Why My Bread Refuses to Rise

This afternoon I had onions, garlic, cremini mushrooms, and meat simmering in red wine and beef broth for what will become stew.

I was just starting to kneed an Italian bread dough.

Laurel was banging on pots and pans with a wooden spoon and expressing her displeasure in the fact that we were inside.

And then an alarm went off. Thinking it was the smoke alarm, I began to wave my dish towel in front of it, but it didn't seem to help. I stood on a chair and took the cover off to discover there is no battery inside. The alarm continued to beep, causing me to panic.

I frantically tried to figure out where it was coming from. I even called Jon at work, and when he answered I practically yelled, "Where are our other smoke alarms?"

He calmly reminded me that we have a carbon monoxide detector in the living room. Sure enough, the beeps were coming from it.

We evacuated and called 911.

Two fire trucks later, they determined that all is well.

But now my bread dough doesn't look as if it is going to rise.

It Made Me Smile

The other night we held hands as we prayed before supper. Laurel must have thought holding hands was a pretty good idea because she wanted to hold both of our hands all through supper. She'd let go long enough to put some food in her mouth and then she'd reach for our hands again. It made me smile.

These pictures make me smile, too.

On Going Back to Work

I have loved being home with Laurel this year. I have loved the rhythm and the restfulness. I have loved the play and the laughter and the changes that seemed to come way too quickly.

Tomorrow the rhythm will change as I head back to work. I'll be working a day and a half a week, which I think will be just about perfect for me. It will allow me to continue to do college ministry, which I love, as well as spend gobs of time at home with Laurel, which I also love.

I don't know what this year will hold. One friend told me that he didn't think I could do campus ministry for a day and a half a week--ministry is way too relational to only be around a couple days. Perhaps after this year I'll end up agreeing. Other people ask me, as if it would be an insurmountable task, what I will do with Laurel when I'm at work. Maybe after this year I'll conclude that it's too complicated to coordinate all of that.

Or maybe it really will be just right.

On Sunday someone I had just met told me it's good that I am only working part-time because I need to take care of my family "properly." It was followed by the comment, "God gave you a family, you need to take care of them properly." Apparently "proper" care of ones family, if that "one" is a woman, means staying home. I responded with something like, "Well, it's a partnership, and my husband and I both need to care for our family."

It reminded me of comments I heard this past winter, in the middle of my angst over what to do about work. These comments weren't directed at me, but the basic idea is this: "Anyone can be a ________ (teacher, accountant, nurse, lawyer), but you're the only person who can be your child's mom." The conclusion we are meant to draw, of course, is that to be our children's moms, we need to stay home.

Why doesn't anyone say that to the dads? "Anyone can be a ___________, but you're the only one who can be your child's dad."

I don't think that being Laurel's mom means that all of my other callings in life are erased. I want Laurel to grow up watching me, as her mom, live out my gifts and my callings. I hope that as I seek to be obedient to where I think God is calling me, that she will learn to listen for God's voice in her life, too.

I Found It!

I found my camera charger. So, here are some pictures that have been sitting on my camera, waiting to be shared!

Laurel on her birthday, showing her solo standing skills:

In the new house, Laurel loves to help mom and dad with the renovations:

One of the many beautiful scenes we saw in Glacier:

Laurel and Daddy on a hike. Despite her expression, she really loves riding in the backpack:

Some flowers from our backyard:

5 Reasons Why I Haven't Blogged

The little voice in my head keeps saying, "You really need to update your blog."

"I know, I know," I reply.

(Come on, tell me you don't have conversations with yourself.)

But there have been plenty of reasons why I haven't blogged....

1. I was in Montana for a week and didn't have internet access. Jon, Laurel, and I met our friends the Arntzens and Heather at a little cabin just outside of Glacier for a week of relaxing, catching up, and good conversation. Heather, Courtney, and I are all women in ministry, so it was a great time for us to talk about ministry, pray together, and encourage each other. This was the first of what we hope will become an annual event. It was the first meeting of our covenant group. I've told people in the past that the whole reason I wanted to go to seminary was to find a covenant group. It might not have been the WHOLE reason, but I was pretty envious of my pastor friends who got to go away for a week each year to spend time with their covenant groups. I would post some pictures of our trip here, but my camera battery died in the middle of the trip, and I cannot find my charger.

2. When we came home, I had three days to prepare for a wedding in Calgary. It was my second wedding of the summer/ever. And what a fun wedding it was. If I had had a camera (see above) I would have some pictures. The reception was here and was very fun! I think the ceremony went well. It is really a cool experience to walk with a couple as they prepare for marriage and then to be the one to usher them across this threshold.

3. As soon as we returned from Calgary, we met up with Jon's sister Pam and her family, who were in Edmonton for the weekend. We went to the legislature grounds to splash in the fountains. (I think Pam took some pictures, so we might have some to post soon. For now, imagine Laurel in a swim diaper and a sun hat having a great time.) That night we left our niece in charge of the kids and headed to The Melting Pot, which has some seriously good eats.

4. The next day Owen headed back to Lethbridge while Pam, the kids, and Laurel and I drove to Saskatchewan to the farm. We met Jon's other sister Jenn and her kids there for cousins camp. Cousins camp was a week of playing outside, riding dirt bikes, pulling weeds in the garden, picking raspberries, swimming, eating good food, playing kick the can in the dark, campfires, and sitting on the deck drinking coffee. Jon's dad drove to Edmonton to work on our house, so it was just the girls and the kids. This is another event that we hope will become an annual tradition. (It's also another time I had neither internet access nor a camera).

5. Jon and Armand came to the farm on Friday night and joined us for a round of kick the can on Saturday night. On Sunday Jon's parents drove us back to Edmonton and then stayed with us until today to help us work on our house. This past week we have worked like crazy. We now have a new kitchen counter, new kitchen floors, the house is painted, the trim is painted, the kitchen cupboards are painted (although we still have to re-install the doors), drywall has been installed, shelves have been built in a pantry. So, this week I was either too busy or too tired to post anything. And I still haven't found my camera charger.

There you have it, folks. Five reasons I haven't blogged.