Hello, friends and family! Happy Easter! Christ is Risen!
It is 5:49 a.m. as I sit down to write this blog post,
because, well, it’s Easter and my husband is a church worker. That meant a 4:30
wake up time so that he could be ready for the Sunrise Service. I chose to stay
home from that service and take a bit more of a relaxed morning so that I could
cook him breakfast, plus I’ll be at the next two services of the morning to
sing with the choir. (Also because this year I actually have the option of
staying home from Sunrise Service because we have two cars, unlike the last few
years!).
I have to apologize for the lack of blog posts over the last
few months. Our schedules have been incredibly full between two churches and
family visits, taking up most of our weekend time (as in, there was not a
single free weekend in February or March!). Although really, that’s not a great
excuse, so again, I apologize.
I guess I will back up and start with February. One big,
exciting thing that happened in February was the kick-off for the young adult
ministry that Nick was in charge of starting at Immanuel. It is called Couples
Date Night, and he invited all married couples of a young adult age to join and
be a part of this ministry. It started with a kick-off event in which we all
came together, got to know each other, ate dinner, and played games. Then, we
were grouped into groups of 8 people (4 couples) and instructed to make plans
to get together four times over the next few months. So that then kicked off a
few months of Sunday night dinners every other week with the other couples we
have been grouped with, with each couple
hosting a dinner. It has been a fun way to get to know other young couples in
the church and spend time with them on a regular basis.
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| Nick standing by a fountain of hot springs water |
Another big, exciting event in February was our trip to Hot
Springs, Arkansas! We decided over Christmas break that we would challenge
ourselves to visit each of Missouri’s 8 border states in the next year and a
half that we are here in St. Louis. We began with Arkansas, because we needed
to find a place with more temperate weather, since we were visiting over
President’s Day weekend! Thankfully, we didn’t need to worry about that, and we
had beautiful 70 degree weather the whole weekend. We went to Hot Springs,
which is home to a national park and the site of a lot of old, historic
bathhouses that were frequented back in the “age of leisure.” It was such an
interesting place, as it was a mix of a national park, museums in old
bathhouses, modern and functional bathhouses, and a downtown area with a night
scene. We were able to get discounted tickets through our hotel to one of the
bathhouses, botanical gardens, and an overlook tower that allowed us to see the
whole area and learn more about its history. One night, we went to a brewery
that brews their own beer using the hot springs water, which Nick enjoyed a
lot. I unexpectedly enjoyed the botanical gardens a lot, as we got to get away
from the downtown Hot Springs crowds and also enjoy spring blossoms that hadn’t
yet appeared in our area in Missouri. A fun discovery was a cute little cupcake
shop that has been featured on Cupcake Wars, called Fat Bottomed Girls
Cupcakes. They were incredibly delicious! It was a fun getaway trip for the two
of us in the midst of a lot of stressful events in our lives, and I thank God
for the opportunity to travel and explore together. We are hoping to plan
another weekend adventure sometime this summer to check off another border
state!
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| Nick's flight of hot springs beer for tasting |
February turned out to be a month of relief for both of us.
We had been facing some stressors in our lives that had been hitting a peak
right around the end of January and beginning of February, making for some very
difficult days. Thankfully, God provided relief for us in different ways and
through different people in our lives. I thank all of you for your constant
prayers for us, because even without knowing the details of everything we face
in our lives, you are helping more than you know, because we know that we are
loved and being prayed for on a regular basis.
On to March! March of course, began the Lenten season (quite
literally too, as Ash Wednesday was on March 1st). This meant that
Nick started preaching four times a month – he would take Sunday and Wednesday
in a week, and then Pastor Bangert would preach both for the next week. It also
meant that my schedule at Immanuel got a little crazier, as choir sings more
often, plus we have to rehearse later with Lent services taking our normal
Wednesday night rehearsal time, PLUS I decided to join a Bible study that meets
before those services. But it is all a wonderful opportunity to be there and be
in fellowship with the wonderful people at that church.
A fun event in March was a visit from my parents! They were
able to visit over my spring break so that I wasn’t working all day during
their visit, but we kept plenty busy! Between church and other church events,
our tradition of going to tea, time at the Art Museum, and wine tasting at the
nearby wineries, we were constantly busy and driving back and forth between St.
Louis and Washington. I was especially thankful that my mom was here because
she helped me figure out the sewing machine that I had gotten for Christmas,
allowing me to finish some projects I’d had sitting around for a while. It was
fun to be able to spend time with them and show them around our current home.
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| At High Tea with my mom on spring break! |
Nick and I also both got the opportunity to do some learning
this March! The first weekend in March is always an Early Childhood conference
that I attend with other Lutheran educators from the area. It’s an all-day
event on Saturday, which made for a long day, but it’s always fun to get
together with other teachers, learn, and come away with new ideas and
excitement. The following weekend, Nick had the opportunity to attend a
workshop to teach him how to do pre-marital counseling at the Seminary. Our
vicarage church is generous enough to send their vicar each year and pay for
the cost, so Nick was able to benefit from this wonderful learning experience
and he will take this into his ministry.
Aside from all this, and many other events thrown in there,
we have been most fortunate and thankful for the time we get with friends and
family that isn’t always noteworthy, but it is the most important. Whether over
the phone or video chat or in person, we treasure that time, especially in
these years of transition. We are thankful to have made new friends here at
Immanuel and also to keep the friendships from Seminary, and the people that
God has placed in our lives have given us so much love and support over the
last few difficult months. Part of this has been that Nick has gotten to spend
a good amount of time with his brother, Mark, over the last few months. Mark is
in his last year at the seminary, and will be receiving his call in just a few
weeks, and so Nick has appreciated the time they get to spend together playing
and buying new board games. Nick is also blessed that one of the teachers at
Immanuel can be a running buddy while we are here in Washington. Nick is just a
few weeks away from his third half marathon, and I chose not to run this race
with him for various reasons, which is hard for me, but I am so proud of him
and how he has trained for this race. And as I said, he is blessed with someone
who he can run with occasionally, even though I can’t. We know that God has put
each of these people in our lives and we are thankful for the time we get with
them, even when time seems to be running short.
We want to conclude by saying thank you again for being
patient with us while we haven’t been posting as frequently as we should have
been. And we also want to say thank you for all of your love and support. We
appreciate not only your interest in our lives, but also your support and your
prayers.
In the name of Christ our Savior,
Nicholas and Mikaela Duerr
