A Big Announcement

            I don’t know if you have ever used the voice-to-text feature in your phone. I do rather frequently, and the funny thing is you get some strange results cause the phone has some strange hearing. Mikaela and I were having a discussion one evening and I was trying to convince her that I was not yet burnt out. She then asked if I would be burnt out in a year. In my naivete I confidently asserted that I wouldn’t be, and told my phone to set a reminder for a year later to remind me to tell her I wasn’t burnt out. Instead my phone set a reminder for Plums and Chicken. And so rather than change it, plums and chicken became our code for how we were doing.

            Of course, to understand why I might or might not have been burnt out, we have to back up. In March of 2016, we decided to switch our birth control method from the pill to natural family planning because we decided that loading Mikaela up with chemicals daily may not be our best choice. One result was that rather than having pseudo cycles caused by the pill, they stopped altogether. However, doctors say this is normal, so we waited the appropriate time to see if her cycles would start up again once her hormones stabilized from having been on the pill. Three months later, when that hadn’t happened, Mikaela went to her doctor to see what could be done. The doctor gave her a prescription that would hopefully jump start her system. It didn’t work. In the meantime, we decided that we would like to try and get pregnant. Of course that’s extremely difficult to do when

you aren’t having a cycle. So we upped the ante on trying to figure out what was wrong. Mikaela went to her doctor again, but this time we got the distinct impression that she was not getting the doctor’s full attention. And so we found a new doctor, one who specializes in natural infertility treatment and works a lot with people using natural family planning. Thing is, this seems like a quick process when I describe it in one paragraph, but so that you can get a timeline, we started NFP in March, we decided to try and get pregnant in September, and it was January 18th that we finally saw the new doctor. Five days later Mikaela asked be about being burnt out, and I started a year of having a weird reminder on my phone.

            Of course, I shouldn’t skip that doctor appointment, because that was the first time I heard of polycystic ovarian syndrome. Our new doctor guessed, based on her symptoms, and confirmed a month later with some tests, that this is what Mikaela had. PCOS is essentially when a woman has too many follicles producing estrogen on her ovaries. If you don’t know much about the hormones in a woman’s body, all those hormones that create her cycle and allow a woman to get pregnant work in tandem with each other. They have to rise and fall to trigger other hormones to rise and fall in order to make things happen. So rather than having a natural rhythm and rise and fall of estrogen and other hormones, her cycle gets frozen at an estrogen high point. This is what was happening with Mikaela. The good news was that we had a diagnosed problem that we could then try and fix, which is more than many couples struggling with infertility get. The bad news was this was only the beginning.

            It started with supplements. Taking a few pills here and there, timed specifically on the correct cycle days, and drinking a powder mixed into a drink twice a day. Then came tests. These were designed to get a more accurate read of where she was in her cycle so all the pills could be taken at the right time to give her body that rhythm, but they became uncomfortable, and in fact quite the hinderance since often times they would mean she would have to show up late, leave early, or sometimes even leave work in the middle of the day, no easy feat for a teacher. One blessing in all of this is that her principal was absolutely amazing. Whatever Mikaela needed, her principal recognized that it was more important than having to get someone to keep an eye on the kids for a few minutes in the morning. But that didn’t make the constant barrage of a variety of tests, scans, ultrasounds, and x-rays any less uncomfortable. And these extended for months, consistently disrupting our schedule, being especially difficult since most of this process was done while we were living in Washington, which was an hour drive from the hospital.

            None of the stuff we did, however, seemed to make any long term difference. All of the supplements, all of the diet changes, and all of the extra effort we put in to regulate her cycle never resulted in pregnancy. And, of course, there were two really frustrating and depressing things in the midst of this. The first was that every new thing promised good odds of working. We would look at whatever new medicine she was taking and people would be sharing their miracle stories about how they had been trying for years, then one month on whatever miracle product this was, and they were popping out kids like bunnies! And none of that worked for us. We were constantly having our hopes raised and then dashed. The other frustrating thing was watching everyone around us get pregnant. Whenever we’d see the sonogram on facebook, or see pictures of pink and blue, it was always devastating. And sometimes it was close personal friends, for whom we were extremely excited (instead of being people we don’t really know and would get irrationally frustrated about having kids when we couldn’t). Even when we were overjoyed to hear our friends announce their pregnancy, it always came with this stab of pain, this depression over being unable to have that ourselves, no matter what we did.

            And what we did continued to escalate. Supplements didn’t solve anything. Updating medicines didn’t solve anything. Not even at home shots (quite a stressful experience - thankfully we only had to do that once) did anything. And so finally we scheduled a surgery. Now the surgery has a higher success rate than the medications, but if you can avoid surgery you do that. But by the time we got to it surgery seemed like it was our last chance. It felt like a Hail Mary. Because with everything else that hadn’t worked, why would this be different? That was our mindset in early November. We had stopped thinking in terms of “when we have a child.” To some degree we had stopped thinking in terms of “if we have a child.” We started making plans for “when we give up on trying to have a child.” We were researching adoption agencies, we were discussing how long we would wait, what the cost would be. We were going through with the surgery more to make sure we had done all we could rather than in the expectation of it working.

            And so shortly before Thanksgiving, Mikaela underwent surgery. All in all, it was a rather simple procedure. Because she had too many follicles producing estrogen, they simply removed wedges out of her ovaries so that her count would be closer to normal. In addition, the doctor checked everything else out to make sure it looked healthy. We were happy to see no evidence of endometriosis or any other roadblocks to getting pregnant. The surgery went according to plan, and the doctor was pleased with the results, but then again he wasn’t laid up on the couch for a week recovering. Thanksgiving ended up being a very low-key affair, and would have been non-existent had not some of our friends invited us over. But two weeks later, Mikaela was fully recovered, and we were glad to have the surgery over with and taken care of. Then it was just a matter of waiting to see if with the change, her cycle regulated on its own. The doctor told us that it was likely that we would need to resume the medicines and supplements in order to get pregnant, but that they would be more effective after the surgery, and that we would wait a few months to see what happened. We scheduled an appointment for late February as a “what now?” in case nothing happened. Thankfully, we didn’t need that.

            In early December we got evidence that the surgery had at least regulated Mikaela’s cycle. Without medicine or supplement. Without any extra work. The surgery fixed at least one problem. And while that wasn’t a baby in the womb, we were excited. At the very least, the surgery meant that Mikaela wouldn’t have to spend her life making sure her cycle was properly regulated with extra medicine. At this point we were really looking at it as, what’s the best thing we can say about what’s happening. And that was a pretty exciting and fantastic thing.

            Just to review the timeline really quick, (since there’s a lot that’s gone on) this started in March of 2016, when we decided to switch off the pill and go to natural family planning. In September 2016, we agreed to start trying to conceive. But it wasn’t until January 2017 when we were able to see a fertility specialist, and February that we confirmed his diagnosis of PCOS, and started taking corrective measures. From February through October of 2017 we tried various medicines, supplements, and hormones in order to try and conceive, all to no avail. In November Mikaela had surgery, and in December we found out that the surgery had some small positive effect. And we were swiftly approaching my January reminder, “Plums and Chicken,” that year-later reminder I had made so I could tell Mikaela that I wasn’t burnt out, but I was willing to go the distance. As I said at the beginning though, I was naive. I realized that as we were getting closer to that deadline that I was wrong. I was burning out. Sure, it wasn’t as soon as Mikaela feared, but it was a lot sooner than I expected. All of the ups and downs, all of the hopes and expectations dashed, I was exhausted. I was ready to be done. And I was disappointed to have to tell her that.

            Except we never made it to that point. Sunday, January 21st, 2018 two days before “Plums and Chicken” showed up on my phone, at the end of her first full cycle following the surgery, Mikaela woke me up at 4:30 in the morning (granted, she was being patient and generous letting me sleep so late since she’d been up since 2:00) and asked if I was ready to hear the best news I’d ever gotten at 4:30 in the morning. Then she had to go grab the pregnancy test to have me confirm that it actually read positive. It was 4:30 in the morning, after all.

            We decided to share this story for two reasons. The first, and most obvious, reason is to say that we are overjoyed to share with everyone that we are pregnant! Baby Duerr is due on September 22nd, and we couldn’t be happier about that. But secondly, we are sharing this because we have earned a lot through this process. One of the things we learned is just how many people know someone who is, or are themselves struggling with infertility. People we have known for years, after telling them about our struggle, mentioned their own, or a close relative’s. It’s so extremely common, and such a big part of people’s lives, yet it is something that we don’t often talk about, and we don’t realize is a problem until we ourselves are affected by it. And so for anyone who is struggling, and

who is feeling the weight of infertility, we want you to know that we are here for you. We understand your pain. And we know that this is another painful reminder of what you don’t have. We don’t know why God chose now to bless us with a child, and why He hasn’t done that for you. But we are praying for you. We are praying that the God of all mercy would show you His abundant love to you. And we are praying that whatever His plans are for you, that you would trust in His unfailing promises.

The Middle

In reflection on February it feels like there isn’t much to tell. The month started with a series of visits to urgent care for possible infections, and then for the flu. That really slowed things down for a while, and Mikaela was out of school for nearly a week, but don’t worry, so many of the kids were sick too that they ended up cancelling school for a day.

But other than that chaos, February was really the middle for us. Mikaela is in the middle of her spring semester, and the middle of play practices. With the musical rapidly approaching she has been working like crazy to make sure that the students are all prepared for their parts, all the props are ready to go, and everything will be running smoothly. On top of that she has plenty to worry about with teaching, grading papers, writing tests, and preparing for all sorts of things for her students. And that’s not to mention all that she is doing to prepare to wrap up her time at Our Savior as we prepare to take a call.

My middle has been a lot less adventurous, but a lot more exciting. In reality it has been like many other semesters, going to class, reading books, and doing homework. But on the other hand this is my last semester of classes. In May I graduate and get a real job. After being in school my whole life it will be quite the shift to actually working. But we are extremely excited for this new adventure and we cannot wait to see what God has in store for us.

I did have one adventure during February. At the end of the month I went to Phoenix to go to Best Practices for Ministry, a conference for church workers to get together and discuss ways to best serve those around us. At first I thought the best part was going to be the sectionals, but I was wrong. It was really the networking. I got to see old friends and catch up with them, and to learn about all the cool things they’re doing in their ministries. But more than that, I was able to meet new people and learn from them as well. On top of spending several days gorging myself on the insane amounts of food they had for us there.

In the end, February has been difficult to write about because it’s been mostly quiet. But that’s really okay. Sometimes it’s nice to have a quiet time. And things should really pick up in March, so that’ll be nice in its own right.

In the name of Christ our savior,

-Nicholas and Mikaela Duerr

Catching Up

Hello everyone!

We are sorry for the delay in posts. Things have been a bit hectic in our lives, and I'm sure you'll understand why when you get to our November update.

October

In the middle of October, Mikaela and I had the fun opportunity to go to Chicago both to see a musical, and to explore the city. While it was a little chilly, and of course windy, we had a fun time wandering around the downtown area, going to the Navy Pier, and falling in love with Gino's East pizza.  All in all it was a fun weekend, and a great break in the middle of all our fall semester.

November

November is where things truly got hectic. At her doctor's recommendation, Mikaela had an elective surgery to fix an issue she was having with a hormone imbalance that was causing health concerns. Everything went well, and by all accounts at this point she is completely healed, and the surgery achieved its intended purpose. But it was an interesting adventure. Mikaela was bed-ridden, or rather couch-ridden, for an entire week, which mostly consisted of watching through all eleven seasons of MASH. Thankfully some of our friends were in town for Thanksgiving and invited us over, or else it would have been a rather low-key and drab meal. Other than the surgery though, November was a rather quiet month.

December

The season of Christmas always adds some level of chaos to daily life. Most of Advent was spent fully recovering from surgery and wrapping up school stuff before we broke for Christmas. Our adventures really began when Mikaela got out of school. Our plan was to dash to the airport as soon as she was finished up at school. That didn't exactly happen though. As we were heading out the door, we received a notification that our flight was delayed. So we stayed at home, ate some dinner, went for a walk. Just took our time. Then, as we were leaving for the airport once again, we got another notification that our flight was delayed. This time we went, which was a good thing, because it seemed like the airport was shutting down. Security was closing, and we were the last people through. And then we sat at the gate for hours as  our flight got delayed a couple more times. Eventually we left sometime after eleven o'clock on a flight that when we purchased the tickets, was leaving at four thirty. But despite the extremely late hour, we made it safely to California.

Once we were in California, though, we had a wonderful time. We were able to see our whole families, something that hadn't happened for at least a year. Some of the highlights were getting to meet our second niece, as well as hang out with the first, wear warm weather clothes, just generally hang out with family, and of course eat at In-N-Out. Multiple times. On top of that I was able to preach at my home congregation, St. John's, on New Year's Eve.

January

Missouri, upon our return, was freezing cold. Literally. We returned for a cold spell which turned out to be one of the longest since the '80s. It was quite the drastic change to go from temperatures in the 70's to single digits, not even over night, but in a plane ride. On top of that Mikaela had to almost immediately jump back into teaching, whereas my break was somewhat longer. Instead of taking an intensive class, my schedule allowed for me to audit one, which is what I chose to do. Which meant that in one week I spent over twenty hours sitting in a classroom listening to one professor lecture, but I didn't have to go home and do all of the reading associated with the class. That made it a much more enjoyable time, and I was really able to glean a lot from the class.

Mikaela, on the other hand, has had to prepare for her school's upcoming musical. Every year they have done one, but this year the date has been moved up before her spring break. While this does force the schedule into a more packed time frame, one huge benefit is that the musical does not fall on the same week as Call Day this year. This means that she will be able to dedicate more of her time to each as it comes.

Speaking of Call Day, the fact that it is swiftly approaching has become a reality for us. As a part of the call process, churches that are looking to call an associate pastor are permitted to interview a few candidates to see how well they will work in the church. We have had a few of these interviews, discussing ministries, church leadership, and worship styles among so many other things. While our part in the process is limited, one thing it has done for us is made us realize that we really are almost done at seminary, as well as give us a few possible locations as to where we may be living in six months. Of course, we aren't revealing any of this information. If you are interested in finding out about our call, Call Day is April 24th, at 7 PM St. Louis time, and it will be live streamed by the seminary. We will provide more information as the day draws near, as well as giving you an update sometime later that week.

We thank you for your prayers and continued support through these last four years at seminary. As our time here draws to a close, we know that your support has truly blessed our time here, and we will always be grateful for you. Please keep us in your prayers as we await the anticipated Call Day and accept God's plans for our lives. 

In the name of Christ our Savior, 

Nicholas and Mikaela Duerr

September

Hiking at Castlewood State Park

            September has been a month primarily dedicated to school for Mikaela and I. Mikaela has spent the last month trying to learn what it means to teach upper grades. In kindergarten the most grading you do is putting a star at the top of the page. Tests are done verbally, one on one. And grades are not really a thing. In middle school, however, all of those things are a part of every teacher’s experience. And so while teaching in the classroom is comfortable to her, she’s been working on how to manage all of the things that come with it. Weekends are spent lesson planning, and writing tests for the first time was a challenge.

But as much extra work and stress that it is, she is looking at it as a learning opportunity, expanding her skills so that when we move she is more marketable, especially in the grades she would prefer to teach in.

Apple picking on a fall morning

                At the Seminary, there has recently been a massive overhaul of the curriculum, including a change from quarters to semesters. This sounds like longer classes, but instead most of my classes only go half a term, seven weeks. And so with such short terms, September covered most of the first set of classes. This means that those classes came with what feels like a significantly more rushed pace. Papers are spaced a lot closer together, and readings have ended up being more compacted. That being said, this year has actually been lighter because while the classes have been compacted, there are less at one time. But in any case, this first term has really flown by.

                Not everything we’ve done at the seminary has been in the classroom. Already we have begun having meetings for placement. Our first meeting was just a general introduction to what would be happening, and what would be required of us, throughout the next year in order to receive a call. On top of that we got applications to fill out, interviews scheduled, and many other things to do. It is actually rather thrilling to be able to begin this process and start our journey toward long-term service in a church, and to not be moving every year.

                We also took time off of official business to spend some time adventuring with friends. One weekend we drove out to a state park to go on a hike with a small group of people here from the seminary, catching some surprisingly beautiful views. Another weekend we decided to make the most of our long-delayed fall weather to go apple picking with some friends in a nearby orchard, and then went to a barbecue festival in downtown St. Louis. And mixed in with all of this we have been taking plenty of walks around the campus and into Forest Park, and even exercising on occasion. All in all though, outside of school, things have been relatively quiet, although October should really change that.

                We ask for prayers in many areas of our lives right now. We appreciate your prayer support so much. It makes such a difference to know that the community of Christ stretches across the country so that we can lift each other up in prayer no matter where we may live. We ask that you pray for the placement process. In late October and early November, we will be going into interviews with placement directors here at the seminary to help clarify what we are looking for in a church, community, and ministry as we look to our first call. We ask for prayers for wisdom and discernment for ourselves and the placement directors, that we may all clearly express what needs to be expressed. We also ask that you pray for churches that are beginning the call process, that they may also receive a pastor who is best fit for their congregation. We especially ask for prayers in our personal lives. There are things going on in our personal lives that we cannot share publicly, but we would appreciate it if you would pray for us, for peace and healing, and that we continue to trust in and rely on God above all else.

In the name of Christ our Savior,

Nicholas and Mikaela Duerr

Back to the Seminary

Hello all!

August has been… well, what do you expect from August? It’s that month of transition from summer back to real life and back to school. August began with Mikaela beginning her faculty meetings, prepping her classroom, and all of those last minute details she had to take care of before students came pouring in, if not quite ready to learn, at least present. At the same time, I was wrapping up vicarage, saying my goodbyes, and preaching one last sermon. Leaving Immanuel was a very bittersweet time for us. Our year there was fantastic. The church, the community, everything about being there was wonderful. But, at the same time, moving back to seminary was nice. Not only is it nice to see all of our friends again, but we are now one large, tangible step closer to being done with seminary, and beginning what feels like real life, with a real job (for me, Mikaela’s had one for years), and all those trappings that come with finally settling in. But then is not now.

Our last photo at our home in Washington, MO on moving day

Moving day sat perfectly in between our return from our trip to Washington, DC and the start of Mikaela’s school year. We were thankful to have most of our house packed up before we went on vacation due to work going on in the house while we were gone, so that upon returning, we could focus on our jobs rather than packing. After a busy week, we took some time to finish up the last of the packing – the kitchen and those last-minute things you have to use until the day you move – and we were ready for moving day. Moving day went about as perfectly as any moving day can. The weather was absolutely perfect – a rarity for August in St. Louis – and everything stayed on schedule and all our things fit in the moving truck! We had a huge crew from Immanuel (including a bunch of the youth who arrived all piled in a van) come to help. The youth were particularly helpful since most of our belongings were down in the basement after being packed away, so they got everything upstairs quickly and effectively, and helped with other odd jobs, while a few helpful men stayed in the moving truck and packed it with no space left unused. After finishing up, we made the hour drive to the seminary. We were so blessed to have the help of many friends there as well, so that I hardly had to carry a single box or piece of furniture! They even stuck around in the evening to chat and help unpack some boxes so that we could actually move around in the apartment. So we finished the day very tired, as is to be expected, but very successful in our moving day.

And so, after moving onto the seminary campus, Mikaela began perhaps her most interesting school year. With so few kindergarteners (four) her day seemed somewhat empty, and her school was looking for a way to use the most of her abilities. And so at lunch time her kindergartners leave with the first graders, and she transitions to teaching middle schoolers, specifically 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders. Of course, she will tell you that it isn’t as bad as it sounds because some of her students are pretty advanced, so really it’s only like teaching two grades (not including the kindergarteners). And so she is re-learning how to teach, since middle schoolers behave significantly differently than kindergartners. That, and now she has to come home and grade papers, because stars marking that they completed their work doesn’t cut it any more. But despite all of the new challenges she is facing, she is in fact really enjoying the new schedule. Upper grades is where she wanted to be anyway, and she marvels at the fact that now when she comes home from school she isn’t completely wiped out from chasing a dozen five and six year olds around for hours on end. And so as the month has progressed, she has begun to find her groove, only to have new challenges present themselves daily. So while she is still learning, she is having fun as she does so.

My transition has been nearly as jarring. After having a couple weeks off following vicarage, seminary classes began the last Monday in the month. Going from a job, with an office, and everything that comes with it, to being back in classes has been an interesting experience. Already it feels like a difference. But add to that that upon my return, things had actually changed. Prior to leaving, the seminary had been on a quarter system, and so I had had three ten-week quarters to work through material. Now we have fourteen-week semesters that are sometimes split in two. So, in fact, a majority of my classes are these seven week sprints through the material, which makes week one so much closer to the end of the term. Just to give you an idea, the classes I began this week will end on October 12^th. So any papers or projects I will do will be due before then. It feels like an incredibly short amount of time, all things considered. That being said, the classes seem fantastic, so overall it will be a great semester.

A big exciting event that happened here in St. Louis, but of course all over the country, was the solar eclipse! St. Louis was in the path of totality, which made it an incredible experience for us. Mikaela got to watch it with her middle schoolers, turning it into a science lesson as they observed the light and temperature changes. I got to watch it at a seminary-sponsored viewing party with many friends, complete with eclipse-themed food like Sun Chips, Eclipse Gum, Starburst and Milky Ways. Thankfully all the worry about extra traffic and crowding didn't affect us, so we got to enjoy it completely. 

At the Muny for Newsies

In and out of school responsibilities we have still found time to have some fun. Shortly after moving back to St. Louis we were able to attend the Muny, a large outdoor theater in Forest Park, and see the musical Newsies, which is one we had heard about (and heard songs from), but neither of us had seen. It was a very entertaining show to watch. We also have been able to spend plenty of time with friends whom we missed over vicarage. And now that we live on campus, we sometimes get text messages saying, “Hey! We have a fire going if you want to come over,” and it’s a simple enough matter of walking over a couple of apartments to spend time with our friends.

We are thankful that August is over. It is always an exciting month, but a very exhausting one. We are now settling back into our routines, remembering how to do those mundane things like wake up early every morning, pack lunches, and do all our chores on the weekends. Our apartment feels like home now, with just the decorations still sitting in a box to be put up on the walls…maybe. And we are looking forward to the experiences that the year will bring us through work, school, and social events. We have planned for a few races already, we have a trip planned to Chicago in October, and we even have flights to California booked for December so we will be in California for Christmas for the first time in four years! There are so many things to be thankful for, and we thank God for every one of the blessings He has poured out on us.

Please keep us in your prayers as we begin the process of placement for our first call. Please pray that we would have the wisdom to make decisions for our future that will take us where God wants us to be. Please keep us both in your prayers, that we both have a good and healthy school year. Thank you for constantly blessing us with your support and prayers.

In the name of Christ our Savior,

Nick and Mikaela Duerr

July

Today is an unusual Saturday for a few reasons. First, when I woke up this morning it was about 50 degrees out, so I’m sitting with the doors open and enjoying the lovely weather. Second, I’m sitting in a house with most of our belongings packed away in boxes, with only the essentials and big furniture still out in the house. It’s hard to believe that we’re only a few days from our move back to the seminary. But before I get ahead of myself, I’ll tell you what we’ve been up to in the past month!

July seemed to both drag and fly by. As for me, after having June be filled up with responsibilities, July was a contrast, as I stayed at home most days, working on things for school, packing, and relaxing and enjoying summer. Unfortunately, that meant that usually by the time Nick got home from work or the weekend rolled around, I was extremely bored, but he was usually tired or busy with church things. So the first few weeks of July went very slowly for me, but I did manage to get a lot done, and of course, I always miss the down time when it’s gone.

Nick, on the other hand, was pretty busy in July. Our pastor took a group from the church to Germany to tour for the Reformation celebrations that are going on this year, so Nick was in charge for a few weeks while he was out of town. In this time, Nick had to preach (4 services a weekend) and lead Bible study both weekends, as well as lead a funeral service, and lead the basketball camp he had been planning for months. It kept him quite busy, and he was glad to have pastor come back from their trip.

If the first few weeks of July dragged, the last week flew! This is because we got our long-awaited trip to Washington DC! After making sure our house was ready for people to come in and redo the floors and paint the walls while we were gone, we started driving on a Thursday morning. It was about 16 hours total to the Eastern shore of Maryland, where my great-aunt lives, so we split the drive up into two days in order to be able to relax and enjoy the drive. After a night in Pittsburgh area, we made our way to Maryland and arrived in time for dinner. There, we had fun catching up with my Aunt Jill and my sister, Karina, and her husband, Hunter, who drove up from South Carolina that day to join us in our trip.

The next morning, the four of us piled in Karina and Hunter’s car and took off. First, we stopped off at the beach. Assateague Island State Park is only a few minutes from my Aunt Jill’s house, and it is famed for having wild ponies that live there. We were able to get there nice and early, before the heat and the crowds. We spent a few hours enjoying the ocean – it was the first time I’ve been to the beach in a couple years – and trying to keep the wild ponies away from our things! (When they say don’t bring food on the beach, they mean it. Those ponies will get into your bags and eat everything.) After that, it was off to Baltimore. We went to Fort McHenry, the location of the battle that inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner.” We also had a fun adventure involving looking for a gas station in a not-so-nice part of town…but we managed to find a gas station and were on our way to Washington DC without a problem. We were lucky to find a nice Airbnb (first time I’ve ever used it!) in Washington DC, a two-bedroom apartment for cheaper than many hotels would be. It was nice to be able to relax and cook for ourselves when we wanted. (Also, good news – Aldi can be found in Washington DC area!).

Sunday morning we were up early to start our first full day in DC. We started with attending the 7:30 a.m. service at the Basilica of the National Shrine – the largest Catholic church in America. It was a beautiful church to see and experience. After church, we headed to the National Mall, where we would be spending much of our time over the next few days. It was my first time ever being there, and it was so incredibly surreal. You see so many pictures, and it is used as the setting for so many movies and TV shows, so being there felt like this strange experience that felt familiar but I felt so awe-struck at the same time. It was a very hot and humid day, so by the time we had walked the 2 miles from our parking spot near the Lincoln Memorial to the National Archives, which was our first stop, we were all dripping with sweat and extremely tired. Thankfully, the museums are kept nice and cool, and we had reservations for the National Archives, so we didn’t have to wait in an extremely long line out in the sun! We really enjoyed the Archives, especially with our slight obsession with National Treasure – we got to see the big name documents – the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. We also really enjoyed just seeing the other exhibits of types of things that they store at the Archives, like videos, patents, military records, and more. After that, we headed off to the Air and Space Museum as well as the Museum of American History. By the end of that museum, we were all ready to call it quits. It was a long and hot day with a lot of walking. We made the long walk back to the car, and we really enjoyed being able to go back to the apartment and relax. A fun part of that night was that we decided to make reservations to go out to a fancy dinner. We found a restaurant called The Hamilton (okay, so that’s another slight obsession) that was a good balance because it was a nice restaurant but also one that didn’t require our life savings to eat there. The food was delicious and it was a really fun experience.

Monday, we set off for some more museums. This time, we took the Metro, about a 10 minute walk to the station from our apartment, but it dropped us off closer to the museums than we could have parked. It was an interesting experience to take the Metro during commuting time. We started off the day with a tour of the Capitol building! By requesting a tour through their congressman, Karina and Hunter managed to get us a tour from one of his interns, which was really a neat experience. We got to use the underground tunnel that connects all those government buildings (now we understand how they wear suits in that heat!) and see most of the Capitol building. It was fun to hear all the random fun facts, like the cats who lived there and left paw prints behind, seeing the mark on a statue from a bullet from a time a gunman got in, and seeing the place where the congressmen would rub their feet so much that it left a divot behind in the floor. We enjoyed having a tour that allowed us to listen, after all the reading the day before. Unfortunately, nothing was really going on in the House of Representative or Senate chambers that day, so we didn’t get to see anything too exciting there. We also got to go to the Library of Congress that day and see the Gutenberg Bible, as well as the Supreme Court building, which was not on our agenda but we really enjoyed seeing (although if you do plan to go there, bring sunglasses. Those steps are blinding on a sunny day). At that point, our feet were just about done in, so we took a quick break before seeing the Botanical Gardens and walking over to Lafayette Park to see the White House (just from the outside, unfortunately – our request to get a tour was denied because of high volume). By the time we got home that evening, I had learned my lesson – good walking shoes must be worn! My feet were hurting so incredibly much that I tried to stay off them that evening.

Thankfully, the next day, our feet got a break, as we used the bike rental service to ride around to see all the monuments and memorials in the National Mall. By this time, we had seen many of them as we made our way around, but we got to take the time to stop and see them up close. Thankfully, it was also a beautiful day, much cooler than the previous days had been, so spending most of the day outside was actually enjoyable. We went to the Museum of Natural History that day, and then we took a sight-seeing ferry down the Potomac from Georgetown to Alexandria. That was such a fun experience because 1) we could sit, and 2) Alexandria was a little unexpected treasure! We enjoyed our time there much more than expected, and then easily took the Metro back to our apartment.

Wednesday was our last day in the DC area before hitting the road for Pennsylvania. Our morning was spent at Mount Vernon – possibly one of my favorite places of our trip. Mount Vernon is beautifully maintained, with many different tour possibilities. My sister and I, with our affection for the National Treasure movies, knew we had to book the National Treasure tour, and I am so glad we did. Being a specialty tour, it was about 90 minutes long with a small group and our own tour guide, who was so entertaining. He was able to give us insight into the house and estate, the movie and filming, and show us where they had filmed. I am so glad we took that extra tour, because the standard mansion tour, although interesting, was short and very crowded. On our way north from there, we stopped at Arlington National Cemetery, and then we were on our way to Philadelphia!

Philadelphia was a huge adventure for all of us. It was about dinnertime as we arrived, so our goal was to find an authentic Philly cheesesteak sandwich (what else?). However, as we drove around the streets of Philadelphia, there was absolutely no parking. At all. We were driving through streets lined with cars bumper to bumper. It was pretty claustrophobic, actually. So we opted to go to our hotel instead and then take an Uber to dinner. It was our first time ever taking an Uber, so that was a fun learning experience. We found a delicious restaurant for Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, and even better, right next door, there was a speakeasy, styled after the Prohibition era, complete with a hidden entrance, a bouncer at the door, and craft cocktails. It was such a fun experience! The next day, we saw all the historic sights of Philadelphia (and were so thankful that they were all extremely close together!). We started with Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, then walked around to find locations like Christ Church and its cemetery, the sites of Alexander Hamilton’s home and Treasury Secretary office, and the US Mint in Philadelphia. For lunch, we went to Reading Terminal Market, a huge indoor market full of vendors and restaurants. It was so amazing, we each got lunch and dessert too!

After that, it was off to Amish Country. We spent a relaxing evening at the hotel, and the next day, we went out and did some sight-seeing. The highlight was going on an Amish farm tour, which was so much fun. We rode in a horse-drawn wagon and got a full tour of the area and the farm by the man who used the own the farm, but has now passed it down to his son. While there, we bought cookies and homemade lemonade and root beer from some of our tour guide’s granddaughters who live there on the farm. It was fun to learn about their farming processes (they are dairy farmers) and their lives in general. The thing that struck me most was how our tour guide knew just about everything about his neighbors – where church had been held, how many kids they all have, when they planted certain crops and when they would harvest. It was amazing to see this lifestyle.

Wrapping up our trip, we returned to the Eastern shore of Maryland, and stayed one more night with my Aunt Jill. The next morning, Nick and I were up at 5:00 for our long drive back home. We needed to be back for church the next morning, so we hit the road and just kept driving. Thank goodness for audio books, that helped make the drive seem not so long! We arrived back home around 10:00 that night and were very thankful to be home, even though everything was a little messy and disorganized from the work that had been done on the house when we were gone.

The next morning at church, we were surprised with a wonderful send-off reception from the congregation. Everyone brought delicious breakfast foods and celebrated with us, thanking us for the time we have spent here. They also gave us an extremely generous gift, and we are so thankful and in awe of the love that this congregation has shown us. Today is our last Sunday at Immanuel (yes, I have written this post over two days), and it’s hard to believe that the time has gone so quickly. I think that although I am ready to move and have gone through all the steps necessary to do so, I haven’t quite fully processed the fact that I won’t be attending church here anymore, or living in Washington, both of which I have enjoyed so much this year. We will definitely miss this wonderful city and the community at Immanuel so much, and we are thankful that we will only be an hour away in St. Louis so we can still see friends that we have made in our time here.

What’s in the future for us now? (This is the reward for those of you who made it through all the boring vacation news!) We will be moving back to the seminary on Tuesday, living in an apartment on seminary campus. I start a new school year next Wednesday, with some changes to my job this year. I will continue teaching Kindergarten in the mornings, but due to a small class size, my Kindergarteners will join 1^st grade in the afternoon, and then I will be going upstairs to teach the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th grades for the afternoon, teaching science and language arts. It’s been a bit (a lot) hectic trying to wrap my brain around how to teach upper grades after three years in Kindergarten and trying to get two classrooms ready, but I am excited for this opportunity. Nick will begin classes again a few weeks after that, with courses in preaching, systematics, and others to help wrap up his seminary classes. We are looking forward to traveling this year, with plans to go to Chicago in October and to California for Christmastime. We will begin the process for our call placement starting as soon as we get back to seminary, with meetings debriefing vicarage and then beginning meetings about filling out paperwork and the call process, and then interviews starting probably around January. We will find out where we will be called on April 24, Call Day!

We would appreciate prayers for our transition back to seminary. As excited as we are to go back and be with our seminary friends, it is hard to leave a piece of our hearts behind again as we move. Please pray for Immanuel as they transition to a new vicar. We would also appreciate prayers for the start of the new school year, as I navigate a new teaching experience and Nick goes back to classes, that we would both live out our vocations to the best of our abilities and to God’s glory. Please also pray for the call/placement process, that God would give us wisdom as we start to think about the choices we have to make and begin to fill out paperwork, so that we may go where He can best use us.

We are so thankful for all your support and blessings, for the prayers, the friendships, and the financial support we have been given.

If you are new to our blog, welcome! We try to update monthly as best as we can, and you can sign up to receive email alerts each time we post.

In the name of Christ our Savior,

Nick and Mikaela Duerr

June

Hello friends and family!

I hope you have been enjoying your summer as we have been enjoying ours. June has brought many fun events and some good, relaxing time. It is good to de-stress from the school year and to enjoy not being tired all the time!

Nick in a VBS skit at the opening of the day

I personally spent most of June teaching, although in a different way than I usually do. Our Savior has a summer program this year, and I spent two weeks in June teaching that group of students for an hour a day. It was an interesting experience, since it was mostly made up of two and three year olds, and there’s only so much teaching you can actually do with students that age. But it was fun, and it gave me a reason to spend some extra time in my classroom, getting things ready for the next school year, since August is always pretty crazy, and it will be even more crazy with having to move back to seminary the week before school starts. On top of that, I spent a week teaching at VBS at Immanuel. Nick and I, as vicar and wife, were put in charge of the Storytelling station, where students come to hear the Bible story of the day. Each day, we had about 150 kids come through our station, from age 3 through 4^th grade, with anywhere from 15-40 students in each group. Nick and I divided the duties, with me covering the younger groups and Nick leading the older groups, with the other assisting with props and costumes when not leading. It was fun to work together as a team, but we also saw that that particular job at VBS was not the one that either of us would choose, if we were given a choice. But like we’ve been told, every vicarage experience is a learning experience!

At the movie theater for Nick's birthday

The fun part was that Nick’s birthday fell on the Friday of VBS. He had also been recruited to act in the skits shown in opening and closing each day, and so he spent each day in a king costume. That Friday, all the students at VBS sang happy birthday to the “king.” Later that day, we celebrated Nick’s birthday by driving into St. Louis to see Wonder Woman at a movie theater that has comfy, reclining seats, and then went to Red Robin for dinner.

Nick has been busy with work as well this past month, as he has been preaching very regularly with pastor out of town for various events and vacation days. He has also been solely leading the summer Bible study on the history of the church, and impressing many church members with his knowledge in the process. He was, of course, involved in VBS, and is also working toward the summer basketball camp that he is leading as well.

To continue our running hobby, we signed up for a church-hosted 5K race this June. It was a fun run called the Chicken Run, held on the weekend of a local church’s big festival and chicken dinner. Nick was in much better shape than I, having just run a half marathon a few weeks before, but we ran it together and both placed in our age categories (although in a small race like that, an award is pretty much default).

Heartland of America park

After the three weeks of early mornings and teaching between summer camp and VBS, I was very happy to have a genuine summer, with days entirely free from obligations. We started that time off with a mini vacation. This was mostly in order to help us meet our goal of visiting each of Missouri’s 8 border states before we move away next summer. We visited Arkansas in February, and planned a short trip to Nebraska and Iowa last week. On Sunday, after church, we drove to Omaha (which is, thankfully, on the eastern side of the state). Omaha offers a brewery tour, so Nick ordered a booklet ahead of time, and it led us to several breweries, all different locations and styles. It was really fun to explore the different breweries over Sunday and Monday. On Monday morning, we went to Omaha’s Heartland of America park, which is a beautiful park right next to the Missouri River. As we walked over toward the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge (a bridge crossing the Missouri River that also crosses the border of Nebraska and Iowa), we saw that Omaha has a bike rental program. It’s a fun little program, where you pay a small amount at any one of the bike stations, and there are lots of stations all over the city, so you can ride the bikes to get around and return them at a station, then pick up new bikes to get to the next place. We really enjoyed it, as it made it easier to get around the downtown area without having to walk everywhere or look for parking. The bikes helped us to get around, across the bridge, and to and from several different breweries.

Riding bikes around Omaha

After enjoying Omaha (and wishing we had planned more time there), we drove to Des Moines to stay there for the night. The next morning, we stopped at the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park. Unfortunately, neither of us really understand abstract art, but we had fun seeing the large sculptures and taking pictures. Along our way home, we stopped at several other places in Iowa, both at the Amana Colonies, a little town with handcrafted shops and such, and at Riverside, Iowa, which is a little town that boasts itself as the “Future birthplace of Captain Kirk.” There is a little museum with a bunch of Star Trek memorabilia and a monument, hidden behind a beauty parlor. It was fun to drive through rural Iowa – we were also lucky that it happened to be a few days of absolutely gorgeous weather. We enjoyed our little vacation together before returning to start preparing for our move.

Inside one of the sculptures at the sculpture park

We were very excited to welcome some of our seminary friends back from vicarage this weekend! We spent Friday and Saturday helping some friends move back to St. Louis, especially fun because they have two little boys who have grown up so much over the last year! We are so excited to have them back and we are looking forward to moving back into the city to be closer to all our friends for the year.

July is, thankfully, less scheduled than June (at least for me), but no less busy. We have begun preparing to move back to seminary in August, and I still have lots of work to prepare for the upcoming school year. Nick will be very busy the next few weeks, as pastor is out of town and so Nick is taking all the usual church responsibilities as well as planning a basketball camp for next week. We are especially looking forward to our upcoming trip to Washington DC and Philadelphia with my sister and her husband! And after that, time is going to fly as I start up a new school year, we move back to the seminary, and Nick begins his last academic year. Thank you again for all your prayers and support, we appreciate it more than you can imagine!

In the name of Christ our Savior,

Nick and Mikaela Duerr