Back in the Swing of Blogging
Once again, the 4th of July is the magical date that witnesses me opening my blog page for the summer. During the first half of the summer, it seems my access to the internet is always limited, and sometimes I wonder if that is by divine plan. This morning as I completed my daily readings from the Word Among Us, I reflected on how we all need to unplug from things every now and then. For the first part of this summer, as I (and many of our family and friends) welcomed my family from Australia, I was able to do just that, unplug from the world in order to connect with my cousin Asa and his family. Now, I feel ready to re-engage to love more and serve better! I hope that this Summer’s virtual field trip may offer you some of the same!
The first adventure this summer, as soon as my classroom was cleaned out that is, was to hit the road for Minnesota. We had two major segments to our Minnesota visit. The first part of the visit was a return to The Mayo Clinic to update Ian’s MRIs on his knees, see Dr. Stans (Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon) for the final time and transition to Dr. Stuart (Adult Orthopedic Surgeon). The second part of our visit was Derrick’s graduation from Luther Seminary with his Doctorate. After spending the morning getting his knees photographed from every angle possible, Ian was ready to hear some good news. The good news was and is that the surgeons continue to say no symptoms, no surgery. Although Ian's deficient meniscus leaves his knees in a bone on bone situation, he does not experience any pain, popping, locking or swelling. The bad news is that the knee situation is still dire, but with an interesting twist. When Dr. Stans was showing us the MRIs that had been taken earlier in the day, he showed us where Ian’s knees have attempted to heal themselves, in a way. If I understood Dr. Stans correctly, scar tissue has developed in the place where the meniscus is deficient and is serving as a buffer in those places. Wow! Immediately, I was struck by the fact that so much about life can be like this, can’t it? I think that all of us were breathing a little easier after we walked out of the Mayo Clinic that day.
Speaking of buffers, as part of his graduation present, we had ordered some Twins (http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=min) tickets for Derrick. Now, some of you reading this may remember what happened the last time I tried to take Derrick to a Twins baseball game… that’s right the bridge collapsed (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20079534/ns/us_news-life/t/thought-dead-minneapolis-bridge-collapses/). Tragically, several people lost their lives and the Twin Cities were paralyzed by the devastation. We were paralyzed by the enormity of what could have happened as we counted our blessings. That was back in 2007 and now it was 2011 already. It was a beautiful night for a baseball game, and even as I was preparing for the arrival of my Australian cousins that next week, I was struck by this American pastime I truly adore. I felt like we were the Twins’ lucky charms that night. They had been on a losing streak, but it was broken that night in overtime. Another ironic twist about attending the Twins game was the fact that not only was my cousin Asa a twin, our fathers were twin brothers as well. I was surrounded by Twin imagery too, but what did it mean?
Before we knew it, Sunday was here and it was time for graduation at Central Lutheran church (http://www.centralmpls.org/our-church/history.php) in Minneapolis. That morning, before anyone was awake, Derrick and I got up and walked around the City. More signs abounded. As we turned a corner, I was amazed to see that we were standing in front of St. Thomas (http://www.stthomas.edu/). Wow! I knew that all of my beloved Cedar students who went on to study at St. Thomas were already immersed in their Totus Tuus (http://www.totustuus.com/) training for the summer and wouldn’t be around, but I was happy to see the buildings where they spend so much of their time and attention. The contrasts between our lives at Cedar in Hartington and the lives they must be living here now shocked me. This was THE inner city. I saw signs of this each time I turned around, even at the Church. Truly they have been called here to learn and serve. As had we, when we left Gettysburg, and I wondered what other components to my mission might lie just around the corner.
Although the day was a little rainy, the afternoon of graduation the weather began to clear as we made our way from the hotel, across four (or was it six) lanes of traffic. Derrick was surprised to see that, in addition to his Mom and Dad who flew in for the occasion, our friends the Patents and the Sellons came up all the way from Randolph in honor of this special day. The Luther Seminary (http://www.luthersem.edu/) graduation was filled with pomp and circumstance as music resonated throughout this breathtaking venue. In the booming voices of the speakers, in the hallowed music from the organ and the voices and in the joy which beamed on every face, the Holy Spirit permeated every moment. Dr. Koester challenged each person in the audience to bravely serve out his calling even when we question our own abilities to do so. Our trip to Minnesota reinforced our family mission that we officially embarked upon on in 2002, but with Faith we continue to move forward... Although we never could have imagined being where we are, we believe that we are where we are supposed to be!
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