Howard

Howard with Christine at our wedding in 2008

     Howard Norgaard went to be with Jesus today.  He will be greatly missed by his family and the Becker Baptist Church family (in which I am a part).  Everyone who knew Howard could tell you great stories about his time on earth, but this is my blog, so I'm only going to write mine.  First of all, Howard and Elizabeth were an amazing couple - so pretty much all my stories are Howard AND Elizabeth stories.  They were a great team.
     Howard and Elizabeth came to Becker right around the same time I did.  I arrived in the fall of 2003.  They joined our church family right around the same time that I did.  I always enjoyed visiting with them in the fellowship hall after church.  They were always happy to talk to me too.  They both loved to talk.  We had a lot in common.  We all loved music, books, travel, and teaching.  Both had been teachers and later Howard had been a principal in Madelia.  Madelia was only about 30 miles from Mountain Lake, where I had been living the three years prior to moving to Becker.  Also, Howard and Elizabeth lived in Africa for quite a few years and I LOVED hearing stories of international travel.  My college roommate grew up in Cameroon and Senegal, so I had stories I'd heard from her to share with them too.  
      Because Howard and Elizabeth had a background in education, they showed interest in my life as a teacher.  They asked questions and shared ideas and made me feel like what I was doing was truly important.  I felt like they were cheerleaders in my life as a teacher.  They visited my classroom a few times when I was doing my unit on Africa with my second graders.  They told stories and showed some video of themselves in Africa.  The kids loved it!
     Before meeting my husband, Todd, I was roommates with my friend, Angie.  Howard and Elizabeth were HUGE fans of Angie.  Sometimes Angie and I would go for bike rides and end up at Howard and Elizabeth's house and then sit and visit with them for hours on end.  Sometimes we had them over to our place for meals or they'd invite us over for meals.  It was always a delightful time.
     When Todd and I began dating we decided that our first time appearing in public as a couple would be at the church picnic at the park in August of 2007.  I remember sitting down at the table beside Todd at lunchtime and looking up and there was Howard giving me the biggest grin and a thumbs up!  He approved of the match.
     The weekend of the wedding I needed a place for my friend, Stephanie to stay so she wouldn't have to stay in a hotel.  She was one of the violinists for the wedding.  Howard and Elizabeth were happy to host.  Stephanie told me they stayed up quite late visiting.  Howard had to show her the violin he had that belonged to his dad.
     I had a neat experience with that very violin too.  Howard had told me about it and I offered to tune it and see how it sounded.  So, I brought it home and did just that.  It sounded great!  So, after practicing on it for a while I brought it to church.  At that point I was playing violin with a worship team.  That particular Sunday I played Howard's dad's violin with the worship team songs.  It was a surprise for Howard and he was so pleased.  I always felt appreciated by Howard for my music.
     I wasn't the only one who felt appreciated by Howard for musical gifts.  I saw him time and time again go out of his way to thank someone for sharing music with the congregation.  At one point I put together a group of four girls to sing the song, "Just The Way You Are" for special music.  Howard heard us practicing and practically begged the girls to come in at the beginning of the Sunday School hour to sing the song for the class that Howard was teaching.  The song fit perfectly with his lesson.  He thanked the girls over and over again.
     Another thing Howard and I had in common was that we both went on mission trips to visit our sister church in Ukraine.  I went a year or two before Howard.  Howard grew to love the same people that had touched my heart a few years earlier.  I particularly think of my friend and translator, Julia.  Howard could not say enough good things about how helpful and kind and proficient she was.  Howard loved people.
     Howard loved his family.  He delighted in being a dad and grandpa.  He was so proud of each of them.  A parent should never have to bury their own children, but unfortunately, two of Howard and Elizabeth's three children have already died.  I remember when their son died.  After I heard about it, I hopped on my bike and went over to Howard and Elizabeth's house.  I knocked on the door and asked if they'd like company.  I was welcomed so warmly.  I remember Howard saying something like, "I'm so glad you've come.  Thank you."  I listened that day.  Story after story they told.  Wonderful stories.  The time flew by.  I felt honored to be the listener.  It mattered to them that I was there to listen.  I know for certain God led me there that day.
     I remember a similar situation where I felt prompted by God to be there.  Howard and Elizabeth had a daughter in California who had cancer.  On the day of her surgery I was out and about running errands.  There was a store that sold single yellow roses.  I got one for Howard and Elizabeth and brought it to their home that day.  It meant so much to them.  Elizabeth told me how much peace that single yellow rose brought her that day.  I'm so glad.
     I wish I could give Elizabeth a yellow rose for every moment she is going to miss Howard.  They were a wonderful couple.  My heart hurts for her.  I am so glad they will be reunited in Heaven one day.

The 40s group from church visited Howard and Elizabeth's house on a scavenger hunt in 2014

Choosing Joy

     Two funerals, a best friend's medical diagnosis, a former students' attempt to end her life, a lonely single friend, fear of loss, anxiety for the future, exhaustion after a challenging experience, anger over an injustice, heartbreak for the pain of others, a searching for balance...these are the things weighing me down recently.  The prayer list is long.  But, my God is big.  

     Now I have a choice.  I can wallow.  I can cry.  I can overeat.  Or, I can celebrate.  I can find the good.  I can see God's fingerprints.  I can send positive endorphins to my brain!  I choose the latter.

     It's Count Your Blessings time!  God was glorified in those funerals.  My friend is at peace with her diagnosis and is feeling hopeful.  The family of my former student has a plan to help her.  My single friend is reading and growing and feeling encouraged.  My own fear of loss and my anxiety for the future are hurdles I face daily, but scripture is comforting and God's strength is constant.  Summer is a time of rest for me and I can feel myself healing from the recent challenges and injustices.  I think my heart will always be tender to the pain of my friends and family...I just have to learn to lay each concern at the feet of Jesus.  And, does anyone ever truly master balance?  I'd love a lesson!

     I am healthy.  I have the ability to exercise each day.  I have resources to help me make healthy meals.  I have time to plan and grow during these non-teaching days.  I have a wonderful husband who supports me and loves me deeply.  I have friends and family who can lift me up in prayer.  I have a God with arms of compassion open to me.  I have a brain that works, a soul that is creative, and eyes that are open for roses to smell along the way.  

    So, what helps fill me up?  Quality time with my husband, friends, and family fills me up.  I'm so thankful for the summer months when I have time to talk on the phone for an hour at a time or have my nieces over for a sleepover or spend the day playing with my grandson or visit a coffee shop with a friend.  Relationships will always be my number one priority and joy.

    What else fills me up?  Organizing spaces in my home or classroom, planning trips to take with my husband, creating scrapbooks from photographs full of great memories, reading my Bible, writing reflections about my life, blocking out all distractions and simply playing piano... ahhhh.

     My favorite author right now is Shauna Niequist.  The following is a devotional I read recently that really resonated with me.  I wrote the above blog post as a reflection after meditating on Shauna's words for a while.  I choose Joy.  I choose the discipline of celebration.  I choose to see God at work. 

Come Dance With Me!

"Be glad and rejoice with me." (Philippians 2:18)

     The discipline of celebration is changing my life, and I invite you into the same practice.  Come tap dance with me on the fresh graves of apathy and cynicism, the creeping belief that this is all there is, and that God is no match for the wreckage of the world we live in.  What God does in the tiny corners of our day-to-day lives is stunning and gorgeous and headline-making, but we have a bad habit of saving the headlines for the grotesque and scary.
     To choose to celebrate right here and right now might seem irresponsible.  It might seem frivolous, like cotton candy and charm bracelets.  But I believe it is a serious undertaking, one that has the potential to return us to our best selves, to deliver us back to the men and women God created us to be, people who choose to see the best, believe the best, yearn for the best.  Through that longing to be our best selves, we are changed and inspired and ennobled, able to see the handwriting of a holy God where another person just sees the same old tired streets and sidewalks.
     God is alive, and He is transforming and redeeming His world, even when we can't see it.  Where do you see the fingerprints of a loving, holy God in your life today, even in the mess and darkness?

From Savor:  Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are by Shauna Niequist, page 311.

These little punkins bring me JOY!