Tag: Scripture

Norway Ties: Past and Present

Once upon a time, back in the 1800’s, Haktor Kaldestad married Brita Hovland. They were my great grandparents who lived in Norway and had five children. Johannes (born in 1878) and Torkel (born in 1887) were two of their five children.

Haktor Kaldestad (1853-1892) is the man next to the flagpole in the back.

Torkel, my grandfather, married Elizabeth and they had four children. They immigrated to the United States. Herbert, my father, was one of their sons.

In the 1960’s Herbert began working on his ancestry and started making contact with his family in Norway. Herbert traveled to Norway in 1969 to re-connect with them, and it has been a very good thing as our families continue to connect with each other to this day.

Johannes, Torkel’s brother, married Sella and they had five children. They lived in Norway. Hakon was one of their sons (a first cousin to Herb). Hakon had four children: Jomar, Anund, Heine and Siv.

Last week Jomar and his wife Bente, Heine and his wife Kari, flew to Minnesota from Norway for a vacation in the United States, to visit family and travel to the East Coast. We were grateful we were a part of their itinerary. It was a delight to have them stay with us for a couple of nights. It was not the first time they have been here…they have been to our home in Northfield before, and we have been in their homes in Norway.

We had such a good time filled with lots of laughter and joy. Many more good memories were made to add to our collection of great times together.

Happy to be hosting cousins and their wives from Norway.

The one thing I thought of as we were talking about our ancestors is that my great-grandchildren will probably not know my name, or my husband’s name. Without our ancestry chart I would not have known the names of my grandparent’s parents…how fleeting our lives are.

So I hope to make a difference in the lives of my children and grandchildren.

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is.”  Psalm 39:4

Father’s Day

Father’s day…it’s a pleasure to celebrate my wonderful husband who is a great father to our two sons. But there is the sense of melancholy on father’s day when I remember my own father who died in 1974. I was twenty years old. My husband and two sons never met my dad and that makes me sad.

Herb & Ruby, circa 1940’s (my father and mother)

My dad was the son of a Norwegian immigrant, Torkel, who left Norway when he was 17 years old to find work in the USA. He and my grandmother had one daughter and three sons. Torkel was a carpenter by trade and taught my father the skills so then he became a carpenter too.

My father built this house in NE Minneapolis. We moved into it in 1953, when I was six months old. My mom sold it in 1982.

Mt dad was a kind man. He seemed to be well-liked. Favorite memories include  family road-trip/camping vacations. We pulled a wooden “crank-up” camper that my dad built. The crank-up was wood, not canvas, and very heavy.

In background, the only picture I have of the crank-up wooden camper, built by Herb.

It would have been nice to get to know my dad in my adult years. I think my dad liked to have fun and had a sense of humor and a sense of adventure…I wonder if that is where I get mine?

“The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who trust him.” Psalm 103:13

Retiring

Flowers and a diploma cover with an official retirement certificate inside were ours to take home after the reception for 40 retirees at St. Olaf College on Wednesday May 17, 2017. I’m retiring from St. Olaf College on June 1st. It has been a great place to work since 1998. I have had an unusual career there, working part-time over the years, in different departments but most consistently as the Christmas Festival ticket coordinator for twelve years. As was noted in my “spotlight” I felt it was a Christmas miracle each year as all the guests settled into 11,000+ seats to listen to their beloved choral tradition, every first weekend in December. It has been very good.. but now it is time for the next season.

Ecclesiastes 3

For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
    A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
    A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
    A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
    A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
    A time for war and a time for peace.

 

Adirondack Chairs

The St. Olaf College campus is peppered with gold-colored Adirondack chairs this time of year, and we all – students, faculty and staff – use them. This spring we have two new chairs, a little different from the others, but even more wonderful because they come with a story.

About a year ago a colleague in our building passed away. He cleaned out his office one Friday afternoon and co-workers teased him asking “why?” and “are you not coming back?” Well, he didn’t come back. He had a heart attack Saturday morning and died a few days later. This week two Adirondack chairs were dedicated in his honor.

The rest of the story comes from the wood used to make the chairs. Apparently  he saved a pile of wood from a deck he dismantled years ago. He  thought the wood was too good to be thrown out. He kept saying some day I’m going to make something from it. He and his family moved the wood pile several times from house to house, much to his wife’s chagrin. After he passed away a friend  contacted St. Olaf and wondered if anything could be done with the wood. It was decided chairs could be built in his honor. His wife thought it was a great idea and when she saw how beautifully they turned out she quipped that she now wants the wood back.

The chairs have been placed outside our building, but who knows how long they will stay there…our students move these chairs all over campus and that is a good thing. These Adirondack chairs are a wonderful addition to St. Olaf’s  landscape in spring, summer and fall.

This reminds me of the verse in Ecclesiastes… He has made everything beautiful in its time. 

 

Every Child Has a Name

 

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“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me” John 10:14

I read this verse yesterday morning and kept it in my heart as I volunteered at Northfield’s Christmas Sharing later that morning. Christmas Sharing is wonderful program that serves hundreds of family’s each Christmas. Parents, who qualify, are able to come and “shop” (for free) for their children. They can choose among hundreds of toys that have been generously donated by the community. Parents can pick one big gift item for each child, a game per family, a book for each child, a pair of pajamas for each child (a team makes the pajamas all year long.) They also can choose one stocking-stuffer per child, a hat and a pair of mittens per child and one quilt per family (also made and donated all year long). There is gift-wrapping service too.

img_5031There are many, many hands that make this program work and it’s been working for many years now. There are different types of volunteer positions. One is shopping assistant and that is what I like to do. I follow along with the shopping cart as the client chooses the gifts. It’s especially fun when the mom gets so excited to find that perfect gift… and then she continues to say thank you over and over again each time she picks something out.

I’m proud of our Community Action Center that works very hard to make this happen. It’s a blessing to the clients but also to all those who help in some small way.  It’s a Christmas gift to the whole community.

Time Marches On

Time marches on as

Time stands still

Standing in a crisis

It’s not your will. ~

Time goes slow yet

Days fly by

Cannot contain time

Even if you try. ~

Time keeps ticking

Waiting in a bind

All on your own

Thoughts and prayers are kind. ~

Then comes the time

When there is the need

To step back into life

‘cause time marches on, indeed.

I tried to capture my feelings about this concept of time while going through a difficult period.  It’s hard to explain. A situation may lead you to step of out of your “daily life” and it seems you are in a time warp yet the world around you keeps on going –  until you stabilize and can gently step back into life (changed) with just a few ever noticing you were “standing still” in the first place. But those few are very precious. All along God has been there with you, and He is Faithful.

My precious friends are in a time of waiting, at the bedside of their firstborn son. My heartfelt prayers continue and my thoughts turn to them over and over during the day as I continue on. But these are Holy moments for them. They are in the arms of the Almighty God. They love him, He loves them, and so do I.

“The Eternal God is your our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:27

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Upon entering our church sanctuary last night for our annual Thanksgiving Eve service and pie social the above quote was on the overhead and I liked it.

I love this day of Thanksgiving, and strive to have an attitude of gratitude all year ’round. There is much to be thankful for everyday.

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. ” Psalm 100: 4-5

Renewed Again

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Vibrant  colors on the trees: red, yellow, orange, lime green, with the deep blue October sky as the backdrop. Leaves gently fall, creating a mosaic carpet to walk upon.

Creation calling me to experience its beauty.

Once again I am grateful for eyes to see, ears to hear, and the sense of smell and touch and taste.

The earth is preparing to rest, but will be renewed again.  I trust the same is true for me.

October 2004

2 Corinthians 4:16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.    (NLT)