Christmas Kisses

Last year, Emily's mom sent us a "Kissing Ball" a big ball of pine and fir and mistletoe that we hung from the door of the library. It was tricky to water, but beautiful and the scent was lovely. You just needed to make sure that you never went into or out of the library at the same time as someone who wanted to kiss you, but you didn't want to kiss ;o) (not really a big problem most days)

I have one very favorite Christmas CD, I've been playing it since election day, (no joke). Sarah McLachlan's "Wintersong" is just the most beautiful, haunting, lovely collection of Christmas music I have ever heard. I found a video on youtube that someone put together with the song "In the bleak midwinter". Listen to the lyrics. . .

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,
worshiped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
yet what can I give him: give my heart.





I love the idea of worshiping the God who created the entire universe by kissing a tiny baby. In the book, The Shack, when the trinity sits down to "do devotions" they kiss each other's hands and say, "I am devoted to you." So lovely.

I just adore this song, the shepherds worship by bringing lambs, the wisemen do their part, Mary kisses the baby and we bring our heart. Such a beautiful picture of everyone having a part in the kingdom.

There's another Christmas kiss that I have been thinking about a lot lately too.

Psalm 85 says:

10 Unfailing love and truth have met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed! (New Living Translation)

Now English is a pretty unique language in that we have 2 words, "righteousness" and "justice" in most languages, including Hebrew, there is just one word, justice. So in most languages, and in the Catholic English translation, the second part of this verse reads.

Justice and peace have kissed.

So this Christmas week, let's worship the beloved child with a kiss. Let's be people who do justice, let's be peacemakers. Let's look out for the least, let's stop injustice, let's work for an end to racism, let's pray that Shalom fills the earth this Christmas. Let's let justice and peace kiss all day long in our lives.

Christmas Kisses from the Stevens House.

Love,
Wanda, Bethany, Valerie, Katie and Noel

It's beginning to look a lot like. . .

It's beginning to look a lot like DRAMA

photos from indiepress.

The Stevens house yet again is a part of political history.

The Senate Race DRAMA!!!!



Noel got a call from the Franken campaign today. Evidently Hennepin County rejected his absentee ballot assuming that he should have re-registered, even though he's lived at this address and voted here since 2006. How bizarre. So Noel will be signing an affadavit that he lives here and followed the rules.

It's beginning to look a lot like TWENTY SEVEN

Speaking of Noel, it's his birthday today "Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, born is Noel Nix in Michigan"

So here's to 27 years of Mr. Nix. May your 28th year be the best one yet.

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS

We're recovering from the big Christmas Party where our lovely guests brought bags and bags and bags of food for the local foodshelf. We had a great time, cookie decorating, lots of food, great conversation and Wii. Bethany took the bulk of the pictures on her camera.

Celebrate!

Today is a full day of shopping, hair cuts, last minute cooking and cleaning, because . . . . .

YOU'RE INVITED TO THE 4TH ANNUAL STEVENS HOUSE CHRISTMAS PARTY
7:00 tonight
at our house

Katie

More Advent links

Beyond Fear an essay on the Mars Hill advent blog

Sacred Space Advent Retreat

Advent has really captured my imagination this year, the idea of hope, peace, joy and love over coming fear, despair, hate and conflict.

Do not be afraid. . . for you have found favor with God.

advent devotion

If you're still looking for something to help you in your devotion time during Advent, I've got a resource that has blessed me and helped to focus my prayer life over the past year.

Check out Pray as You Go.

The British Jesuits put together these podcasts (or you can download individual MP3s or WMAs). They're about 10-15 minutes long and include some music, time for reflection, scripture reading, reflective questions and time to pour your heart out to God.

May the word become flesh in your life this December.

nativity theology - and economic redistribution

Redistribution is not a prescription for community. Redistribution is a description of what happens when people fall in love with each other across class lines.” - Shane Claiborne, in The Irresistible Revolution

I have four different nativity scene sets that I inherited from my grandparents.

As I set them up this morning I noticed something: all four of my sets had the Holy Family (Joe, Mary and Baby Jesus) which is good, Jesus is central to this CHRISTmas thing. Three of my sets had the wise men. But not a single one of my sets had any shepherds.

What kind of gospel do we have when the rich and educated, those who can bring immense physical wealth to the kingdom of God are those who are represented in the story?

Where are the poor and dirty teenagers and elderly who were watching their sheep by night?

Let's not even get started on the fact that the wise men didn't even make it to see Jesus on the night in the stable.

WHERE ARE MY SHEPHERDS?

Yesterday I went to a one day institute class on Economic Redistribution. (Wait are we marxist now? no just evangelicals, have you read the book of acts?)

It was so energizing and inspiring. There were ideas that were out of my area of expertise, but others that gave me ideas for my own ministry, personal life, and academic life.

One inspiring story was that of Pastor John Liotti, from East Palo Alto who after years of living in the neighborhood recognized that one of the biggest hinderances to Shalom life in his community was the lack of good banks.

There were check cashing businesses and payday lenders. Both of which were charging INSANE amounts of interest and fees, preying on the poor in the community and keeping them stuck in a cycle of poverty that went deeper and deeper with each transaction.

So with the help of some really smart wise men (MBAs and entreprenuers) John's community developed a plan and started a community credit union.

I am not an entrepreneur, I don't know if it would ever be in my skill set to do something like this, but they gave us other ideas too. Like going into community Jr. Highs and High Schools to teach financial literacy and poverty awareness.

Ideas like having a financial accountability question in small group ministries. "What did you spend your money on this week? Did you make any impulse buys that you regret now? How did you use your money for the kingdom?" This is going to take a lot of vulnerability, as I think sexuality and finances are two of the most sensitive topics in American culture right now.

I was blessed.

We also watched this video which might oversimplify things a bit, but it's good to watch and reflect on. Give yourself 20 minutes to watch it.

b's tree

noel's letter to Mr. Obama

Here's Noel's letter to the President Elect:

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2008/11/24/advise-and-dissent-noel-nix.html

bethany's letter to the president elect

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2008/11/24/advise-and-dissent-bethany-gustafson.html

I didn't know that Bethany got published too. Here's her advice!

my letter to the president elect

I was published (well Emily was published writing about me. . . or. . . it's a confusing thing) in the Twin Cities Daily Planet this week. Here's my link:

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2008/11/25/advise-and-dissent-katie-matson.html

I'm sure none of my ideas are original. But these are the things I will be praying for in this presidency.

obamanos . . . gobama

love,
katie

Thanksgiving at the Stevens House

It's 10:00 at the Stevens House, do you know where your grad students are?

We're studying and eating popcorn!!!!!

Katie's church history final (To what does the term “eastern orthodox” refer? What are its unique characterstics? How did the Orthodox church emerge in Russia? What changing roles has it played in the changing political dynamics of Russian society as it has moved from a tsarist society to a communist society and eventually a post-communist society? What role did Alexander Sozhenitsyn and Alexander Menn play in advocating for the orthodox heritage and what was the response?) and Noel's intro to planning question (write a memo to the chair of the met council detailing. . . the non-feduciary arguments for light rail transit) are keeping us up late this week as we both hope to spend some of our Thanksgiving weekend with our family and friends.

Bethany's up with us too, translating the church directory into spanish, (such a tallented woman).

Wanda and Valerie are definitely asleep (responsible women that they are)

Noel's mom comes to town Thursday! (Yay! We love the Honorable Tracy Collier Nix). Bethany's heading to Walker tomorrow afternoon.
Wanda's going to Mankato
Valerie's going up to Blaine to feast with friends
Katie's off to the SLP

Happy Thanksgiving

Three lists of three things we're thankful for at the Stevens House
Friends, Fun and food - noel
popcorn, pietism, and playfullness - katie
community, creativity and coffee - bethany

you'll notice all three lists include food (huh? ha!)

I'm sure Val and Wan would have a list too

If you're wondering what feduciary means, it means "financial."

After Election Day

I have had bronchitis since election day, but I did manage to wait in line for two hours and fifteen minutes that day, I was so grateful that the weather was still nice-ish. Here's the line after about twenty minutes or so.
And here we are an hour and a half later. With so many students and other renters in our neighborhood there were many people doing same day registration.
It was fun to wait in line with some neighbors. I spent most of my time talking to a dreadlocked and pierced lip couple about my age whose son was born on caucus night, "I wanted to be there so bad! But I was having him." The baby did remarkably well for waiting in line for as long as we did, only crying in the last 15 minutes or so (to be honest I was close to crying too baby).

My other election line "friend" was a white man in his fifties who has done a lot of human rights work with East African refugees in the twin cities and abroad and is hoping to find work in East Africa in the coming year. We talked about immigration policy, environmental policy, the clean air/water/arts ammendment. He was nervous that the ammendment wouldn't pass because of all those Christians who walk in step with Jerry Falwell and are afraid of the arts. I told him that I thought that the "moral majority" and "religious right" people were starting to lose their monopoly on evangelicals and that many believers see justice, the environment and even creativity and the arts as issues the church should care deeply about. "That's not true, it hasn't been my experience." When I told him that I was a Bethel seminary student he was shocked! I told him that I was certain that many believers would be voting G.O.P. (God's own party j/k) this year but that many others were voting progressive and weren't limiting themselves to single issue voting. He was surprised and I watched his face change as his paradigm shifted, he thanked me for sharing my experience with him and told me that it changed a lot of things for him.

Last Sunday Bethany invited Xueling (aka Shirley) to dinner. She's an economics student from China, auditing a class at the U. She has been here since September, but Sunday was her first time in an American house (she's living with a Chinese family in married student housing at the U). When she said that she was looking forward to Thanksgiving, but would be eating with other Chinese students I invited her to Matson family Thanksgiving on Thursday, I'm excited to have her over and I know that my mom will have a feast ready for her and the rest of our guests.

Here's the Stevens House Women on Sunday night: (Bethany, Wanda, Xueling, Valerie and me(please excuse the grungy sweatshirt, I was sick))
The final update from the past couple weeks is that we had some visitors on Sunday night. Former neighbors who used to spend more time at our house than I did: M, B and J came by to see us. We hadn't seen M for at least a year, B since this summer and I don't know when I had a conversation with J last. M is a senior in High School now, who's getting training in culinary arts as part of a work readiness program. His mom's name is tatooed on his arm and he's got a mustache. He gave the other boys advice about getting jobs and told Wanda and I that he's got a baby on the way. B is a senior too, who says he'd like to do culinary arts too, but seemed confused about how that would work. J is in the middle of eighth grade and he tried to act tough and hard while he talked with us, but you could still see a little of the 4th grade boy that we knew who liked to come over and play Jenga and drink hot chocolate with us. It was good to see them. I know that the previous Stevens house family (Kendra, Pat, Alison, April etc.) were a big part of shaping these young men, and I love that even though M has moved a couple of times he still feels like the Stevens house is a good place to come and visit when he's around.

That's the update from 2701. We're looking forward to a house Christmas party, watching lots of Gilmore Girls, getting ready for the end of the fall term in our grad programs.

Stevens House News - Top 5

1- We have a new roommate VALERIE yay! She's great. She's a Kenyan grad student who we met through Noel's church - Sanctuary. She's very kind. Go vote tomorrow.

2- We've now been visited for Keith Ellison for congress volunteers 87 times, ok, this may be an exageration, but the canvasers have hit our house hard. GO vote tomorrow.

3- Ben and Jerry's is giving away free cones tomorrow for voters - Go vote tomorrow, then go get some icecream. The small group that meets here will be doing this together. GO VOTE

4- We're going to winterize soon. This is my favorite activity of the year. Expect some blogging about window insulater kits ;o) GO VOTE tomorrow

5- We're becoming a very scheduled disciplined house. We've got a posted shower schedule now and house prayer has been moved a 1/2 hour earlier. GO VOTE tomorrow.

TRUNK OR TREAT - G.O.T.V.

Wanda and Bethany got dressed up and brought "Tiger" (Bethany's VW Golf) to Trunk or Treat on Friday night. Aren't they cute?


My other favorite car was Todd Palin and Cindy McCain (aka Nate and Ashley).

NOT Live? Blogging - The Stevens House Cooks - not quite live

I was getting harassed for not putting up finished pics of the pie.

We ate it so fast, and blogger crashed that night, but here's a couple shots of us eating the pie.

Miami

I was in Miami for CCDA 2008.

The theme was "Seeking the Peace of the City".

Peace in Hebrew, "Shalom" has a really rich meaning. It's a restoration of the way things are supposed to be. It's nothing broken or damaged. It's right relationships to ourselves, our families, our communities, the world and God. Shalom.

Where do we find shalom already in our city?

Where is there a hunger for shalom in our city?

Where does shalom come from?

My soul is restored after my time in Miami. I was challenged and pushed, but also lovingly reminded of what God's hope is.

Next year CCDA is in Cincinatti, not quite as romantic as Miami, but it certainly will be a good time.

I've got some photos that I'll add later, but here's a young man who shared a krump for worship one night.

Blog Action Day - Poverty 2008

Today is Blog Action Day 2008 for antipoverty action.

check out http://www.bread.org/ for action steps you can take to end poverty.

or http://defeatpoverty.com/



this is from the ONE campaign about the UN Millenial goals.

Live Blogging - The Stevens House Cooks 4

The pie before she went in Noel puts her in the oven
WANDA'S HOME!!!!!! WANDA'S HOME!!!!! AND SHE'S GOT APPLE JUICE!

Live Blogging - The Stevens House Cooks 3

We blended the cinamon with sugar, salt and the apples:

Noel mixes the exotic topping
The pie is close to being ready to go in the oven. I'm going to do some homework and then I'll update more later.

Peace,

Katie

(ps - we realize that this is ridiculous)

Live Blogging - The Stevens House Cooks 2

Bethany prepares the apples:

Live Blogging - The Stevens House Cooks

It's safe to say that I've got BLOG MANIA. I love checking my google reader to see what's up around the world. What are my cousin's kids doing? What does Ed Gildbreadth have to say about the state of Race in America? What provocative question will Chris Brooks pose to us today? How does one make pumpkin orange waffles with maple-hazlenut butter? And what are the latest deals at CVS? I love the blogs.

One thing I've never done is a live blog. Tonight, Bethany, Noel and I are cooking some kind of crazy apple pie. And Bethany just made venison chili. I think there's also homemade ice cream involved. hmmmm. . . . here goes. Our first attempt at live blogging.

links

I followed a series of links this morning from my Google reader and ended up at this site. I'm not a regular reader of her blog, but I liked this article about what she hopes her kids will learn as a result of the economic crisis

What I really Hope

She links two outside articles in her blog about "cutting back" one about how people in the US are cutting back and another about people in Tanzania.

revolution?

Here's a video flashback for ya - I saw this video on Maria's facebook page and it brought me such a sense of nostalgia that I designed a whole blog entry about it.



ahhh Tracy Chapman. . .

So this song is 20 years old, I remember listening to a Tracy Chapman cassette driving around in my dad's pickup as a little girl. I remember rediscovering her as a highschooler, and listening to the same tape in my first car as I drove through Duluth's low income Hillside neighborhood as a college student.

Things are more financially tight at our house than they've been in awhile. Part of it is having two of us in grad school. Part of it is the rising gas, food and utility costs. But we are pretty solidly middle class. I look around our neighborhood and its harder on lots of people around me. When Tracy sings about the people "crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation" I can't help but think about the people waiting in line at Simpson Housing every night (two blocks from our house).

A woman I know talked with me last week about the gas being shut off in her house in September and the electric being shut off in October. Her inlaws, originally from the caribean are living in her living room now, after their house in south went into forclosure. I'm starting to suspect that another family we know might be living out of their car after losing their home.

My prayer is that God would show me (and the rest of the middle class and wealthy) how to be generous in the face of economic stress. My prayer is too that there would be justice for the poor and that in the coming elections we would look not only for our own interests but also for the interests of others.

Peace to you.

Race, racism, privilege have been a hot topic at the Stevens House this week. Many of the people who come to small group here on Tuesday nights (including Bethany) were involved in a 2 day workshop "Being the beloved community in a racialized society". This weekend. I wish that I could have attended but was taking care of my self post surgery.

I wanted to link to a good blog that I found this morning, two African American Women proffesors from Princeton have a conversational blog, this post surprised me, as an example of the racism still present even on campuses of "peace-making" church schools.

http://princetonprofs.blogspot.com/2008/09/past-is-ever-with-us.html

recovery

I spent the whole weekend away from the Stevens house, but I'm heading home in a few minutes. The surgery went well, I'll meet with the surgeon on Thursday, but he's convinced it's the benign fibroadenoma. YAY!

I'm a little sore yet, but expect to be back to full health soon.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. We'll have an interesting post soon.

Love,
Katie

Stevens House blog. . . starring the Governator!

An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up (Proverbs 12:25)

I've been playing with the idea of writing this post for awhile, unsure if it's too much to share with you all, but I've been reminded that burdens are lighter when shared and that God is the spirit of truth and that truth sets us free. This blog is the story of our house and this is part of my story this week.

4 years ago, I didn't have health insurance. I found a lump. . . freaked out and went to the doctor. The doctor looked at it quickly, knew that I was uninsured and 23 years old and said, "it's a cyst, you're fine." So ten minutes after showing up I was done and very relieved.

This summer I went to the doctor for a physical (Park Avenue gives me great health insurance THANKS METHODISTS!!!!). My new doctor wasn't convinced that it was a cyst, so I was sent to the breast health center for an ultrasound. So, after a couple of appointments the radiologist and the surgeon have decided that it's definitely not a cyst, but probably fibroadenoma (that means not cancer or benign). A week from now I'll be having the lump removed for surgical biopsy, I'm almost certain that it will be ok, but my anxiety has been a little intense this week as I get ready to start school, get school year ministry going at Park Avenue and prep for this surgery.

So I'm asking for prayer, for me and my anxiety, for my surgery and my recovery. But I'm also asking for prayer for the many many many people in our country who still don't have health care. I'm not a policy expert (our temporary roommate Aaron is but he's at class at the Humphrey right now) so I don't know what the best thing is for the nation's health care crisis. But I do know that it's scary that I was dismissed after 10 minutes with something as scary as a lump, and I had a lot going for me, middle class, white, educated etc.

New Monasticism and Race

We try to live in "intentional community" here at the Stevens House. We pray together, share meals and life together and try to be a part of the Whittier Community.

One movement of "intentional community" within the Christian Tradition is the New Monastics. New Monastics are characterized by these "12 Marks"

1) Relocation to the abandoned places of Empire.
2) Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us.
3) Hospitality to the stranger
4) Lament for racial divisions within the church and our communitiescombined with the active pursuit of a just reconciliation.
5) Humble submission to Christ’s body, the church.
6) Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate.
7) Nurturing common life among members of intentional community.
8) Support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and their children.
9) Geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life.
10) Care for the plot of God’s earth given to us along with support of our local economies.
11) Peacemaking in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18.
12) Commitment to a disciplined contemplative life.



I don't think that anyone at the Stevens House would consider ourselves part of the New Monastic movement, but there are elements of what the New Monastics are about that intersect with what we're about here. There have been a series of posts by various "Intentional Community" types regarding race and privilege on the God's Politics Blog this week. Here's a link with some good food for thought. The discussion started with an article critiquing the leadership of the New Monastic movement being predominantly white and male.

Back to School --> More like back to cool!

We had our first small group meeting this Tuesday, which was also the first day of school in MN. Since our small group is mostly teachers (followed by students) we decided to take Back to School pictures after our prayer time. I think that we're pretty cute.

If you're looking for a small group, I've got to say, we've got a pretty good group. We meet at the house 1st, 3rd, and 5th Tuesdays at 7:00.

Oh, I went to a a garden party. . .

We
LOVE
OUR
NEIGHBORHOOD!!!


Bethany has been gardening at the Community Garden for the past 4 summers, on Sunday she invited me to come to a potluck with the gardeners.

Oh, it was so good for my soul to meet our neighbors eat some good food, sit in the shade surrounded by the almost jungle like lushness of a well cared for garden in late August.

If life started in the garden of Eden, and Heaven is like a banquet, and if heaven will be a gathering of people from every tongue tribe nation and people, I've got to say, this Garden party was a lot like life how God intends it to be. It was the most restful and peaceful activity of my week.

This summer I ended up with 20 small bottles of Famous Dave's "Rich and Sassy" BBQ sauce, and while I love BBQ I haven't been able to use it all up yet (shocking right?). While we were sitting around eating we got to talking about the ribs Mike had grilled and how we all enjoy Famous Dave's sauce. Linda ended up walking home with me and going back to the garden with BBQ sauce to bless 4 families with.

It's been really nice being able to greet neighbors that I met this weekend by name. I'm considering sharing Bethany's plot with her next year and learning how to garden. I think that it would be good for my soul.


The picture on top is of Louann, the garden coordinator with two neighbors, Mike and Ben. The first photo here is of Len and Linda who have lived in the neighborhood forever and remember our house before the Pat and Kendra era. The second is of me, Donna, and Bethany enjoying the feast. Donna was so kind and remembered my name throughout the afternoon.


PS If you didn't recognize the title, here's a great video link.

I've Had a Gnarly Good Time at the Fair

Last Wednesday Tessa, Noel, Theresa, Josh, Paul and I went to the MN state fair for the Gnarls Barkley Concert.

Here's a "Crop Art" copy of the Vita.mn featuring Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse.

I tried taking photos during the concert but didn't think to use my camera, just the cell phone, so they didn't turn out to well.

I love the state fair. I love seeing people, I love the food, I love the distinctive Minnesotaness of it all.

It turns out though, Noel is super freaked out by large vegetables and fruits. Here's his reaction to the 800 lb pumpkin.

Hello Mother . . . Hello Father (Noel Goes to Camp!)

Last week, Park Avenue took 103 kids and 40 some adults and highschool leaders to Silver Birch Ranch in Northern Wisconsin for a week of Camp. I was surprised when I asked Noel to be a cabin leader and he said yes.

Noel took a leap of faith and, together with his High School co-councelor Jordan, he led a group of 3rd - 5th grade boys in canoeing, archery, tubing, horse back riding, bible study and other exciting adventure camp things. Noel did a great job with the boys and really enjoyed it. Our goal is to get both Noel and Theresa there from the week. next year. Here's some highlights:

Kyle, Sarah, Elise and Tahnea show us how sad it was for Peter and the other disciples after Jesus died.

Kids got to try lots of new rec. activities including horseback riding, tubing and canoeing.

One of our goals is to give kids connections with caring adults. I was touched when I saw the boys of Louis' cabin during the first chapel time with their arms around each other singing and swaying.

Does this clutter help us love our neighbors? (or Wanda Cleans the Garage and Basement)

I went to the central library a few weeks ago with no list, no idea even what book I would get, I ended up picking (ok, I'm embarassed to say it) . . . Does this Clutter Make my Butt Look Fat?

It was an easy read, not very life changing or inspiring, but the main idea is that you need to make the same kinds of choices over the foods you put in your body and the clutter you keep in your house.

Well, if there's one thing our house has, besides the love of Jesus, a lot of cool books, great roommates and some good dinners . . . it's clutter. Neat and tidy we are not.

So when Wanda started cleaning the garage a couple weeks ago I was so happy!!!!!!! No longer do I have to take a strange combination of giant steps and baby steps to grab my bike or the lawn mower out of there.

But then we were doubly blessed!

Wanda put a bunch of stuff from the garage and the porch out on the front lawn with a sign marked free. We met so many neighbors and had conversations. A woman came by to look at some of the stuff we were giving away and Wanda mentioned to her that we had an extra bed in the basement. She came back a few hours later and picked up the bed (at least 5 people have moved into or out of the house since the bed's owner was using it).

Here's Wanda getting one last nap in the garden before the bed goes away.

We have so much in our house, we are blessed and not lacking for anything. As a household of 4 people we currently own 4 cars, 5 computers, and 5 beds. Our fridge is almost always full of food, and when it's not it's because we haven't made it to the store, not because we're financially not able to go. We have an entire room just for games and books, there are three different options for rooms where we can watch tv, we can invite dozens of people over without feeling crowded.

It was fun to see how getting rid of some of our stuff could bless not only the people who took it but us as well.

I met Betsy Bowen!

I think that this is a common story for anglo college students starting to get interested in Racial Reconcilliation, but by my senior year of college I hated being white, we're the oppressors, we're neurotic about time and organization, we can't dance and even our worship is boring.

But then. . . my mom bought me two books by Betsy Bowen, Gathering: A Northwoods Counting Book and Antler, Bear, Canoe: A Northwoods Alphabet Year for my birthday. The woodblock prints in this book are beautiful and reflected my growing up camping and visiting grandparents in northern minnesota. For the first time as an adult I saw the beauty in being a woman from Northern, MN.

Later I heard a sermon by Alex Gee an African American Pastor from Madison, WI. He talked about God not making mistakes, about God not saying when I came out of the womb, "OH shoot, another white baby, what are we gonna do?!?!?!?!" My culture and my skin color are both good things. I think seeing Betsy's prepared me for this sermon and nurtured my soul.

Today, my mom and I went to the Powderhorn Art Fair, and low and behold, who's art did I see, but THE Betsy Bowen! The pictures are so great, and then I saw a woman with a Betsy name tag. I was super gushy, shook her hand and told her how her art really helped me with my ethnic-emotional development. She was very nice and while I think I may have been more enthusiastic than her typical customer she was happy to talk to me and here my story.

So, this afternoon was lovely, my mom bought some cool art, plus some lunch for me, she's the best.

Alassani's come to dinner

Our Family Portrait

A Night for the Arts in Minneapolis

I LOVE life in Minneapolis, and I love the people whose lives have intersected with mine because I live here. Last night friends who have been in the small group that meets here at the Stevens House took in a night of the arts.

Robin D, Tessa and I put on our skirts and started the evening with a Photography exhibit at the Mcknight Foundation. Robin's friend Angel was one of the spotlighted artists, and Rich Wong a fellow Dinomights volunteer also had work on display. The photos were cool and highlighted the changing demographics of Minneapolis. Mcknight gave grants to the group OVERexposure who then found local photographers to document the changes of different neighborhoods across the city.

After viewing the photos and eating a lot of gallery opening treats (seriously, I would encourage EVERYONE to make your way to any event at McKnight, so many good snacks) we made our way down Washington to the Southern theater for Momentum 2008. Our friend Josh had composed music for his friend Eddie's coreography and was playing with a band while Eddie danced. The music was great, Eddie and his partner Laura gave a super energetic engaging performance. There are more performances this weekend, and while I can't recomend the first act by the other performers (maybe I'm just not artsy enough to "get it"). The second act is phenomenal and you will enjoy it very much.

Here's Eddie's promotional picture: I'm looking forward to Aquatennial fireworks tomorrow night with our friends and neighbors Ahamadou, Beyah and Saide.

A busy/empty Week at the Stevens House

It's been a strange week at the Stevens house, we've had lots of activity, but now are pretty empty.

We had a visit Saturday afternoon from Alison a former roommate here at the Stevens House currently on staff with InterVarsity in St. Petersburg, Florida. She does some awesome work down there and just led an experiential retreat for college students called "JESUS, JUSTICE AND POVERTY"

After a quick lunch of leftovers, Wanda, Alison, Bethany and I walked up the block to the Fallout Festival. I bought an awesome necklace from a local artist it's the back end of a toy zebra suspended in some industrial glue.

I am not fruit designs has lots of cool jewlery, it's worth checking out if you're looking for a funky gift for someone. We painted on the community mural, looked at some art, shot water balloons at each other and had a great time.

Bethany and I scrambled to get ready for Erin and Johanness' wedding after Fallout. It was great to celebrate their relationship with other friends from church. Our friend Hugo from Colombia and his salsa band played in between DJ sets.

Sunday morning Wanda and her sister left for vacation in Hawaii. (I'm working on not being jealous). Noel cooked the best breakfast as dinner I've ever had that night.

Tuesday morning Bethany and her parents left for Alaska.

It's just Noel and I at home this week. Last night we took the bus downtown for the Aquatennial parade. We met Emily down there and cheered loudly for each communities princesses, comodores and marcing bands. I ran into a family I had worked closely with at church who recently moved to the Northside it was great to be a part of the larger community and to reconnect with the boys.

We're still waiting to see who our new roommate will be. There's a couple of women interested if things work out.

Bethel is waiting for one more reference for me, and then my application will be complete. Hooray! I can't wait to hear the official word.

Peace!

Katie

Professional Photos from the Wedding

Here's a link to Karen and Kim's page for the many beautiful professional photos of Emily and Matt's wedding. If you need a password it's "krusack". There's a few great "family pictures" of the house.

Body Pump

A big part of the story of life in our house lately is BODY PUMP

This Fall, Wanda, Bethany and I got a family membership to the YWCA. I love the eliptical machine, the track and the pool, but far and away my favorite Y-Dub activity is Body Pump.

God has been doing work in my heart lately about whole life stewardship. About taking care of and honoring him with my body. BodyPump has been one of the best ways to do that.

Bethany and I have been waking up nearly every Tuesday and Thursday to go to the uptown Y for a 6:15 class. The class is an hour long, 10 tracks of upbeat music working ever major muscle group. WE LOVE THIS CLASS!!!!!!

The uptown gym is closed for remodelling, so we're now waking up an extra 20 minutes early to get to the midtown YWCA in time for the 6:00AM class (JESUS HAVE MERCY). I missed the class this morning because I had a doctors appointment, but we noticed something cool Tuesday morning.

It's a diverse group of us from the uptown class that have made the trek down Lake Street to midtown. Being in a new location at a new time has given us something to talk about with our classmates. People who we have been in class with twice a week for 6 months talked with us for the first time this week.

Bethany and I are both moderately extraverted. We love meeting people, groups energize us. Between interacting with people, crazy music and an hour of strength training work we go into our Tuesdays and Thursdays with a crazy amount of energy.