Tag: embrace

Don’t Stop Believing

We long for the reassurance our loved ones who have died are ok. If you pause and listen, sometimes you can hear.

I was walking into the restroom at the Norske Nook restaurant when I happened to notice the song playing on the radio. I had not heard it before when my dad and his wife, Marilyn, and I were sitting at the restaurant table, relishing being at this special place. We had stopped at the Norske Nook for lunch on the way to Minneapolis to remember my aunt Jan, my Godmother, my dad’s sister, as she and my grandma had loved this place dearly. We were headed to her funeral after she died suddenly from a serious infection. It was a shock for all of us as Jan was so full of life and a joy to all who met her.

The Norske Nook is a small restaurant, off the freeway, in the small town of Osseo, Wisconsin. Known for an incredible selection of homemade pies…and all things Norwegian, from gifts to books.

After I ordered our food, which included a treasured plate of lefse, (a Norwegian potato “tortilla” spread with butter and sugar and wrapped in a spiral), I headed to the restroom. This is when I noticed the song.

Lefse!

“Don’t stop, believing”…I noticed the last few lines of the classic song by Journey as the song was ending. Soon after, the next song began. “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees. Usually when I hear that song I think of Shrek, but this time my interest was piqued by hearing these two ‘believing’ songs so close together. I immediately smiled, felt a chill in my body, and said “thanks Jan, you are in a better spot”. She truly was a faithful believer.

Jan had always been a woman who helped strengthen my Christian faith. When my mother died in 2000, she reached out to me through the years with cards, books, phone calls, letting me know that she was here and that she was cheering me on in my faith and daily life.

Before I left Germany to head to the US for her funeral, I had found one such book she had given me. It told the true story of a Norwegian boy during World War II and the occupation of Norway by Germany. She had left a note inside for me, saying she has found it at the Norske Nook in Osseo and had loved it. She wanted me to read it and then pass it on to my dad when I was done. So that is what I did. I read it on the plane and then gave this gift to my dad, from his sister.

Knowing that Jan would have looked through all the books on the shelf there at the Norse Nook, I jumped up to peruse and see what I could see. Immediately I saw a book titled “Laughing for Lutherans”, with the quote from Martin Luther on the cover that said “If Heaven does not include laughter, I don’t want to go there”. I grabbed it and knew I had to purchase it.

At our table, we dug into the book of Lutheran bulletin bloopers and funny little quips that people have said, and we laughed. And we laughed. As someone who worked at our church for 10 years and edited way too many bulletins and newsletters, I know that is not easy and sometimes funny things are printed or said. I knew I wanted to give this to my sister, also Jan’s goddaughter, and a youth director at her church. Jan would have picked that for us for sure. She had a great sense of humor. Once she saw that I had a Martin Luther doll in my church office (long story…was a gift)…she insisted we take a photo together with it.

We left the restaurant and headed to Minneapolis as her funeral was the next day. As funerals do, they bring family together who have not seen one another in years. Seeing so many family members and spending time laughing with them was so good for my soul. My sisters and my nephew performed a rendition of “Amazing Grace” with vocals, piano, and violin for her funeral. I know Jan would have loved it.

My time with extended family was quickly coming to a close. I was already at the airport the next day to return to Germany. My check in took only a few minutes, so I had lots of time to spare. I found a quiet spot with some tasty American treats to savor and was debating what to do next to spend my time. I was behind a few days in my online Bible devotional plan that I do with friends around the US, so decided to dive right in.

I sat there and studied and reflected for quite some time before I caught the song on the radio in that small cafe and it caught me by surprise. “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees was playing on the speaker. I thought “how could that be?”, thinking back to just two days earlier at the Norske Nook.

I believe Jan was telling me one more time she was ok, better than ok. She was in a much better spot, and I, should keep believing.

A Changing Dawn

Always darkest before the dawn? We were soon proven otherwise with a brilliance of color spanning the horizon of Uluru.

The morning alarm came way too early for me. “The bus leaves at 5 am tomorrow morning”, we were directed by our CEO (Chief Experience Officer of our G Adventure tour). I find it hard to get super excited at 5 am, but we were headed to go watch the sunrise over Uluru in the red center of Australia. I honestly had no idea what to expect.

We had savored the sunset the evening prior, where with each handful of minutes, the shadows and colors changed over Uluru and across the spanning Australian Outback horizon. But our bus driver promised that this would be even more spectacular. As we drove, we could just barely make out hints of pink and yellow on the vast horizon. This was going to be special.

The land that we were travelling on is Aboriginal land, now Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The traditional owners of the land, Anangu (Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara people), have been joint managing their land with the Federal Government (Parks Australia) since 1985 when the title deed to Uluru-Kata Tjuta land trust was handed back to them. Land that has been theirs since the beginning of time, where their ancestors have lived for over 30,000 years. We were being welcomed here today to look around and to learn: to understand Anangu, to respect their knowledge, and to open our minds and hearts to appreciate their enduring culture.

We had learned about Tjukurpa (pronounced ‘chook-orr-pa’), the foundation of their culture and why Uluru-Kata Tjuta is such a sacred place for Anangu. Tjukurpa is more than just our western views of laws and culture. Beyond being the traditional law that guides Anangu, Tjukurpa refers to the creation period when ancestral beings created the world. Tjukurpa provides answers to important questions, how to live and care for one another.

“Tjukurpa refers to the past, the present, and the future, at the same time. This knowledge never changes, it always stays the same”.

– Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Visitor Guide

As we exited the bus, small white lights lit up a visible short path, headed into blackness. We followed each other, one by one in our group until we came upon a rainbow of light sprinkled off in the distance. Field of Light.

Artist Bruce Munro was inspired by a trip to Uluru in 1992 to create Field of Light, a collection of 50,000 interconnected, solar recyclable lights that now span over 7 football fields, like a sprawling garden of desert flowers in the darkness.

We were encouraged to take our time, slowly walking through Field of Light, and to absorb. As in a labyrinth, we meandered at our pace along the paths, not really sure where any path would take us. Each path was dark, lit up only by small white lights on the side, bordered by the brilliance of ever-changing reds, greens, and violets.

As I wandered and reflected, I could feel that each viewing of Field of Light was unique, as each light changed second by second. In contrast, Uluru, having been here for hundreds of millions of years, stood quiet and resilient somewhere in the distance. As we traveled the paths, we could see more and more, glorious pinks and purples on the horizon, a sign of the sun’s arrival. But little by little, the 50,000 solar lights, were starting to lose their energy and brilliance. They would be dim soon until the blazing Australian sun would charge their cells once again.

I felt that connection that artist Bruno Munro wanted us to experience: a connection to something bigger than our lives. Just like those lights, our lives exude brilliance for a time and then, dim and fade. While shining bright, we are intertwined, making something even more spectacular together than one single light. However, generations of light will come and go, all just a minute in the span of the time of Uluru.

But the sun still arises at Uluru.

And the beauty continues.

A 20 kg Speed Bump

My 20 kg speed bump that forced me to align on what is important and is helping free me for embraces to come.

Today begins an amazing adventure. An adventure that is behind my wildest dreams. When I have tried to wrap my mind around all that is to come, I come up blank.

I am leaving today to meet my college roommate (from almost 30 years ago) in New Zealand where we are set to explore the amazing wonders of life “down under”. I know I am blessed beyond belief to be able to do this. I have felt guilty. I have felt that I should not have this opportunity when my family is staying here. I have felt like a month is too long to be gone from my family.

Until I hit this 20 kg speed bump. Then my focus was diverted elsewhere. Twenty kilograms. That is the weight limit that our checked bags need to be for domestic travel in Australia. From someone who prides herself on being the mom that has exactly what you need when you need it, 20 kg for a month is not a lot. This has consumed my brain the last week.

This 20 kg limit has stretched me. It has challenged me to really prioritize what I need for the coming weeks. I know I don’t have everything I want. I don’t even have everything that I probably will need.

But I have this opportunity. This time. These world wonders to embrace. Time with my dear friend and time with precious people I have even yet to meet.

If my luggage limit would have been 23 kg, I would have stressed about meeting that limit, and I would have then been burdened with lugging around that many more extra unnecessary items.

Here is to embracing wonders down under, a little lighter for the journey.

Lighter so I can have room to soak in and embrace all that is to come.

A Little Assistance

Hiking sticks are “a thing” in Germany. People use them on walks through town. In the park. And surely for hiking through the forest. Many seniors walk with them, but it is common to see people of all ages walking with them.

Over the past few months, I repeatedly mentioned to my husband that I really wanted hiking sticks. Embrace Germany, right? My ankles are not the best. I am not known for being accident-free. They must help, right? How could so many Germans be wrong? So he gave me a wonderful pair for Christmas, supporting me in my new unexplored passion for hiking sticks.

I finally was able to take them for a test drive today with him and the dogs in the forest and the “mountains” behind our house. Wow! I cannot believe how two sticks could make my walking so much easier, more stable and secure, and ultimately, more enjoyable.

If you would have suggested a year ago in the US that I should use hiking sticks to enjoy the outdoors more, I would have scoffed and said that I am perfectly fine as I am. I don’t need sticks to help me hike.

But I reflected today while admiring the purple and pink sunset beams casting shadows on the snow-laden pine trees. All of this was made easier to enjoy with these sticks.

I am not growing younger.

It is not going to get easier.

It is up to me to adapt.

I should embrace the things that enable me to embrace the joys of life more.

So here is to discovering hiking sticks!