Light

Hello, friends! Tanner's prompt for today is Light.

"You light up my life."

Daisy groaned. "Come on, enough with the puns already!"

"Did you hear the one about the party at the light bulb factory?"

"Don't..."

"It was pretty lit!"

"Andi!"

"What? I'm happy! In fact, I'm -"

"Delighted, yes, I've got it!"

"And we're installing light fixtures in my new place, which is close to yours and close to my new place of employment. Give me this moment, Daisy!"

Daisy put her screwdriver down and gave Andi a fixed look. "Have you thought about what color you're going to paint your bedroom?"

"Not yet, why?"

"What's blue and not very heavy?"

Andi thought for a second, then grinned. "Light blue!"

Playlist Prompt #28: "Light in the Hallway"

Hello, friends! Today's prompt, courtesy of my brother Zach, is the song "Light in the Hallway" by Pentatonix.

This song is a lullaby, written from the perspective of a parent to a child. However, much of it could easily be seen from the perspective of God to us, his children. I can draw biblical parallels for almost every line:

"Close your eyes, lay your head down / now it's time to sleep"

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." (Psalm 4:8)

"If you're scared of the darkness, I will calm your fear / There's a light in the hallway so you know I'm here"

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:5)

"So count your blessings every day / It makes the monsters go away"

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me - practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:8-9)

"And everything will be okay / You are not alone / You are right at home"

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39) 

Playlist Prompt #25: "In My Life"

Hello, friends! Today's prompt, courtesy of Lindsey, is the song "In My Life" by the Beatles.

This song makes me think of Heaven.

It starts out talking about nouns. Just kidding, but it's true all the same: the song talks about people, places, and things that the singer loves. There's a lot of nostalgia in this song, and I'm here for it! I can list some of my favorite places:

• The bluff at Concordia University Wisconsin
• The Chapel of Christ Triumphant, also at CUW
• University Lutheran's sanctuary
• Lake Okoboji
• Walker Johnston Park in Urbandale

And I can list some of the things I associate with those places:

• Many, many walks up and down the switchbacks with Lindsey
• Many, many chapel services with my college friends
• The joy-filled Vespers nights with the UL crowd
• Swimming in the lake with my camp friends growing up
• Playing at the park with my neighbors as a kid

I don't get to those places very much anymore. I see some of those places very differently now than I did as a child. But the memories will always be there, and they'll always make me smile.

But as the song says:

"But of all those friends and lovers / there is no one compares with you / and those memories lose their meaning / when I think of love as something new"

"Though I know I'll never lose affection / for people and things that went before / I know I'll often stop and think about them / In my life, I love you more"

When we get to Heaven, it will be so insanely wonderful beyond all of our imaginations. It'll be like all of our favorite places combined and so much more than that. Our memories of the old Earth will be nice, but they'll lose their meaning to us in the light of the wonderful new Earth we're now experiencing. Isn't that an interesting thought - a place that has no dark side, that will never lose its hold on us, that we'll never need to feel nostalgic for because we'll never lose it? 

Birthday Eve Musings

Hello, friends.

In January 2019, I had the opportunity to fly from Oklahoma to Wisconsin to help my friend Lindsey try on wedding dresses. Here's a snippet of what I wrote in my journal on my way home:

"I just don't want to go back. I'm driving back because I have to, because Tammy's there in Enid and because I have responsibilities that I have to do but good Lord, if I could just stay in Milwaukee, my life would be so much better than it is now. ... I want to move to Milwaukee. I do. I desperately want that. I said it while I was there in July and I'll say it again: I am more comfortable sleeping in Bryan and Lindsey's guest room than I have ever been in Oklahoma."

It took nine more months, but that dream came true.

It was a birthday present, in fact. On my birthday last year, I arrived in Milwaukee and got an apartment (after paying a lot of money). I saw my best friends, and I could watch them leave that night without wondering how many months it would be until I saw them again. I received the best gift of all: a fresh start in the place that feels most like home to me.

Needless to say, the last year hasn't gone exactly according to plan. But when has my life ever gone according to plan? 

All day, I've fielded texts from my friends with their plans for me for my birthday tomorrow. I'm genuinely excited and I feel so loved. Those are two emotions I rarely felt in Oklahoma, and despite everything, I know I'm better off here, and I'm going to be okay.

Writing Prompt #10: Rest

Tanner's prompt for today is Rest.

I don't feel like I have too much to say today. That might be because I'm sitting on my balcony enjoying the warm weather, and thinking is an awful lot of work. I have a book next to me, but - shhh - I stopped reading it awhile ago to watch Blue Bloods on my phone.

It's very restful to be out there, listening to the birds, doing a bit of people watching, and just generally lazing the day away. I'll do something eventually. But right now, rest is all I need. And that's okay.

Stay tuned for May 26th: Coffee.

The End of the Decade

Hello, friends.

I'm going to do the stereotypical "it's the end of a decade" post here. Because it is! And it's interesting and informative to reflect back on what the last ten years have been.

In 2010, I turned 18 years old. I graduated high school in Iowa and moved to Wisconsin to begin my first year of college.

Since then, holy cow, a lot has happened.

I graduated college in 3 years.
I've had 9 different jobs and lived in 4 states.
I made a lot of new friends and lost touch with some old ones.
I've gained a sister-in-law and seriously cute godchildren.
I became a dog-mom, and then a foster mom, and then an adoptive mom.

The end of 2019 finds me recovering from following my dreams to Oklahoma. My recovery has led me to Milwaukee, with my wallet a little tighter than before, but my heart much fuller.

Looking back at who I was in 2010, I doubt I ever would have guessed what the next ten years would hold. I never thought my first church work job would be campus ministry in Florida. I would have been aghast to think that my first call would end so painfully. I hoped I'd find my husband by now.

So many things are different than I thought they would be, but that doesn't mean they're bad. I'm ending the decade on a good note, in a good place, with good friends. It may be a note I never would have predicted ten years ago, but it's a good note nonetheless.

Along the same lines, I have no guesses as to where I'll be in 2030. I'd like to see myself in a stable job, with a husband and maybe a few more kids (biological, adoptive, foster, whatever). That's as specific as I want to get. God will fill in the blanks. After all, He certainly did in the last ten years. I have faith that whatever He's got planned for the next ten will be equally surprising and ultimately good.

July Adventures

Hello, friends.

It's been a crazy fun month. My blog posts are usually serious, so instead, today I'm going to share with you some of my favorite stories from the month of July. I hope you enjoy. :)

I'll start off with a classic Mad Libs story entitled "Your Undead IQ," as written by my daughter and narrated by myself and Melissa.

Are you an undead expert? Take this powerful quiz to find out! 

1. Where do vampires sleep? a) with the fishes, b) on the beach, c) inside a cat, or d) in a striped coffin

2. What is a zombie's favorite snack? a) moon salad, b) chocolate-covered pillows, c) school bits, or d) brains

3. Where do ghouls go to meet ghoul friends? a) the grocery unicorn, b) the cookie park, c) a confused school, or d) the grave-trip

4. How do mummies become undead? a) they ask Lindsey nicely, b) they travel through time using a glove machine, c) they earn extra floppy grades in school, or d) they get cursed by a soft sorcerer 

If you answered mostly Ds, you're a real undead Kleenex! Your curly expertise will come in handy - in this life and beyond...

Good times, good times. Thanks to Melissa, Lindsey, and noun expert Bryan for your excellent contributions to my daughter's Mad Libs education.

Speaking of Bryan, he passed the "get continually harassed by Mary for two days" test, which is a good sign. Within an hour I was comparing him to my dog and he didn't even flinch. That's significant right there. Take note, Lindsey.

Let's be honest though - there was a very simple and obvious reason that I wanted to visit the cheese state. It was so delightful to show my daughter the campus of my alma mater Concordia Wisconsin. That's where I met Lindsey (when I came to her room to help her roommate with English and basically didn't leave for a year) and Melissa (when she stopped by my room at 8 AM on the dot to collect money for vegetable oil). CUW is where I joined Students for Life, the group that inspired me to become a foster parent in the first place. Without this incredible school, my daughter and I might never have met.

And have I mentioned the bluff?

We walked down the stairs to the beach, dragged ourselves back up the switchbacks, bought a Zoey the comfort dog plush in the bookstore, posed for a picture with Freddy the Falcon, and giggled at the summer hours for the Falcon's Nest.

Other Wisconsin-y highlights include: eating cookies while watching American Ninja Warrior with Melissa in her ANW hat, feeling very old at a trampoline park and a water park, the "men's ballet" at the water ski show, and naming dozens of badgers for Lindsey and Bryan to own.

I'm really quite astonished that I've gotten this far in my July blog post without mentioning my nephew. Have I ever mentioned my nephew on here before? I clearly need to make up for lost time. His name is Kylen and he's the cutest person on planet earth. Soon he'll have some cute competition, but for the moment, no one can make me smile quite like him.

Kylen's accomplishments include:

1. Being totally obsessed with my dad, AKA Opa. Which is, of course, very appropriate as my dad is awesome. Everyone coming to visit Kylen arrived before Opa, and this was extremely concerning. We're all small potatoes in comparison. 
2. Mowing the lawn (and the driveway) (and the sidewalk) with his bubble mower. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it, and Kylen's up to the task.
3. Making spaghetti with tomato sauce, thanks to the super-cool pasta play set his super-cool aunt and cousin gave him for his third birthday. 
4. Loving tractors a lot. I wasn't next to him at church, but I'm told that all he talked about the whole time was returning home to his new toy tractor from Oma and Opa.
5. Not appreciating Opa's very scary sneezes.
6. Naming his stuffed animals after letters of the alphabet. 
7. Pulling up his pants a lot. 
8. Playing frisbee with Oma.
9. Identifying the dogs (excuse me, puppies) in his neighbor's yards.
10. Have I mentioned he's cute? 

There were other people in Marion as well - Zach and Lindsey, my parents, my grandma - but none of us will deny that we were there for Kylen!

After saying goodbye to Kylen and his crew, we headed up to Minneapolis for my youth ministry conference with Melissa and my daughter's summer fun camp at the Mall of America with Lindsey. It was amazing to attend the conference. I learned so much and immensely enjoyed myself in the process. Meanwhile, my daughter and Lindsey rode roller coasters, met members of the Paw Patrol, climbed tall towers, made their own crayons, built a bear (technically a dog), and played arcade games. Lindsey also drew me this excellent map, which probably meant something at the time. 

My personal favorite activity, however, had to be the lumberjack show hosted by Concordia St. Paul (not THE Concordia, but still a good one). Oh goodness, it was hysterical. The lumberjacks were such hams and cracked us all up with their antics. I really hope we have that option for the National Youth Gathering next year. 

After Minneapolis, we spent a few days in this little place called Urbandale where I used to live. We went to the Botanical Center, where my dad and daughter ran around on a scavenger hunt while my grandma and I gave up and visited the gift shop after half an hour because it was very hot in there. My dad and I soundly defeated my mom and grandma in cards one night, only to lose just as soundly the next night, despite the fact that we were the sober ones. We also decided that we would like a turkey-shaped ice cream cake for Thanksgiving this year, please. 

Speaking of ice cream, I'll leave you with this list of all the places my daughter and I had ice cream on our fourteen-day six-state adventure. Thanks for a great trip that will hopefully be repeated soon, friends and family. :)

1. Dairy Queen
2. Culvers (twice) 
3. Kopps
4. Zach and Lindsey's house
5. Target/our Minneapolis hotel
6. ColdStone (twice) 
7. Baskin Robbins

Mild Miracle

Hello, friends! A mild miracle has occurred today: my house is clean. I thought some of you might enjoy seeing some pictures of my uncommonly clean house, so here you go.

Exhibit A: My spare bedroom. I'm still deciding how I want to decorate it.

Exhibit B: My bedroom. Note the koala.

Exhibit C: My favorite room in the house, where all of my books are.

Exhibit D: My living room, complete with new love seat and chair.

Exhibit E: Obligatory photo of my backyard with my dog, because, well, she's cute.