The Grandsons Come to Visit!

It's always fun when the grandkids come to visit!

On this visit, we also "celebrated" their birthdays

with a "party of four."

Drew will be 7 on October 3.

And Dylan was 4 on August 29.

We made birthday "cakes" out of Rice Krispie Bars.

Each cake had their name on it and a candle.

Rock star Dylan with no shirt.

 But it really was a HOT, HUMID day!!

I asked Drew if he would like to be a piano player,

but he said he waned to be a hockey player.

The boys were going to play a "duet" -

 But in order to do that, they said they had

to divide the piano.  Drew got the low

notes and Dylan got the high notes.

Note the little divider they put in place!

Play-Doh keeps them busy for awhile!

They gave me specific instruction to keep their

projects and dry them out so they can get them

the next time they come up.  I checked today,

and if this humidity keeps up, it will take a LONG time!

The Dead Church?

Someone recently told me "our church is dead!"  I asked what she meant, and the reply was that we don't shout "Amen!"  "We don't dance around in the pews," plus a few other illustrations.  My first response was, "Well, we are Scandinavians and we are Lutherans, after all!"    [I made a feeble attempt at a little humor in my response. ]    At least she didn't say we were a bunch of non-believers!

But I started thinking about this, wondering what I should have said.   An "Amen" at worship service is certainly not "wrong,"  and it is certain that our joy in the Lord should be outwardly obvious to others.   But are we wrong if we don't shout out an "Amen?" Are we wrong if we don't dance in the pews?    Are there not many ways to worship?   God looks at our heart - while we often look at outward appearances.

When we were growing up, Sunday worship was very reverent - and more structured than the Sunday worship today.   The altar area was a place of confession, communion, marriage and baptism.  You arrived at worship, sat quietly in the pews (it was a time of meditation) until the service began )and and then you sat quietly, too. )  I'm sure grandpa & grandma would have been mortified if someone had started "dancing for joy" in the pews!    As a rule, Norwegian/Lutheran parishioners would not want to call attention to themselves in God's house.

Some churches have bands; they have loud, fast music; some hymns songs can barely be differentiated from rock music.    Is this wrong?    I don't think it is  "wrong" if it is done with sincere worship of God.   But it is not the only way to worship.  Congregations and denominations differ in their preference of worship structure.    But sometimes I wonder if  worship  is becoming more about "me" than about God?    Are we there to be entertained?   Are we there to entertain?   Are people staying home because they don't find it fun?    Worship should be enjoyed, it should be happy, but I am pretty sure it is not about me, but rather about God and Me!

However we chose to worship, remember the One we are there to worship; give Him the glory, quietly...or not.  

Wedding and Vacation Rolled up in One!

Lee & Hae Eun were married in San Francisco on May 29.   Not only did I get to go to the wedding, but I also saw some fun things in San Francisco!   Thanks to Lee & Hae Eun and Amy & Nick for a great time!

The Golden Gate Bridge - we were under it, by it and on it!

 Bodega - This is the same schoolhouse that was in the

movie, "The Birds"

Amy & Nick at Bodega Bay

The ocean

I even "met" Alfred Hitchcock"

 We visited a Vineyard in Napa Valley

San Francisco

The "green" building on the right is where the

wedding took place.

Wedding in San Francisco

May 29, 2015

Very happy to announce that:

Lee & Hae Eun got married in San Francisco!

Hae Eun & her Dad

It's Official!  

Selma's Diaries

I never knew my Aunt Selma.

She was my mother's sister.

Selma died at the age of 31, leaving 

her husband and two little girls.

I have in my possession some diaries that Selma kept.

One of them was written in 1928, when she

was a parochial school teach at Ten Mile Lake Church near Dalton.

I'm sure Selma never thought that someone would be

reading her diaries 80 years after her death.

I am sure had she not died to young, they might not have even been kept!

Her diaries tell of  the behavior of the children, 

who was absent, who was naughty.

There are entries of those were went home sick,

or those who had headaches.

May 11, 1928 she wrote:

"Russell and Irville went for water at recess and

they evidently forgot there was such as thing as school, 

as they came a half an hour late!  And they came in

laughing, having fun - so unconcerned!"

She tells about the flowers Pearl brought her:

"a beautiful bouquet of cowslips."

At the end of the 6 weeks, she related that she got a dime from Selma B.

and 50 cents from Bernice & Lester, and lots of dandelions from Vernon.

She noted that Mr. & Mrs. Ed Larson paid her.

The next entries of the diary are from later that same year,

when she went to Edinburg, North Dakota to teach

parochial school.   It was at Edinburg that she met

Clarence Christopherson, a parochial teacher in another

church there.   She does mention the Christopherson

family often, but there are no entries of their dating!

They were married on January 30, 1930 and lived

in Edinburg, where Clarence was a farmer.

Selma died in 1934 when her little girls were only 1 and 3 years old.