Life with the Wisconsin Quickerts

Hello from snowy Wisconsin! I woke my sister Amy up this morning promtly at 6am with the exciting news that school was closed, so she could go back to bed. (when you don't have a job, you find pleasure in little things!) We officially received 8-9 inches, and expect more come this weekend. Dad spent about an hour or two shoveling, after our neighbor had kindly snowblowed our driveway earlier in the morning. The day was spent reading books, exercising, sewing, and generally just enjoying a day of not being able to go anywhere for awhile. Since I haven't written in a bit, I thought I'd do some catchup. Like I said, I am now in Wisconsin (yay for cows!!!) and will be in the Madison area for awhile. About two weeks ago my sister had some friends over for a small birthday party (since I moved home the weekend she should have had a party). Here are some pictures from our attempt at making homemade mousse (which turned out pretty good!).

Distractions, Distractions

This week has been insanely busy. I've had a couple of really serious talks with my boyfriend, Nate, realized some new things about my character and communication habits that need to change, wrote a $1500 wedding invite order at work, dealt with a rude and frustrating customer at work, managed a few product moves within my store, started planning for moving myself next month, and generally hung on with my fingernails.

Step back with me one month. I hear from God, three distinct times, that He wants this next year to be a year of rest for me, to rest and heal from the last few difficult years of my life. Does any of the above sound like rest? It certainly didn't to me. I was getting more and more irritated with God, and last night He spoke to my situation.

I was having dinner with some good friends from church, a married couple who are parents, last night. They had me and another friend over and as we ate, their little girl was making cute faces and generally being distracted by us, the guests, as we tried, unsuccessfully, not to laugh at her cuteness. However, the little girl was also disobeying her mother. "I'm sorry", I said, "I must be such a distraction for her." As the mother took the girl away to discipline her in another room for her disobedience, the father looked at me and said, "No. This is good training for her. She needs to realize that even when she has distractions, she needs to obey her mom and dad." It was as if God amplified the voice of that father to me.

Fast forward to church that night. Mark Darling's message was about keeping our eyes on the Lord, even when there are distractions that fight to win our attention. Things like the world hating us for loving God, satan hitting us when we're down, and fighting with doubts about God's character. I realized that I had been letting the worries of this world get me down, and not only that, I was putting off spending time with the Lord. And on top of everything, I've been sick for two weeks, was getting over it, and got sick again. And I ended up having to cancel all my activities for today because of it. "How will you ever rest in me, especially during trials and amidst distractions, if you don't rest in me every day child?"

Thank you Lord, for awakening me to truth.

Cars and God

"Cars are a liability, never an investment" is what I've heard before. After last night, I quite agree. Although God seems to fully enjoy using them as an investment in His kingdom and purposes. Let me explain.

I work at a ritzy mall - ahem - place with "shops of distinction" - and get to park in a small ramp almost butt-up to it. I never have far to walk, and since the town is quite an affluent town, I have never felt that my person was ever in danger.

Yesterday we received a notice that a woman had been mobbed in the first floor of the ramp just the other night, and if we needed, could be escorted out to our cars by one of the security guards. I decided to take my chances. Tae Bo should count for something, right? So I'm talking with Nate and pretending I'm in Mission Impossible all the way to my car, chuckling to myself. I click my key to the right to unlock the door and click it to the-

Hunh. It won't click back to the left. Now I'm not chuckling anymore. My key won't come out of the lock. It's stuck.

And all those dreams of Tae-Boing any criminals who dare mess with Miranda Beth Quickert vanish awfully quick, with a slight panic rising in me. It's cold. Very, very cold. And I'm alone in a ramp.

Enter God, come to the rescue. A girl next to me who is just about to get in her car comes over. We try lighting a lighter to melt any ice. We try jiggling. Nothing works. She kindly goes to get one of the security guards, who can't help either, but waits with me while I try very hard not to cry, and call Karl to come get me. He lets me sit in his nice, warm security car while I wait for Karl and we make some small talk. After some silence, I go to pull out a book I've been reading, when I notice my Bible and feel a tug at my heart. Any panic and doubt I may have can be answered right there. I pull it out and begin reading some trust passages and feel myself trusting God again.

"Watcha readin'?"

That's the beginning of a conversation between me and a young security guard about why I read the Bible, why I don't consider myself "religious", why I can trust God in this situation, and why I'm up here in the cities (to be close to The Rock). Karl finally pulls up, and *sigh* the WD40 does not work, so the end of my key is hacksawed off so it's not incredibly obvious that my car is opened to anyone who wants to enter. And I drive away and thank God it's only 11:30 at night, I had a warm car to wait in, and God used my life as a candle to shine in someone's dark, Godless life.

And today? I thanked God my car was still sitting in the parking lot, tape deck intact.

Insurance Woes and Wows

If you read my last post, you'll understand that anyone who goes through a rough spot in their life will more than likely also need to become intimately knowledgeable about their insurance. Insurance can be such a lovely thing, and yet such a grand burden at times. I've certainly had my share of "sorry, we aren't going to cover that" or, one of my recent favorites, "it was filed under the wrong code, so for months they've rejected coverage." Yucky-poo. But God blesses through even yucky things. For instance, I've been able to get professional care for my OCD for a year and a few months now, because of insurance. And I can get my dental implants specially cleaned so I don't have holes in my mouth, because of insurance. And I can keep a veritable "pharmacy" in my own home (as a friend likes to call my collection of medications), because of insurance.

Well, God did it again. He decided to bless me. After years of fighting with insurance stuff, I was certain I would have to fight yet again. I just went on my own insurance again, and was wary as to whether my current plethora of doctors I go see would be covered. Lo and behold, all of them are!! And I've been having nasty abdominal stuff for years, and was told I could come in to see a doctor TODAY. Hunh. When does that ever happen? God's pretty great. Even when things don't go my way, He's pretty great. I'm just rejoicing that today, things did go my way.

Love is the Most Excellent Way

Winter has been very melancholy for me this year. I've spent a lot of time thinking about all that has happened in only one year of my life. Exactly one year ago I was attending a program designed to help those with moderate to severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder gain freedom from its grips and live a life of having healthy tools to manage anxiety. I lived alone in Lake Geneva, WI, with no close support system except for this program. I was depressed, and in a depressing situation. God certainly meant for me to be a part of the program, or I wouldn't be where I was today. Sometimes valleys are necessary. My therapist reminded me one day when I felt so lonely that God takes us through seasons, but seasons change. They don't stay the way they are forever.

By God's grace I finished the program and made the decision to move closer to family, here in the Twin Cities. The season was over, and I could begin moving into a relationship with God and people again. He has been so faithful - I can't begin to describe all that's happened. One of the biggest things He's done is provide a wonderful biological family and a great church family to love me. I am reminded of what God said to Adam in the garden - "it's not good for man to be alone." And also "do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing." Love spills over. "My cup overflows." I can freely love other people myself again, because God's love through the church has filled me to overflowing. Praise God for His church!!

Dinner Conversation

Dad: Mindy should do her doctoral thesis on the tonal scales of igneous rocks.

Jacob: Ya, then we could talk about how she once conducted an avalanche in B flat.

Mindy: Of course, but would that be B flat major, or B flat minor?

Jacob: Oh, after an avalanche, you'd be majorly flat!

Papyrus fun

So I started a new job this past week. I used to be a, as Karl and Maren would affectionately say, "coffee snob" for Caribou Coffee (and will continue to be one after a wonderful experience!), but now have a job as a "greeting card snob" at Papyrus. Well, actually, I'm a full-time key holder, and considered part of the management team (yikes!! I'm all growed up!). I work with some super-fun women and apparently a great guy who's the district manager.

While working at Papyrus, I've learned a few things about the company and the clientele we work with. They've come up with three names of women we generally service. (following is a paraphrase of what I learned)

Naomi: The young single. She's a bit unsure of herself yet, but loves to be en vogue and have the latest styles, and will spend some extra to look good.

Karen: The good friend. She loves to keep in touch with friends and go the extra mile for them. She likes finding little gifts and cards to let them know she cares.

Rachel: The successful businesswoman. She's a gifted organizer and prioritizer, and juggles many things in her life. She likes to regularly let her "world" know how life is with yearly updates and such.

Now, mind you, Papyrus was started on the West coast and is also very popular on the East coast, places where people can and will spend lots of money without blinking an eye. The girls came up with a woman-type suitable for Minnesota:

Olga: The Super Saver. Despite shopping in a place where Tiffany and J Jill resides, she still balks at the prices in stores. She's always out for the best deal, and wants everything done yesterday.

Suffice it to say, we get a ton of Olga's in our store.