Amy Dahl

As I drove to work one morning, surrounded by six-foot piles of snow on either side of the road, while the rain simultaneously fell and hit my windshield, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy! Joy because we’d hit the time of year where the seasons collide once again, and the much-awaited spring weather was on the horizon! I have often heard people talk about the “seasonal blues” that they feel during the long winter months here in Minnesota, but I have never been one to struggle with them myself. The last few weeks, however, was a different story. For some reason the endless winter months had begun to wear on me. I found myself longing for sunshine and warmth like never before! Maybe it’s because of the endless amounts of snow that continued to fall week after week or the fact that winter had seemed to hit earlier than usual this year, but for whatever reason, this season felt different. Harder for some reason.

You’ve heard the saying, right? Hurt people, hurt people? I have heard this said, and said it myself, many times throughout my growing up years. I’ve often said it to explain or justify someone’s hurtful actions towards another or myself. In my mind I’ve always kind of seen it as a “free pass” for the person treating people poorly. However, this statement took on a whole new depth of meaning for me a few months ago.

Becoming a parent has been the best, yet most challenging experience of my life. Try as they might, no one can quite prepare you for what it’s like to be a parent. I had so many people give me advice, tips, tricks, cautions, etc., which were all so helpful in their own way! But none of them could fully prepare me for what was ahead. Probably one of the most unexpected things about becoming a parent is how much it’s taught me about my relationship with my Heavenly Father. It has brought to life so many characteristics of our Heavenly Father and caused me to experience them in a whole new light.

The word prepare means “to make someone ready or able to do or deal with something.” I don’t know about you, but I like to prepare. I am a planner. I like to feel prepared and ready to deal with whatever is coming my way. I always loved it when there was a packing list provided for things like college, camp, and mission trips. And I’m not going to lie, I always went above and beyond the packing list provided because my philosophy was, you can never be too prepared! Right? Because I am such a planner, it has made the season of life we are preparing for even more challenging and stretching for me. What season is that you might ask? Parenthood. We are in the midst of preparing for the arrival of our first child!

I opened my calendar a few weeks ago to schedule a game night with friends and thought to myself, “When did things get so busy?!” Somehow without my knowing, every weekend for the next month had something going on. Have you ever had this happen to you? You keep putting one thing after the other onto the calendar without stopping to look at the surrounding days and weeks to see how busy you are making your schedule as a whole? I’ve been finding myself doing this a lot lately. I first noticed it a few months ago when we were trying to reschedule a family dinner with Sam’s siblings. Something came up and we had to reschedule the original date we had picked. I flipped through my calendar to see what other evenings we had free, only to realize we didn’t have another free evening for a whole two weeks! TWO WEEKS! I don’t know about you, but that’s a long time to go without a free evening! The thing that I find increasingly distressing about this is that I often don’t even realize I’m booking us so full until the calendar is packed! I often tell myself that “Everything we put on the schedule is good. Don’t worry!” But the other day I found myself asking, “Is it really?” Is it all truly good if it takes time from the Lord? From my spouse? From taking time to rest? If the next weekend meeting, the next evening event, the next…you name it, takes all of my time to the point where I don’t even have time to slow down and catch my breath, are they truly good things?

I stood there as the conversation ended with their statement whirling through my head. I had been talking with a young adult who expressed that they did not feel like this was the church for them. The concern must have shown on my face as I looked at them and murmured “how come?” With a shrug of their shoulders, they replied “I don’t know, there’s just no one my age here.” I couldn’t compose my thoughts quick enough to respond, so the conversation quickly dissipated, and we headed our separate ways. This comment has caused me to dive deeper into this topic and reflect on God’s call to the church when it comes to intergenerational ministry.

Have you ever noticed the number of things women do in groups? Women enjoy having company while they are doing things. We look for any possible excuse to spend time together! Men and women alike were created in the image of God and part of that image is a deep desire to know and be known by others.

Have you ever had a moment that rocks your world? That takes everything you’ve ever known, and within seconds, sends your mind racing and disorients you? For me, this moment happened just over a year ago when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. In an instant, my world flashed before my eyes. There was so much unknown and so much fear that hit me within a matter of seconds. It hit me “like a ton of bricks,” as my dad likes to say. I’m sure you’ve had at least one of these moments in your life, but for me, this was one of the biggest earth-shattering moments I have ever experienced.