Standing on Their Rock

They traveled thousands of miles with every imaginable provision
 into uncharted territory. 

 They faced unknown enemies, unpredictable weather and unexpected delays.  
They spent more time in North Dakota than any other state 
while on this great mission

 and the people native to that great state took them in for a season. 
  

 100 years later we marvel at their journey and celebrate their accomplishment.  

They stood on a rock

Lewis & Clark Expedition (1804-1806)

 and the only physical evidence that they had been there
 (or anywhere else on their journey)
 is carved on that rock in Montana. 

along the Yellowstone River

Pompey's Pillar

Their preparation and travels were not without challenges, 

but their mission was completed successfully.

Like my West Texas girlfriends who travelled 1200 miles
 to North Dakota 
into uncharted territory for them,

 they came as aliens and foreigners 
and were welcomed with open arms. 

 They are wives, mommies, grandma's,
 warrior women and overcomers.

They have been invited back and they are the talk of the town.

No one this side of eternity will ever know the mark 

they left on the lives of people they met

 in airports, and airplanes, 

and shops in my little ND town, 

and on my North Dakota girlfriends.

He is my ROCK
and my salvation,
my stronghold,
I shall not be greatly shaken.
(Psalm 62:2)

They stood on THE ROCK

They remembered that God was their ROCK,
and the Most High God

their Redeemer.

(Psalm 78:35)

The only physical evidence of them ever being here,
is the joy written on the faces of the 
new girlfriends they met here.

~~~

Remembering
Godly Girlfriends Retreat 
May 9-10, 2014
Upper Missouri Ministries Campground
Epping, ND

Spring?

"What season are we in?", 

 Pastor Rich ask the kids during the childrens' sermon.  

Their answer?

"WINTER!"

Never mind that

the first day of spring had passed a month ago,

Debbie opens the green house on Thursday, 

and that half the women in church were wearing sandals.

The children said,

 "Winter".

We are like the house plants,

Reaching to the sky

For sunshine

and warmth.

Mrs. Robin is ready to  

to build a home for her new family.

The lawn chairs

are ready for cushions.

The porch is ready for some rockin' conversation.

and we, my friend,

are ready for Spring in North Dakota.

"He giveth snow like wool,

and hoar frost like ashes"

(Psalm 147:16 KJV)

But by tomorrow the snow will have melted,

and the fresh moisture in the ground will soon push up the irises, 

and the lilies, and the tulips, and the herb garden.

And He will surely give us 

BEAUTY

FOR 

these snowy

ASHES.

(Isaiah 61:3)

Change

He sent me a text picture of his treasured yard sale finds.

One was a sturdy oak chair with layers and layers

of enamel paint -

complete with runs, drips, and dirt.

We stuffed the original straw back into the black leather seat

and attached new boards on the bottom.

 I got out my trusty sander and went to work.

Then I painted it a lovely shade of 

TURQUOISE

and he said,

"I loved my little white and red chair 

just the way it was."

With shabby-chic visions dancing in my head,

I mixed my own BLACK chalk paint, which was a little thick,

 and covered the TURQUOISE with black.

He sent me a text picture, again,

of the little white and red chair that he loved so much,

even though we were both in the basement.

Then I gently shabbied the black with sand paper,

but the sanding went mostly right through the black,

past the turquoise

and back down to the white.

It was ugg-LEE.

And he says, from over in the corner,

"I just loved my little white and red chair."

So I grabbed my sander again,

smoothed out the wrinkles

and painted the chair 

TURQUOISE again.

And he said from the opposite corner.....

well, you know what he said.

So the next day when he came home,

this is what he found

in the corner of our bedroom

 by the lovely TURQUOISE re-purposed door.

The next text I get...this morning...

with the original picture attached, says:

"Sometimes we go through lot of changes,

but we are what we are."

Yes.  

I know, I may never be one of those DIY bloggers

with beautiful step by step pictures of Pinterest-worthy projects,

but I've got one happy man!

You Might Be From North Dakota!

You might be from North Dakota

• If you can't start a conversation without mentioning the weather . . .
• If you say Uff-da and Fi-da (see the note below) . . .
• If you understand ALL the uses of the word "Uff-Da" . . .  
• If your epitaph will include the words "yep" and "nope" . . .
• If your pa repeated first grade because he only spoke Norwegian . . .
• If you can't make it through a phone conversation without mentioning the weather . . . 
• If you never confuse "Yah," "Yep," and "Yah y'betch yah" . . .
• If you think everyone from a different state has an accent . . .
• If your answer to "How are you?", "How's the weather?", or "How's the crop?" is the same--"Not too bad." ...

(Field of Canola)

• If you can identify a Minnesota accent . . .
• If you drink pop . . .
• If you hear "Yah, sure" not "Yes, sir" . . .
• If your conversation response includes, "Oh, sure, sure.....sure"...
• If you say, "Outside, zero is below" . . .
• If you go to Texas for a visit and everyone says that you have an accent . . .
• If you go to the post office to mail a paggitch . . \
• If you pronounce it Nor'Dakoda . . .

(Missouri River)

• If you consider Spanish a foreign language . . .
• If after you have discussed the weather, conversation declines . . .
• If you end all of your sentences with either "ya know", "you betcha", or "okiedokie" . . .
• If you hear "You betcha" and "Okey Dokey" in the same sentence . . .
• If your e-mail address is uffda . . .
• If your name is Olson . . . . .
• If you say "uff-da" as an exclamation . . .
• If you have ever said, "Cold weather keeps out the riff-raff" . . .

(Hoar frost on trees in my neighborhood)

• If the comment after "Where are you from?" is always "I have a cousin in Texas."
• If you call the grass between the sidewalk and the curb a boulevard . . .
• If you don't believe you sound like the actors in the movie Fargo . . .
• If you cannot greet anyone without first mentioning the weather . . .
• If you pronounce Greg and Craig the same, and people can tell the difference . . .
• If your directions include, "Turn at the Olson's" ...
• If you stop for anyone crossing the street...
• If you have ever brought a "hot dish" to a church supper...
• If you have rhubarb in your back yard...

(That's rhubarb from my yard. Yep!  You Betcha')

                       . . . then you might be from Nor'Dakoda.


( and just so you'll know, Glenda says, Uff-da (Ooff-dah) is what you say when you drop your gum in the chicken yard.  Fi-da (Fee-dah) is what you say when you think you find it and put it back in your mouth!)

 (The Badlands of North Dakota)

Little Churches on the Prairie

When you come,

you will notice the beautiful white clapboard

church buildings with 

their tall steeples reaching for heaven.

North Dakota

has more churches per capita

than any other state in the United States.

These historic church buildings

grace the prairies, the hillsides, and the towns.

A few are abandoned 

but still cherished.

Norwegian homesteaders 

moved to North Dakota 

from the late 1800's through 1915.

I wonder - 

Did they bring the blueprints with them

 on the boat?

Who built them?

Skilled craftsmen or

was it a community effort?

Not only were they places to worship,

but they probably also served

as community gathering places.

The faithful here in North Dakota

are fiercely loyal to these buildings

I'm sure they have nostalgic memories

of parents, grandparents aunts, uncles and cousins

meeting together,

and of weddings and funerals, and preachers,

and choirs, and baptisms.

Some of the pews are packed every Sunday.

and some have only a few members left.

But they are all beautiful and must 

have been photographed hundreds of times

by travelers like me.

So when you come,

bring your sense of awe

and your camera!