Baby Shower on Wheels

Have you ever found yourself sitting around a tidy circle with a group of ladies, eyes fixed on a mother-to-be, watching her shuffle boxes, gift bags, and tissue paper to resounding "oohs" and "ahs"? Maybe this is just a scene of which I've had the pleasure to take part.

Don't get me wrong - baby showers have their place, along with wedding showers and bachelorette parties, but do you ever wish there was a little variety?

As I thought about how to best shower my dear friend with gifts for her beautiful baby, I decided variety would not only make the shower memorable, but it would also show Meghan how much we loved her.

Here's how it went down:

I started to think about all the wonderful memories from our college days and I realized how many things remind me of Meghan. I made a short list of the places or times where I found myself smiling for Meg or for her little one. Then, with the help of some friends, we picked out gifts for each location. She opened a series of cards to explain the reason for each gift.

When she arrived at my friend's house in Evanston on Friday night (in preparation for our girls' weekend), she opened a gift that focused on her pampering (blouse and jewelry). The next morning at breakfast she opened a gift (photo album) that will help capture all the moments - even the morning messes. Then a gift that will help in getting her little girl ready for the day in ultra classy form (a polo dress). Then we took our shower to a coffee shop, where we focused on the more intellectual side of the new babe (sweet books). We then found ourselves at the beach for a picnic, where naturally Meg would need an adorable diaper bag with travel-ready changing station and a perfect picnic outfit.

Later on that day, we ended up at the Grand Lux Cafe in downtown Chicago. Here we gave Meg what we hope will be many more memories (personalized onesies). Later we took a picture crowded around our favorite expectant mom and the onesie with HOPE (our alma mater) across the chest.

I don't think I've ever had more fun at someone else's celebration. Meg is such a beautiful momma - and I hope we showed her just how special she is. She has changed so much since our days as roommates... and it tears me apart to think I won't be there when our dear little girl is born. But, I know she'll be in good hands. Meg is quickly turning into a wonderful mother - I can't wait to be around to watch her love, encourage, and laugh with the new life inside her.

I barely made it past the tearful goodbye the next morning. I'm still weepy just thinking about her. No one ever really tells you about the bittersweet taste of college departure into the real world. Apart from jobs and careers and adventures, there are frightening farewells with those who walked through fire with you. I guess we might not have believed if we heard it. But, I can tell you I pray for Meg and her baby... for her family ... and for her heart's pursuit of the Lord. It makes me miss her dearly, but I know the Lord is the better protector, defender, and friend.

Weekly Lineup

After a (seemingly) endless hiatus, these separated sisters are back in action. It was almost fitting that we didn't write for the time we spent together, but I have to admit I missed it. I hope you enjoy what's coming up this week! I know both Christina and I have crazy weeks ahead, so I hope you will struggle with us and see the blessings along the way.

Outside the "Norm": From overdone baby celebration to traveling shower
My best friend is about to have a baby in September - a beautiful girl I can not wait to meet. So, I didn't want to do the normal: sit in a circle and watch her open presents surrounded by oos and ahs. I wanted her to know how much we love and care for her and the new baby in a way that reflected who she is, so we gave the shower wheels - and with great success!

Family Treasures
Our family works kind of like the sun - always there, sometimes hidden, sometimes far away, dependable, and gives the most joyful of rays. Why do we love family so much? Read for yourself!

Election Season: Unspun
We're no experts on politics, but we do get pretty serious about making every aspect of our lives match up with our hearts. Because of all the propaganda, it's hard to know what a candidate actually stands for - you know, what's behind all of the speeches and motivational slogans. Well, we may not know more than the next guy, but we're working on it - so read about it!


Well, it may seem like a short list this week, but we're going to save some room for whatever might come up in between - we hope you like surprises!

Back in Austin

We'll be getting the line-up out for this next week at some point tonight. But, I wanted to share a few thoughts about where I've been for two weeks.
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With the deepest of sighs - of relief, sadness, and homecoming - I landed in beautiful Austin today.

I can not and will not try to explain by way of keyboard the emotions of these past two weeks. Oh, I could tell you about the rapture of my grandma’s garden - the plums, peaches, apples, strawberries, grapes, pears, lilies, clematis, and the new bug zapper. I could tell you about the camp that has stolen my heart. I could also tell you about reunion with family - full of water sports and open heart conversations and our own unique family church service.

I guess I could tell you about the crazy trip my sister and I took across the state, where she jumped on a greyhound back to Des Moines and I the amtrak, Chicago-bound. I could tell you about the blessed bond of friendship and how it’s reuniting brought such pain in the knowledge of departure. I could tell you about the mexican food, the beach-side picnic, and the traveling shower for my best friend, who will bring a gorgeous baby girl into the world sometime in September.

Oh, I could tell you all these things, but right now after touching ground in Austin, what I want to tell you is that it might take me awhile to be okay with leaving. I know I already left, but my heart is so wrapped up in the people I love so much, I can hardly bear to be away.

At the same time, Austin feels a bit more like home every time I come back. I don’t know what to make of it. I simply don’t know what to make of it.

Since we've been gone...

So, I realize the blog has been silent this week. Well, it's because we've been together! We spent 3 days in Clear Lake with family (awesome,) then 1 1/2 days in Muscatine with Bret and Katie (wonderful,) and now I'm back to work, and Caroline is enjoying Chicago for the week! Here are some pictures of the fun we had with our wonderful family this past week...



We danced on the boat...



We hung out with the cutest kids ever...



Our family did a skit that involved us all doing "the robot"...



Other families danced as well... :)



We hung out with people we love a lot...



Then headed to Muscatine with Bret and Katie! They're amazing!



Such a great time. We love our family!

Bethany Camp, Day Three and Four

I actually ended up going back to Bethany Camp for the campfire last night, so I couldn't post yesterday. I'm just going to do a quick re-cap of both days, although it's dreadfully difficult!
I wrote this first part yesterday.
Reporting live from Bethany Camp in country-town, Iowa.

Today was a GREAT day! I know I only get to see the campers a little bit, but they are sure a joy. Today we talked about testimony, because missionaries give an account both of the redemption story and of their own personal redemption. I shared a bit about my experience in Poland teaching English at a family camp. I talked about the overall redemption story and the awesome wonder that God also wants to be personal - that we each have a personal story as well. I shared a bit of my story then asked a counselor to share his. Then the campers split up into pairs to answer some questions about their stories - who is Jesus to them? close, distant, friend, stranger?

I was so encouraged by the conversations - again very thankful for the amazing staff. I got to hear some of the campers share their testimonies later on at the campfire and praise God for His hand in their lives!

Day Four
Today I felt both delight and burden. This week has been more than I hoped, but also entirely draining. I meant to do so many other things during my time in Iowa, but I time escaped me. This morning during missionary time I nearly lost it. I was sharing that missionaries are broken people - no more put together than you or me. I never once met a perfect person in Poland, nor anywhere else on the mission field. Never once. I shared Psalm 32 as a bold reminder of the freedom and refuge offered us as believers. The world will deal some hard blows - but He is our hiding place.

It's hard to sum up this day - especially since I feel so emotionally invested. I guess I was most moved when I asked if any believers wanted to be commissioned - sent into their areas as missionaries. About half the campers came forward and the counselors laid hands and prayed for them - that they would go out with boldness and proclaim Christ. Not a hundred speeches could be as effective as those kids being faithful to the call. Amen and praise God.

Here are some pictures I gathered from the week. Enjoy!

Facebook Envy

My current "profile" picture on facebook- with Roman at his 1st bday party!

I love facebook. Well, I don’t know that I love it, but I sure do use it a fair amount. I got hooked when I moved to NY, and that was my one way of finding out what was going on in many of my college friends’ lives. Who was engaged, who moved to Africa, etc. It was so fun to have a window into lives of friends that I had grown apart from. As 1 ½ years have passed since moving back to Iowa and therefore could call up and hang out with many of those people, the purpose has changed a bit. I tend to use facebook more for stalking purposes. You know, you meet someone, see if they’re in your network, check out their pictures? No? Only me? I doubt that… :)Oh well!

Anyway, recently I’ve been feeling not so great about this little relationship. Conversations I have over it are feeling less and less like conversations, and more like sentences shot out to feel a little better about not calling. And my biggest beef with facebook? My time on facebook seems only to make less content. This friend is recently engaged, this friend moved to a gorgeous island, this friend just purchased a house. Cue ugly green monster. I even found myself irritated the other day when I was looking at pictures of a wedding for a summer friend from 4 years ago- why wasn’t I invited? Not taking into account that I haven’t spoken to this friend for probably 2 years, and wouldn’t know her husband from the next guy on the street, and we definitely had not made any effort to keep in touch. Bad news, friends. I was indignant. So that’s that- my sin issues with facebook. Josh Harris, pastor at Sovereign Grace Ministries, and Author of some great books (including the popular “I kissed dating goodbye” from my high-school years,) wrote about facebook last summer, after he joined for one week. He found that facebook helped him waste time and took his focus off of Christ and put them more on himself… which led to him quitting after only 7 days.

So what do I think about this whole deal? Well, I need to hold loosely my image on facebook. I need to remember that how people see me is not of much importance. I need to value real relationships and real conversations above internet “shout-outs.” I need to value finding out more about my God waaaay more than finding out about friends of mine. I need to praise God for blessings in others lives, and not let discontentment creep in.

And if it does? Time to hit the off button, slather on some bug spray, grab some granola, and go head outside to go read some Bible. For, if you’re spending time thinking about God’s ability to “do more than we can ask or imagine,” it’s pretty hard to keep thinking about yourself.

Bethany Camp, Day Two

Well, another day of sweetness out on the hill northeast of Brayton. These junior highers are getting some amazing teaching - in the morning from Ken Jordan and in the night from Casey Groves. I have such respect for both, who are passionately communicating the heart of God to these precious youngsters.

Yesterday in missionary time, we talked about what a missionary might pack in their luggage. Today, we talked about what the missionary would say once they arrived. The campers broke up into teams and with only duct tape they were given the task to create a tool that would communicate the Gospel message - from beginning to end. Why do we ever doubt creativity? Given a little encouragement, we shouldn't be surprised to see great ideas.

Well, each group was certainly unique. One of the groups brought in some wood structures that were taller than I was! I'll post more pictures tomorrow.

All in all, another great day. I can't say how impressed I am with the counselors - truly blown away by their commitment and energy.

Tonight we (my faithful mom and I) spent making packages for the final day. All the ideas in my head never seem that hard, but it sure has taken some time to put everything together!