Mother's Day

I follow a great blog called Rage Against the Minivan. On the blog's Facebook page she posted another blogger's suggestion of how Pastors should/could handle Mother's Day during the church service. I know our world can be overly PC at times, but Motherhood, no matter how you slice it, can be a difficult road. Here is an excerpt from the blog. The post in its entirety can be found here.


To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you

To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you

To those who experienced loss this year through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.


God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani

Stefani Turns 30

Or as I like to call it...The First Anniversary of my 29th Birthday.

The day started out with church since it was Sunday. After church we headed to Wood Winds. And I had this....

French toast topped with apples and whipped cream. It was a work of art and delicious!

After breakfast we headed home and had a Skype session with my parents. I opened my 30th gift. 

I decided to make my birthday dinner. We made crab cakes, garlic Parmesan orzo, and ready made Panera lobster bisque. The crab cakes could use some improvement, but they were pretty good.

It all seemed so fancy.

For dessert I wanted a Dairy Queen ice cream cake. And Joshua delievered.

So yummy!

All in all it was a great birthday. Turning 30 hasn't been so bad...


God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani

2013 January through April

First, let's stop pretending that one day Joshua will write a blog post. We all know who the blogger is on Team Ketelsen.  

January
As you can imagine we looked forward to the New Year. 2012 was not kind to us. We headed to Ohio and rang in the new year with the Ketelsens. We had champagne and toasted to a less stinky year ahead. We were also able to visit with Joshua's family from western New York and San Fransisco who made the trek to Ohio, too.

I hit my very first deer in January. I was driving Joshua to his physical. (He had to fast. Hungry Joshua + driving a long distance = Stefani drives to appointment.) On the way a silly deer ran out and thump he/she went. The car did a 180 and into a frozen marsh. A salt truck stopped and called the police and tow truck for us. The tow truck got us out of the marsh and back on the road. Needless to say, we did not make it to the doctor. We went to breakfast instead. 

February
I made a trip to St. Louis. I was able to visit with family and friends. I met my "niece", Emily, for the first time. 

Isn't she adorable? Sleeping beauty!

Emily and I. Her Aunt Carolyn (my BFF) took this picture.
 
While I was there I also went to my "niece", Alyssa's 6th birthday party. I am not old enough for her to be this old!

What a little lady!

February was the beginning of Lent. Which is always busy. This year seemed to go much smoother and Joshua was way less stressed. It was a combination of experience and a well written Lenten series he purchased. 

March
Joshua turned 31 this year. I made him a minion cake (from Despicable Me).

On March 9th I began the epic journey to my 30th Birthday. My parents sent me a box with 30 gifts and I was instructed to open one per day until my birthday. I posted every present I received on Instagram (pwsak) and Facebook. It was so much fun and made turning the dreaded 3-0 not so terrible.

Then there was Easter. The Super Bowl of the Church Year. We glided through Holy Week and Easter without too many hitches.

April
On April 1st, Joshua had his wisdom teeth removed. The operation went smoothly and he recovered nicely. For the most part, he is back to eating normally.

During his recovery, I spearheaded the remodeling of his office at church. A fresh coat of paint was put on the walls. I had some Confirmation students help with the painting. The old carpet was removed and new carpet laid down. We had previously purchased new reception room chairs to replace the rocker and metal folding chair. Along with a new lamp. It looks more inviting and professional. Next order of business is a new shelving system for his books. (A pastor with books, what?!)

New carpet and fresh paint on the walls.

It has been a busy year with no signs of slowing down. 

God's Blessings, 

Joshua and Stefani 

April Showers

Stefani here. It seems my 30th birthday is going to be here in less than a month, no matter how much I protest. It also seems that mid April will be here, too. While our motto is to prepare for the worse, but expect the best, I still feel there is a dark cloud over this month. So, I selfishly ask that you pray for us as we continue to grieve what might have been.

I keep thinking about all the ways to honor our child and celebrate my 30th. If you would like to get on board I have a few ideas...
 
1. Give 30 hours of your time to your favorite organization (church, school, non-profit)
 
2. Give $30 (my age), $19.83 (year I was born), $4.07 (birthdate), or any other amount you deem fit to your favorite charity or one of mine: St. Louis Crisis Nursery, a family fighting cancer (I have some names), Your Local Church Youth Group or Vacation Bible School Program, Concordia Seminary St. Louis (either a specific student, again I have names), food bank, or the school directly), Lutheran World Relief, or a friend's Team in Training page.
 
If you do any of the above, please let me know. It would make me so happy to know that good was happening.

Or if you want to get me a gift personally, I would love to have some of the cost of the Michigan District Katie Conference deferred. It is in the month of April and being around my "sisters" during my "dark month" (Gilmore Girls reference) would be healing.
 
But most of all, We could really use your prayers.

God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35

St. Louis Vacation October/November 2012

Joshua was asked by Stefani's godmother to officiate her 25th anniversary vow renewal. So, we decided to make a week of it.
We thought it would be fun to go Trick or Treating with the Stringfellows, since we were in town for Halloween. Noah went as a tiger and Nora went as a butterfly. Noah was really shy, which is not like him at all. He did ask for candy for his sister a couple times. Which was nice, because he still isn't too keen on her being around. 

He was far too busy looking at the TV to care that Aunt Stefani was taking a picture.

Again, no paying any attention to the camera.

Nora, the butterfly. She had antennas to complete the look.

The butterfly is trying to fly away.

Alyssa had to come over and show us her outfit. I believe she was Rapunzel, the Tangled version.

The next day we decided to go to the Zoo with Stefani's parents. They had recently opened a new sea lion exhibit and we want to check it out. Since we went the day after Halloween they still had their Boo at the Zoo decor out.

 The sea lions' new home from above.

 Love the new digs.

If you look closely there is a little fellow swimming.

The tunnel where the sea lions swim around you. 

Hello!

A view of the outside from the tunnel.

 This little guy was right by the glass. 

 I had to resit petting him. He was so close

 I think he wanted to come back Up North with us.

Side Note: Right before we walked into Penguin and Puffin Coast we ran into Alyssa and her grandparents (Kay). I knew she was going to be there, but randomly finding her was fun. We actually saw her again The River's Edge.

 Stefani and her Mom, Kelly. Stefani was trying to be grumpy since she lost her head.

Happy Skeleton!

Joshua and Ted. Dad was much happier about losing his head.

Stefani and her Dad, Ted, going batty.

The next big event was Stefani's godmother's vow renewal. Kathy and Randy decided to have a 25th anniversary party and have a short vow renewal. They asked Joshua to officiate. Stefani was their original flower girl and played a roll as well.

Aww...aren't we precious?

The cake.

 

The renewal.

Kelly giving her little speech.
I would like to share a quote that I think sums up the marriage of Kathy and Randy.

“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.” 

I wish you 25 more years of weirdness. 

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Stefani giving her little speech.
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At your wedding I was five. The only thing I knew about love or marriage, then was that Ken was Barbie's boyfriend. Then I grew up and found the love of my life. And I realized the amazing examples of marriage I had around me. I had my parents, who have been married for 30 years. Both sets of grandparents who have been married for 50 plus years. And I have Aunt Kathy and Uncle Randy, who are here today celebrating 25 years of marriage.

In this day in age it is diffcult to find couples who are truly in it for the “long haul”. Who take their vows seriously. Kathy and Randy are two of those people who have stuck by each other during the good, the bad, and the ugly. I have heard that people told you your marriage wouldn't last. Well, shame on them and way to prove them wrong! It is really easy let others make you doubt your love and the commitment you made to each other. At the end of the day they are not in this marriage. The vows you made are between the two of you and God. Thank you for teaching me that important lesson.

I wish you 25 more years together. 

Since Stefani's parents just celebrated their 30th Anniversary there was a special dance for them and other anniversary couples.

Stefani and Lydia. Lydia is Stefani's godmother's daughter and Stefani's mom's goddaughter. So, we are godsisters.

Stefani and her godmomma, Kathy.

Joshua and Stefani cutting a rug.

Stefani and her Dad, Ted.

The party was so much fun! We really enjoyed ourselves. 

These pictures only show a fraction of what we did, but we thought we would bore you with all the details. We came back feeling much more refreshed.

God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani

2012 Michigan District All Pastors' Conference

This year's conference was held on Mackinac Island at the Mission Point Resort. Which is practically our backyard....45 minute drive plus a ferry ride. The theme was "First of All Pray..." 1 Timothy 2:1. It was designed for Pastors and their Wives. We picked up some great ideas that we will work on implementing in the coming weeks. 

It seems with each conference our appreciation for the Michigan District grows. The District staff is just awesome, especially our District President. The pastors' and their families are always nice and welcoming. 

The view from our room.

The two of us in front of the resort.

God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani

Thank You

We would really like to thank everyone who has been there for us these couple of months. We appreciate every prayer, every hug (in person and virtual), every email, every phone call, every meal, every card, and all the glitter on some of those cards. 

We are blessed to have to have so many wonderful people in our lives. Our family has been great even though they are/were grieving, too. Our church family has been amazing and encouraging. Our friends have reached out and lifted our spirits.

Physically, I am feeling much better. Emotionally, we take it day by day. For the most part we are in good spirits and take comfort in our faith.

Again, we cannot thank everyone enough for everything.

God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani 
   
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 
Jeremiah 29:11-13