a Holy communing

Mug 'n Muffin arrived at LCC this weekend. Just in time for the ladies here on campus, or so it seemed. It was an idea that came to mind sometime for me last fall, briefly shared with some fellow gals on our Student Life team and then brought back up in our conversations at the start of the new semester in January. Mug 'n Muffin refers to an event just for ladies that started back when I was an RA at Northwestern College. It occurred on a couple of Saturday mornings during the semester and almost guaranteed feminine bonding, all scripted to happen as sleepy female students wearing slippers listened to wise older women share their life stories openly and honestly while sipping homemade mochas from their mugs topped with extra whipped cream. It was an intentional way for women to pass down wisdom to those of us in the next season of life. As a student, I absolutely loved it. My adoration of stories has only continued to grow since then.

I observed early on in my arrival to LCC International University that there is a large female presence on campus...and later found that over 60% of the student body are women. Thus, the ladies have a strong voice in the classroom and are generally the leaders in extra-curricular activities on campus. I started to think, What better way to treat the hard-working ladies of LCC than to their very own Mug 'n Muffin? So, there you have it. I gathered 4 other staff that are about my age, organized a few meetings, shared my vision of what I thought a Mug 'n Muffin could look here, and poof! our very first Mug 'n Muffin appeared this last weekend.

390 handmade invites were sent out to every female student beforehand and about 35 RSVPs were returned. I was impressed by the turn-out as it was a non-traditional way to advertise for events around here. The typical approach is to send out as many emails and hang up as many posters as possible in order to lure in all sorts of unsuspecting attenders. My desire was to create a meaningful time for the women on campus that were wanting to be present. The only problem was that students didn't have any idea how to know whether or not they wanted to be at this women's gathering that invited them to wear their slippers, bring their own mugs and show up with a smile at the early hour of 11 o'clock on a Saturday morning. All questions were supposed to be directed to bjohnson@lcc.lt. No questions appeared.

We were overwhelmed by the crowd that filled the 6th floor hall kitchen on Saturday. The only delay we were experiencing in our preparations was that the homemade chai tea recipe was taking longer than anticipated. Otherwise, the couches were arranged, the coffee was steeped, and the muffin platters were stacked. We watched as ladies continued to file in through the door, taking time to put on a name tag and fill their mugs with their own delicious hot beverage creations - complete with whipped cream & cinnamon-sugar sprinkles. There were almost 65 women in total once we had a chance to count them all. I was even more impressed by the eager spirit I was sensing from this room full of ladies that I hadn't felt at LCC before now. I started out by sharing my hopes for this time together as women and then introduced the 4 women from our community that had been invited to share that morning. Our topic to guide the sharing for our time together was on the different roles that women are able to play in the professional world & at home within the family, as well as all of the combinations of ways you can combine the two. We had women representing all seasons of life share pieces of their life story, including the joys and struggles and decisions along the way.

It was beautiful. The girls seemed to hang onto every word that was spoken. The openness and vulnerability was refreshing. There was lots of laughter and there were sometimes tears. The time for questions that followed lasted more than an hour. All of the questions we had prepared in case no one was asking questions were tossed aside... it seemed as if everyone in the room couldn't get enough of the realness being offered to them so graciously. I was in awe of the respect that filled the room. It truly felt like a Holy moment in which God was smiling upon us. This group of women were giving and receiving wisdom so naturally with one another, in spite of the fact that we were all coming from different backgrounds and beliefs. I am honored to be in a place where provision met a need so effortlessly. It's one of the more encouraging stories to share about being here and why I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. Thanks for celebrating with me.

Oh no...almost forgot about the birthday boy

I know I am a bit behind in recording the events of Erik's first birthday celebrated in Lithuania, but I am committed to sharing a few pictures from a really fun day of seeking to give thanks for Erik's presence in all of our lives. I think he truly enjoyed his day back on January 24th. Another reason to give thanks on that particular day was for our newest member of the family, Jaxton, who entered the world back home in Duluth, MN, the firstborn son to my cousin Heather & her husband, Jeff. We waited in anticipation as the delivery updates showed up in our inbox. Now I'll have to anticipate even longer as I wait to hold the little guy when we are home in a few months. Man, it is hard to be far away when so many family members and friends are growing large with pregnancy and giving birth without me there to share in the experience. I have to smile as I think about what my mom would say in response to my feelings. "Becky, you aren't the center of the universe. Life does happen whether you are there or not." Tis true. Still, I do miss being able to participate in the ways that I normally would.

January 24 fell on a Sunday this year. We woke up late and had the most delicious pancakes...a batch of chocolate chip pancakes delivered straight to our kitchen in a package sent by cousin Heather (the new mother!). We have not been successful in making fluffy pancakes since we arrived, so we fully appreciated the American baking staples of flour and chocolate chips. Next came the birthday gift. I gave Erik his first, authentic, sauna hat. Everyone here in Lithuania has a sauna hat. It is believed (and is most likely true) that a sauna hat prevents your head and hair from drying out during long sauna sessions. This sauna hat is the only one of its kind. Our good friend, Vaida, a local of Klaipeda, has a side business of selling her handmade felted sauna hats. She and I worked together to come up with the design for Erik's hat and then she introduced me to the steps involved in felting as I watched and participated in the creation of Erik's gift. It was incredible to watch her work. As you can see, a masterpiece was produced! She even embroidered his nickname, Ej, on the backside of the hat in Lithuanian letters. Pretty sweet.

Of course, the logical next phase of the birthday is to go try out the birthday gift. We wrangled up a crew of Erik's friends who were willing to brave the local public sauna I had heard about being located near the Sea, and we crossed over to the beaches on The Spit via a 15-minute ferry ride. The picture included below is not actually the boat that we were on, but one of the ships in the harbor we could see from the ferry. The high temperature that day was approximately -17 degrees Celcius, which is right around 0 degrees Fahrenheit for those of us still getting used to the Celsius scale.

We trekked the 1 km across to the white sandy beaches and discovered the public sauna. Sunday afternoons must be a favorite time for the locals to enjoy this national pastime as the sauna was pretty full. No one seemed to mind allowing our group of 10 additional people, who were obvious outsiders, to join in to the fun. This next picture is of Erik and I standing by the Sea before we all changed into our swimming suits in the busy waiting room, crowded into the hottest sauna I have ever been in, and then followed one another out into the cool, wintry air to dive under the icy waters of the Baltic Sea, shrieking loudly the entire way. (Okay, maybe the only one doing the loud shrieking was me.) We did it over and over again. Well, at least 3 times. What a rush. It was officially decided that this is one place in Lithuania we are definitely going to have to include in the tour we give to our visitors. So, hurry on over before the weather gets nicer. The cold, snowy days have been lingering around here since Christmas, while everyone around us here says this is very unusual weather for coastal Lithuania. I am convinced that we are the reason the deep drifts of snow are stickin' around so long; I always appreciate a winter with lots of snow.

So, Erik's new sauna hat passed the test with flying colors. We wrapped up his day with an evening church service (where Erik played guitar and sang one of his own songs) and a sloppy joe dinner with everyone afterwards. The last event for Erik was the Vikings game, starting at 1:30 in the morning here in Lithuania. Although we may have celebrated in true Lithuanian fashion earlier in the day at the sauna, he made sure to end it in true American fashion with a late night football game and die-hard fans. Thanks for waiting around to hear the report on Erik Kristofer.