No interwebs, but way too much snow

I haven't had internet at home since last Thursday. It's pretty much a miracle I've survived this long. Thanks be to God for the many generous and wonderful people who've helped me weather this crisis! I have a borrowed netbook for now, and a new computer on the way.

And you can tell how out of practice I am...apologies to those of you who are seeing this post after already seeing the half-finished one I accidentally published earlier. Crikey.

Meanwhile, I was not amused about having no internet while the heavens dumped a billion inches of snow on us. Or maybe like 16. Whatever. Check it out.


My neighborhood.

My driveway.

Target parking lot. There were piles this big all over the place. Much more typical of March than December! I did hear that our area has already had two-thirds of our annual average snowfall. We're in for a long few months indeed.

Toasty-warm apartment

This really should be filed under "even more randomness." You've been warned.

As I've said before, my apartment is lovely and I'm very comfortable here. One little drawback is the very drafty back door, which opens to the garage.*

I recently woke up one morning to a 58-degree apartment, and I knew the back door was the problem, so I promptly went to Target, the great problem-solving center of our time.

I got a full-size sheet and a spring-tension curtain rod, and voila: heat-retaining curtain. (My parents have been doing this at their house for as long as I can remember, so I can't take credit for the brilliance. But that doesn't make me less brilliant in general, of course.)

Within a few hours, it was back up to 72 degrees. Now it is usually 70-72 in most of the apartment and 52-58 in the back hallway. It may not be the most attractive thing you'll ever see, but that curtain works wonders!





Check out the billowing from the draft and the difference in pressure or whatever (geeky theories here and here):





* Soon this won't be as much of a problem. My landlord is insulating the garage even as I write this. And I think he's even planning to heat it, but I'm a little unclear on that part. Either way, it's very exciting!

Time for another random post...

It's been quite a while since I posted a string of random observations, and you know you love 'em! So here goes....

We had a baptism at Grace recently. The little guy did remarkably well through the entire service. His brother (who was probably 2) did well too, but was a quintessential 2-year-old. He roamed a lot and provided endless entertainment for all of us. Here's Pastor Judy holding the newly baptized during the final hymn. (The fact that I just up and took a picture should give you an idea about the laid-back vibe of this service! For the record, I do still remember the main point of the sermon.)




This frightens me a little. It's outside the gas station in Dennison. I have yet to open it, though there is a bit of morbid curiosity compelling me to do so. Sorry about the night-time picture. It's hard to tell, but it's just a big box with a flip-up lid.




It was bound to happen eventually...I finally met someone from one of my churches who attends Zion Lutheran Church of Amor when she and her husband are "up north" at their cabin or lake house or whatever. This is the church where my friend Phil is serving as intern, accompanied by his wife Rachel. I visited them in early October. Minnesota is a remarkably small state when it comes to this sort of thing!

My hair is turning white more rapidly than ever. I don't know if it's because I'm solidly 30 now (can't even say "just turned 30" anymore) or if it has to do with internship. Maybe both? Not sure how much longer I can hold out on the coloring....

And, finally, my mileage for November: 1,070 miles total, 654 of which were for Official Intern Business. I'm still not fully in the swing of visitation, so I'm sure it'll go up when I'm doing more of that driving on my own. Cumulative total is now 4,585. And I'm sporting some nice new tires as of late November.

So there you have it. Random minutiae. Consider yourself informed.

Weekly beauty: "Comfort, Comfort Now My People"

This is my favorite Advent hymn, and the stark quality of this rendition seems to fit the text.

Advent at Trinity

Trinity Lutheran Church in West Concord has a fireplace at the back of their sanctuary. It makes a wonderfully cozy spot for Wednesday evening Advent services! They just turn the back few pews around to face the fire.





Here's Pastor Chris about to start the service.





This year the worship team decided to focus on the angels of Christmas, so the first week we heard about Mary and Gabriel; this week I talked about Joseph and the angel who showed up in his dream; and next week we'll hear again from Pastor Chris about the shepherds and the angelic host who visited them.

The worship space has been appropriately adorned with angels, along with the candles and firelight, and we're using the Holden Evening Prayer setting (here's a video of my favorite part of this service).








The setting and the service create a good chance for quiet Advent contemplation amidst the chaos of the Christmas season.

Dale-Holden Advent Festival

Sunday afternoon I stopped by the Advent Festival at Dale. Dale and Holden are a yoked parish, so this was a joint endeavor. They spent the afternoon preparing care packages for the people of Holden and Dale who don't easily or often make it to worship anymore (because they're now in care facilities, for example). The baskets they put together were really incredible. Check it out:


The Dale basement, abuzz with activity. They had a very efficient system of stations. There were tables for cutting and tying fleece blankets; wrapping little loaves of bread; making cute little beaded creations; organizing cards or magnets; and more. In the background there's a musician, who was entertaining the group by singing Christmas hymns and playing harmonica.




Fleece blankets ready to go.




Baskets coming together. You may not be able to see it, but the sign in the background says "lefse making." I definitely ate some warm lefse right off the grill...always a treat!




Nearly-complete basket...fruit, homemade jam (to go with the homemade bread), cards with pictures of Holden (or a Dale magnet for the Dale folks), some Christmas treats, a book of prayers, and all the additional things I mentioned above.




I don't think I've ever seen an operation like this before. Volunteers signed up to deliver baskets to the recipients, and I thought it was a really thoughtful way to stay connected with the folks who can't be directly involved in congregational events.

Advent retreat

Last week I joined the Minnesota chapter of the Society of the Holy Trinity (STS, an acronym taken from the Latin Societas Trinitatis Sanctae) at their Advent retreat.

It was a wonderful opportunity to spend a couple days in worship, prayer, study, and fellowship with a group of very thoughtful and hospitable pastors. There were about 16 of us present, including a few other guests, so it was a nice size group to get to know people a little.

The teaching theologian was Dr. Steven Paulson, professor of systematic theology at Luther Seminary. He spoke about historical developments in baptismal liturgy and theology (as well as the unfortunate tendency to separate liturgy and theology as I just did), and he argued for maintaining the custom of exorcism in baptism. I assure you that it was much less strange than it may sound, but certainly there would be a need for explanation and teaching around such a practice.

Much of our time was spent in worship and prayer, largely following the daily prayer offices of matins, vespers, and compline. The retreat also included the best hymn-sing I've ever been part of, wherein we sang every single verse of every single Advent hymn in the Lutheran Book of Worship. Apparently I've found people who share both my penchant for Advent hymns and my appreciation of thoroughness.

All in all, it was a very refreshing couple of days (which was nice, since I returned to a busy week). Check out the stunning surroundings of the Christ the King Retreat Center in Buffalo, Minnesota.


Views of Buffalo Lake from my room (and/or any number of other rooms, including the main dining room and the atrium).








Atrium/solarium/all-around spectacular room. I think they call it the "garden court." It was kind-of a hub connecting the various wings of the building.





Chapel. The MN chapter holds retreats at King's House three times per year, I believe, and the folks of the retreat center are very hospitable and gracious about letting them rearrange chairs, take priority in the worship space, etc.








Dining room for small groups. We ate most of our meals in the larger dining room, which had a fantastic view of the lake but wasn't as photogenic as this fancy little room.

Super-sized internship committee

The Contextual Learning Office at Luther Seminary says "The lay internship committee is a small group of five to eight people, meeting monthly with the intern, who have agreed to develop a supportive relationship with the intern" (in the Lay Committee Guide).

Well, I'm lucky enough to have the mother of all internship committees, consisting of 23 people. There are two laypeople from each congregation (for a total of 16) plus the seven pastors. But, after 30+ years, they have a finely tuned system developed. The committee spends some time each month meeting as a large group, and some time divided into administrative and support teams.

The administrative group consists of one layperson from each congregation plus the seven pastors, so it's about two-thirds of the committee. They deal primarily with logistics and finances.

The support group consists of the one remaining layperson from each congregation. These people fulfill the "lay intern committee" function envisioned by the seminary, providing me a sounding board and encouraging me in my developing ministry. It's also their job to knock some sense into me if I ever behave like the people described here.

The entire committee participates in evaluating my work here, and the January meeting will consist primarily of the mid-year evaluation. That means I get to stay home...which is a mixed blessing. I certainly don't mind having an extra free night, but I really enjoy all the people on the committee, so I don't mind the meetings at all.

At our last meeting on Thursday, we gathered a half-hour earlier than usual for extra social time. It was a great gift, since the people from the various congregations don't always get regular opportunities to interact with one another, and I don't get to see them all as often as I might like. As I said, I'm very lucky to have a ginormous and wonderful committee!

Brand-new niece!

Please welcome to the world Dayla Elizabeth Jertson, daughter of my brother and sister-in-law, Erik and Sarah.





Dayla arrived on Wednesday, December 1, at 1:56 a.m. She was two months early, due to fairly sudden complications with Sarah's health. She was 2 pounds, 15 ounces and 15 inches long. Despite the less-than-ideal circumstances of her birth, Dayla and her mama are doing very well.





Obviously, she is beautiful! And I am an ecstatic auntie!

Weekly beauty: The Great O Antiphons

The Great O Antiphons are centuries-old prayers for Advent. They are the basis for the hymn "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." Here are the prayers, as well as a couple versions of the hymn.


O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High,
Pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.

O Adonai and ruler of the house of Israel,
Who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai:
Come with an outstretched arm and redeem us.

O Root of Jesse, who stands as an ensign before the peoples,
Before whom all kings are mute and to whom the nations will do homage:
Come quickly to deliver us.

O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel,
You open and no one can close, you close and no one can open:
Come and rescue the prisoners who are in darkness and the shadow of death.

O Dayspring, splendor of light everlasting:
Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O King of the nations,
The ruler they long for, the cornerstone uniting all people:
Come and save us all, whom you formed out of clay.

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
The anointed for the nations and their Savior:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.


In Latin:




In English: